Ted Nolan’s home on the Garden River First Nation reserve in northern Ontario didn’t have electricity or running water, but it did have a hockey rink in the backyard that Nolan built to satisfy his own passion to play. That passion grew into a successful hockey playing and coaching career that included the Jack Adams Award as NHL Coach of the Year. In his book,
Life in Two Worlds: A Coach's Journey from the Reserve to the NHL and Back, Nolan recounts both pride in his Indigenous identity and overt racism as he worked to excel in his sport.
