By Andrew Allsman| Posted: June 13th, 2012| Contact |
Peoria Rivermen general manager Kevin McDonald announced
Wednesday, one day after the firing of Jared Bednar, that the new head coach of
the Rivermen will be current Pittsburgh Penguins scout Dave Allison.
Allison, 53, is an 18-year veteran head coach and has coached in several leagues developing players for the National Hockey League. Allison spent 25 games as the interim coach of the Ottawa Senators in the 1995-96 season. Allison has been with three other American Hockey League teams: Prince Edward Island (1994-96), Milwaukee (2001-02) and Iowa (2005-08) and has accumulated a record of 199-179-20-25 in 420 games as head coach. These statistics are average at best, but the general tone set by the Blues is that they hired him for developmental purposes.
Allison, before joining Pittsburgh was a part of the player
development team for the Colorado Avalanche.
“With the track record Dave has with developing young players
as well as his commitment and passion to the sport, we know we have found the
right fit for Peoria,” said Rivermen general manager Kevin McDonald. “We are
extremely excited to welcome Dave to the Rivermen family.”
Allison, as a player, has 10 years of experience, including
games played in the IHL, the AHL, and the NHL.
The experience that he brings will be instrumental in developing the
players within the Blues organization, and with players like Ty Rattie, Jaden
Schwartz, Cade Fairchild, and Vladimir Tarasenko, all whom the Blues expect to
be good NHL players, in the system, the Blues needed to bring someone on board
to aid in their development, but it had to be someone who had a proven record
of doing so.
Allison has had a hand in the development of players including James Neal, Mike Smith, Loui Eriksson, Brett Lindros, B.J. Crombeen, and the late, Pavol Demitra.
As suggested yesterday, the new coach would have ties to
someone in the organization, either Ken Hitchcock or Doug Armstrong. Allison spent his time with the Iowa Stars,
AHL affiliates of the Dallas Stars, under then-general manager of the NHL
Stars, Doug Armstrong.
Allison will continue to assist the Penguins until the 2012
draft (June 22-23) is over, and will remain with the team until June 30 before
joining the Blues organization.
“I am excited for the opportunity to join Peoria and coach
these young men who are the future of the St. Louis Blues,” said Allison. “To
work again with Doug [Armstrong] and the quality people associated with the St
Louis Blues organization is humbling and exciting for both myself and my
family, and a responsibility I embrace and am grateful for.”