Owen Nolan

Owen Liam Nolan (born 12 February 1972) is a Canadian former professional ice hockey player. He was drafted first overall by the Quebec Nordiques in the 1990 NHL entry draft. During his 18-year NHL career, he played for the Nordiques, Colorado Avalanche, San Jose Sharks, Toronto Maple Leafs, Phoenix Coyotes, Calgary Flames, Minnesota Wild, as well as playing a season with the ZSC Lions of National League A. Born in Belfast, he was raised in Thorold, Ontario and played for Canada internationally. A five-time NHL All-Star, Nolan is widely known as a power forward.

Playing career Minor hockey Nolan grew up in Thorold, Ontario playing minor ice hockey for Thorold in the OMHA. After playing A hockey for the Thorold bantam A's Nolan was selected in the second round of the 1988 OHL Priority Selection by the Cornwall Royals of the Ontario Hockey League.

Quebec Nordiques and San Jose Sharks Nolan was drafted first overall by the Quebec Nordiques in the 1990 NHL entry draft. After a difficult rookie season at age 18 in 1990-91, when he tallied only 13 points, he burst out the next year with 42 goals and 73 points in 75 games. He was part of the franchise's transfer to Denver where the Nordiques were rebranded as the Colorado Avalanche. He began the 1995–96 season with four goals and four assists in nine games for the Avalanche before being traded to the San Jose Sharks for Sandis Ozoliņš on 26 October 1995. During his tenure with the Sharks he was named captain, and registered his best career year in 1999–2000, finishing with 84 points, and tied for second in the NHL with 44 goals. During the 2000 Stanley Cup playoffs, the eighth-seeded Sharks took out the first-seeded St. Louis Blues in seven games with Nolan leading the way with six goals. In game seven, Nolan scored with 10 seconds left in the first period from just past centre ice, beating goaltender Roman Turek to give the Sharks a 2–0 lead. The goal propelled them to a 3–1, game seven victory and first-round upset of the Blues.

Toronto Maple Leafs Nolan was traded to the Toronto Maple Leafs just before the NHL trade deadline on 5 March 2003, for players Alyn McCauley and Brad Boyes, and Toronto's first-round pick in the 2003 NHL entry draft. However his performance in Toronto was disappointing, he suffered from a series of injuries and never played at the same level as he had in San Jose.

Nolan broke new ground in contract negotiations, having a clause put in that stated if the 2004–05 NHL season was cancelled, then he would gain a player option for an additional year in 2005–06. However, with the NHL Collective Bargaining Agreement in place, this option became a topic of debate. With the new NHL salary cap, the Maple Leafs deemed Nolan's salary too high, and refused to recognize Nolan as under contract. Nolan argued that the option was valid, that he would play, and be paid, for the Maple Leafs, and that he deserved to be paid during the 2004–05 NHL lockout due to injury. The Maple Leafs, who deemed Nolan as healthy just after the lockout, claimed that the injury was incurred off the ice and refused to pay Nolan's desired US$12 million. The case went to an arbitrator. This case was settled in 2006, however, the terms of the agreement by Leafs management and Nolan were not disclosed. In 2005–06, Nolan took time off for his injured knees to heal, training in San Jose. Before the push for the 2006 Stanley Cup playoffs, Nolan indicated that several teams (including San Jose) wanted to sign him, but he decided not to play because he wanted to be at 100 percent, both because he did not want to become re-injured and because he felt he owed his team that.

2006–2011 In August 2006, during free agency, Nolan contemplated joining many teams before signing a one-year, US$1 million contract with the Phoenix Coyotes. He scored 16 goals to go with 24 assists during his only year in Phoenix before becoming a free agent once again.

On 2 July 2007, Nolan signed with the Calgary Flames. On 22 October, Nolan played his 1,000th NHL game. On 30 January 2008, Nolan had his 11th career hat trick and first hat trick since 1999 in a 5–4 victory over former team, the San Jose Sharks. He was honoured as the game's first star as his hat trick included a short-handed goal and the game-winner, and Nolan also had a decisive victory in a second-period fight with Mike Grier. On 13 April, Nolan scored the game-winning goal in game three of the first round series of the 2008 Stanley Cup playoffs against his former team San Jose Sharks. It was his first playoff goal since 2002, when he was a member of the Sharks, and the 19th playoff goal of his 18-year career. He later scored a goal in Game 7 of that series, though it was part of a 5-3 loss.

On 6 July 2008, Nolan signed a two-year, $5.5 million contract with the Minnesota Wild. On 10 March 2009, Nolan scored his 400th (and 401st) goal of his NHL career with the Wild against the San Jose Sharks.

