BUFFALO, N.Y. -- Sabres coach Ted Nolan will keep building what he started in Buffalo -- minus the interim tag. Nolan is staying on as the head coach beyond this season after signing a three-year contract extension Monday. The deal comes 4-1/2 months after Nolan returned to Buffalo for a second stint -- this time, initially, on an interim basis. And its a reward for Nolan, who has provided a spark to a young, patchwork lineup on a last-place team. "I said back in November that it was a dream to be able to come back and coach the Sabres, and thats still true today," Nolan said. "Im excited by the challenge facing our team and our organization. And Im truly thankful to have this opportunity." The extension was more of a formality than a surprise. The two sides established the framework of a contract about a month ago and agreed to the deal in principle last week. Nolan took over in mid-November after coach Ron Rolston was fired along with general manager Darcy Regier after Buffalo got off to a franchise-worst 4-15-1 start. The Sabres (20-45-9) havent done much better at 16-30-8 under Nolan and are likely to finish in last place with only two weeks left in the season. Buffalo is 1-10-1 in its past 12 games in preparing to host New Jersey on Tuesday. Record aside, rookie GM Tim Murray is impressed by the job Nolan has done during what he called "a trying situation." "I dont know if there was one Eureka moment," Murray said. "But I certainly got to the point where I knew I wanted him back, and I wanted him to be our head coach. And that wasnt yesterday or the day before." The next step is providing Nolan more talent. "We have to get him better players," Murray said. "It doesnt take a genius to figure that out." The Sabres are a shell of the team that last made the playoffs in 2011, with Nolan the teams third coach in a little over a calendar year. Regier began purging an over-priced and under-achieving roster last season. And Murray, who was hired in January, completed the overhaul in the days leading up to the NHL trade deadline on March 5. Thats when Buffalo made four trades, including one that sent goalie Ryan Miller and captain Steve Ott to St. Louis. The future looks promising with the team having stockpiled a series of first- and second-round draft picks over the next three years. Nolan has a reputation as a motivator with a solid track record of developing young players. This is Nolans second stint in Buffalo. He went 73-72-19 in two seasons before leaving in the summer of 1997 because he was unhappy with the teams one-year contract offer after being selected the NHLs coach of the year. Nolan then spent two seasons coaching the New York Islanders and led them to the playoffs in 2006-07, before being fired after the following season. Nolan also enjoyed a successful stint at the Sochi Games, where he coached Latvia to an eighth-place finish -- the countrys best in five Olympic appearances. Sabres players greeted the news of Nolans contract extension as an important first step toward establishing stability. "Hes a guy that I think is perfect for this type of rebuild as far as motivation and making sure the right guys are staying around," forward Drew Stafford said. "Its been a real challenging season, a lot of shake-ups, a lot of changes. To get that interim tag off is definitely some stability now." Nolan is staying on even though Pat LaFontaine -- the person who brought him on board -- abruptly stepped down as Sabres president of hockey operations on March 1, after only 3-1/2 months on the job. Thanking LaFontaine for the opportunity, Nolan said hes focused on the head coaching job. "Im really excited about going with the next step forward and helping shape this team into a very competitive team," Nolan said. "With Tims knowledge in getting us the right players, hopefully, I can coach them good enough to win." Nike Air Vapormax Discount . On July 27 cyclings best-known race will host "La Course by Le Tour de France" -- a one-day womens competition staged hours before Tour riders race on the same circuit to finish the three-week event on Paris Champs-Elysees. Cheap Nike Air Vapormax China . -- Michael Bennett gambled last off-season that playing on a one-year deal in Seattle would pay off in the future with the long-term contract he always wanted. http://www.cheapairvapormaxsale.com/.FIFA says it is relaxing the rule which forced match officials to leave its international list at the end of the year they turned 45. Nike Air Vapormax Outlet . This game was inside. Adrian Peterson was missing. The stage was set for another step toward the playoffs. Youth Nike Air Vapormax . -- Stanley Johnson scored all 18 of his points in the second half, T.Its been more than a year and a half since Canadas mens soccer team tasted victory. Too long for Benito Floro. So while Canadas pair of friendlies against Bulgaria and Moldova in Austria are a continuation of the coachs plan to bring young players into the Canadian team fold, theyre also very much about winning. "We need to win because it is very important for us to improve our psychology and mentality," Floro said Thursday from Laa an der Thaya, Austria, where the team has been based. "For us, they are two games that are very important." Canada — 110th in the FIFA rankings — faces No. 73 Bulgaria on Friday in Ritzing then meets 99th-ranked Moldova in Mauer on Tuesday. The Canadians went a woeful 0-13 last year, and scored just one goal — by Marcus Haber — in a 2-1 loss to Japan. Their last victory came in October 2012, a 3-0 win in World Cup qualifying against a Cuban side that dressed just 11 players (several Cubans left the team before the game kicked off in Toronto). "Were longing for a win," Atiba Hutchinson said. "Its been a while so I think were motivated enough to get that. We just have to go out and work as we always do and hopefully well be a bit more fortunate with getting that result, but well have that working spirit." Floro summoned a mix of veterans such as Hutchinson and Julian de Guzman and promising young players including Caleb Clarke, Samuel Piette, Daniel Stanese and Cyle Larin for these friendlies. Eight of the Canadians have yet to make their national senior debut, as Floro focuses on developing younger players one year out from the next CONCACAF Gold Cup and the resumption of World Cup qualifying. "The objective is the samee for every camp: to prepare players on our system of play because we need to improve our level in attack and defence.dddddddddddd At the same time, we want to take the young players because the experienced players are good at teaching them how to work as an individual and in a collective," Floro said. "For the young players, this is a very good experience because our experienced players are very good people and they are always focused on teaching the young players how to do things in a good way." Floro is counting on players such as the 31-year-old Hutchinson, who plays professionally in Turkey, to help bring the younger ones along. "Were developing well and mixing some younger players is going to help us," Hutchinson said. "Its going to take some time to jell a little bit more but I think were trying to go in the right direction." On a team that sorely needs goal scoring, eyes will be on the six-foot-two Larin in these two friendlies. The 19-year-old from Brampton, Ont., earned conference rookie of the years honours after scoring a team-high 14 goals for the University of Connecticut. "We brought Larin into the Florida camp (in January) because we had a very good reference and we want to test him because hes a striker and we need a lot of players in this position," Floro said. "In that camp, we realized he is a young player but with good experience playing as a striker. He has a good desire to learn a lot about that and for us he is a good player for the present and the future." Canadas roster is comprised mostly of European-based players. Among the other veterans on the squad are Andre Hainault, David Edgar, Tosaint Ricketts and Simeon Jackson. ' ' '