Allison suspension cut to one game

When all was said and done, Dave Allison got what he thought he deserved.
SIJHL commissioner Harvey Fedell announced this morning the Borderland Thunder head coach’s suspension for verbal abuse of an official had been reduced from four games to one.
Allison, who coached Team West in Wednesday night’s SIJHL all-star game at the Fort William Gardens, will miss Friday night’s opener of a two-game weekend set between league-leading Thunder (23-7-5-1) and the third-place Thunder Bay Downtown Volkswagen Bulldogs (19-14-3-1), who trail by nine points.
Fedell met with Allison after a league meeting held before Wednesday’s all-star game to inform him of the decision.
“The suspension was reduced because the way the incident was written up in the referee’s report, it wasn’t conclusive in my mind that Mr. Allison did what the report said he did,” noted Fedell, who didn’t disclose details of the report.
“He seemed pleased with the decision. I know I would be.”
As previously reported, the incident in question began after Saturday night’s 2-2 draw at the Ice for Kids Arena between the Thunder and Fort William First Nation Wolves.
After watching his team kill off twice as many power plays as the Wolves, Allison said he told referee Andrew Brewer that he had refereed “a [expletive] brutal” game, and then repeated the sentiment outside the officials’ room a short time later.
Allison could not be reached for comment this morning, but had said Tuesday that he felt the suspension was excessive and that if the league stuck to its guns, he might decline coaching in Wednesday’s all-star game.
“I think one game, maybe two, for what happened would have been sufficient,” he had said. “But a suspension is a suspension.
“If they tell me four games, then I consider the first game to be the all-star game. They can’t pick and choose which games they want me to serve the suspension.”
On the ice, the Thunder have had more difficulty against the Bulldogs than any other team this season, holding a slim 5-4-1 lead in the season series, with only one win in four tries in Thunder Bay.
The squad then returns home Tuesday for a battle at 7:30 p.m. against the defending champion Dryden Ice Dogs.