The summer of 2009 will be known as the summer that Ted Nolan saved the Rochester Americans from becoming the next Phoenix Coyotes.  Ok, maybe that’s going a little too far but I think that Ted Nolan has created an excellent buzz about this years team.  I’ll go out on a limb and say that a lot of people that loosely follow the Amerks could name Ted Nolan as working for the Amerks easier than any of the players signed during the off season.

The team has addressed the on ice product by building a team that should win some games.  Now the work has to start on winning back the fans that walked away from the team for a number of reasons, including what Ed Auer talks about below.

Ted Nolan is doing his part to win fans back one at a time.

Here’s part of a story that News 10 aired:

Some long time season ticket holders have not renewed their tickets so the Amerks are calling one fan at a time.

“I was just disgusted with the way things were going.” Ed Auer has been a faithful Amerks fan for 25 years but this year he decided not to renew his tickets, that’s until the phone rang. “When Ted Nolan call me the other day I was speechless, I couldn’t believe he’d call me on the phone to talk to me, of all people, Ted Nolan.”

Amerks VP Operations Ted Nolan said, “We had a nice long conversation about how he was treated and coming to games and it wasn’t very good.”

The way Auer sees it, the new ownership needs to respect the value of tradition in winning and losing seasons. “You’d rather stay home but out of respect you go and see them play and let them know you’re there that’s all. People would get these tickets that come to a game once a year. They come down and make fools of themselves. We were season ticket holders and pay good money and want to see the game.”

Click play on the video below to watch the story.

Those who’ve been around for a while understand Ed Auer.  Those who are relatively newer probably think he’s a grumpy old man.  I’ve never met Ed, but I’ve talked to enough people like him to understand.

The next time you go to any type of event and sit in seats other than the ones you paid for please remember to respect those around you.