From the Des Moines Register:

Dave Allison’s attempt to move from professional to amateur hockey has been derailed by immigration issues, leaving the Des Moines Buccaneers scrambling for a new coach two weeks before training camp is to open. Allison, who coached the Iowa Stars for three seasons, was hired by the Bucs on June 30. But the resident of Canada resigned last week to take a job as a scout with the NHL’s Pittsburgh Penguins because it was unclear whether he would qualify for the proper work permit if he stayed with the Bucs.

“Because it’s an amateur team, you have to show an extraordinary ability” in your profession to get a work permit, Allison said Wednesday. “It’s for sort of obscure vocations. I love coaching, but I have a huge responsibility to my family. (The Penguins job) allows me to stay in Des Moines and stay in hockey.” Allison has a P-1 work permit typically issued to professional athletes and those working for pro sports leagues. But he was told he needed to get an O-1 work permit to coach the U.S. Hockey League team. The O-1 is for someone with “extraordinary ability in the sciences, arts, education, business, or athletics, or extraordinary achievements in the motion picture and television field, who have received ‘sustained national or international acclaim,’ ” according to U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services.

That process can take up to a month, and Allison said as time dragged on, he became less certain that he would be granted the O-1. With a job offer from the Penguins, he eventually felt compelled to act. “He came in and said, ‘I can’t wait any longer,’ ” Bucs general manager J.P. Parise said. “Needless to say, I almost had a heart attack. That is not what I wanted to hear. I was so counting on him. He was a good coach.” Parise said he has two coaching candidates, and he plans to name a successor Friday. Training camp begins Sept. 9.

“It’s a little stressful, but we will fix it,” Parise said. “I promised the fans and our management that we’d clean up and start fresh (after finishing last in the division three consecutive seasons). And we will do that.” Allison’s new job includes scouting USHL players. “I was looking forward to coaching the Bucs, and I wish them well,” he said. “I still think they will get things turned around and have a terrific season.”

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