A free agent before the 2010–11 season, and intending to continue his NHL career, Nolan was unable to secure an NHL contract. With the beginning of the season underway, to garner interest and keep in game condition, Nolan signed a one-month contract with the Swiss team, ZSC Lions of the National League A, on 21 October 2010. He then signed an extension with ZSC Lions until 23 January 2011.

On 4 August 2011, Nolan signed a tryout contract with the Vancouver Canucks, returning to the NHL after a year in Switzerland. He was then released by the Canucks on 25 September 2011, admittedly due to issues with his family.

Retirement On 7 February 2012, Nolan announced his retirement, at a press conference in San Jose five days before his 40th birthday. He was then chosen for a ceremonial puck drop in a game against the Calgary Flames on 8 February.

All-Star appearances Nolan has played in the NHL All-Star Game in 1992, 1996, 1997, 2000 and 2002. He was the runner-up to Mark Recchi for the All-Star Game MVP in 1997, during which he performed a memorable 'called shot', pointing to the top corner of the net on a breakaway and promptly scoring there against Dominik Hašek to complete a hat trick.

Personal life Nolan is one of six players in NHL history to be born on the island of Ireland (Sid Finney, Bobby Kirk, Jim McFadden, Sammy McManus and Jack Riley are the others). Nolan's Catholic family lived on the Falls Road but moved to Thorold, Ontario, when he was seven months old to avoid religious persecution during the Troubles. He grew up playing baseball and soccer; it was not until he was nine that he began skating. He attended Denis Morris Catholic High School in St. Catharines, Ontario.

Nolan owns two restaurants called Britannia Arms in San Jose, California. He and his wife have two children.

Career statistics Regular season and playoffs Regular seasonPlayoffs Season Team League GP G A Pts PIM GP G A Pts PIM 1987–88 Thorold Black Hawks Bantam 28 53 32 85 24 — — — — — 1988–89 Cornwall Royals OHL 62 34 25 59 213 18 5 11 16 41 1989–90 Cornwall Royals OHL 58 51 60 111 240 6 7 5 12 26 1990–91 Halifax Citadels AHL 6 4 4 8 11 — — — — — 1990–91 Quebec Nordiques NHL 59 3 10 13 109 — — — — — 1991–92 Quebec Nordiques NHL 75 42 31 73 183 — — — — — 1992–93 Quebec Nordiques NHL 73 36 41 77 185 5 1 0 1 2 1993–94 Quebec Nordiques NHL 6 2 2 4 8 — — — — — 1994–95 Quebec Nordiques NHL 46 30 19 49 46 6 2 3 5 6 1995–96 Colorado Avalanche NHL 9 4 4 8 9 — — — — — 1995–96 San Jose Sharks NHL 72 29 32 61 137 — — — — — 1996–97 San Jose Sharks NHL 72 31 32 63 155 — — — — — 1997–98 San Jose Sharks NHL 75 14 27 41 144 6 2 2 4 26 1998–99 San Jose Sharks NHL 78 19 26 45 129 6 1 0 1 6 1999–00 San Jose Sharks NHL 78 44 40 84 110 10 8 2 10 6 2000–01 San Jose Sharks NHL 57 24 25 49 75 6 1 1 2 8 2001–02 San Jose Sharks NHL 75 23 43 66 93 12 3 6 9 8 2002–03 San Jose Sharks NHL 61 22 20 42 91 — — — — — 2002–03 Toronto Maple Leafs NHL 14 7 5 12 16 7 0 2 2 2 2003–04 Toronto Maple Leafs NHL 65 19 29 48 110 — — — — — 2006–07 Phoenix Coyotes NHL 76 16 24 40 56 — — — — — 2007–08 Calgary Flames NHL 77 16 16 32 71 7 3 2 5 2 2008–09 Minnesota Wild NHL 59 25 20 45 26 — — — — — 2009–10 Minnesota Wild NHL 73 16 17 33 40 — — — — — 2010–11 ZSC Lions NLA 24 7 19 26 53 5 2 2 4 2NHL totals 1,200 422 463 885 1,793 65 21 18 39 66

International

Year Team Event Result GP G A Pts PIM 1997 Canada WC 10 4 3 7 31 2002 Canada OG 6 0 3 3 2Senior totals 16 4 6 10 33

Awards and honours Award YearOHL Emms Family Award 1989 First All-Star Team 1990 Jim Mahon Memorial Trophy 1990NHL All-Star Game 1992, 1996, 1997, 2000, 2002

Other Bay Area Sports Hall of Fame inductee (2014)