Brandon Nolan was born July 18, 1983 in St. Catharine's, Ontario. The fourth round, 111th overall selection of the Vancouver Canucks in the 2003 NHL Entry Draft, Nolan is the son of the 1997 Jack Adams Award recipient and former NHL coach Ted Nolan.
A great playmaker, Nolan posted 81 goals and 103 assists during his three-year OHL career with the Oshawa Generals. He made his professional hockey debut the following season and went on to split his year between the Cancuks AHL affiliate in Manitoba, and the Columbia Inferno of the ECHL. Over the next two seasons Nolan would continue to hone his skills with the Manitoba Moose and the Columbia Inferno. In 2006-07, he split his season between Vaxjo of the Swedish League and Bridgeport of the AHL.
Nolan signed as a free agent in the summer of 2007 with the Carolina Hurricanes, and the following season he appeared in six NHL games but spent the majority of his time in the AHL with their affiliate.
