Coach Allison takes to the ice in Des Moines
Hockey comes as naturally to Dave Allison as breathing. He grew up in Canada, in a family where introduction to the sport was a rite of passage. His father, a former hockey player himself, had him in ice skates the moment he could walk. Like so many other boys, he dreamed of becoming a professional athlete. But for Allison, those dreams became reality. A defenseman, he spent 10 years playing professional hockey, including six years with the Montreal Canadiens and one year with the Edmonton Oilers. He was part of the Muskegon Lumberjacks’ Turner Cup championship team in 1987, a highlight of his professional career. He made the transition into coaching in 1988, when he moved to Halifax, Nova Scotia, to serve as a player assistant coach and team captain. He has now spent more than 15 seasons as a head coach, and has developed and coached players such as Pavol Demitra and Brett Lindros. Now, the task ahead is to bring a brand-new hockey team to a brand-new arena as head coach of the Iowa Stars.
Did you enjoy life in Canada?
I loved the changing of the seasons. Home is where the heart is, and I’ve always enjoyed Canada. I still have a cabin there that I have to go about seven miles by boat to get to. It has no electricity, but it’s our sanctuary. It’s been in our family for 46 years. My dad bought it when I was born and I bought it from them when I coached in Ottawa.
What is life like as a professional athlete?
I think it’s the greatest life in the world. Every day is like Christmas. You get up, you go and practice, you work your ass off in practice, and then you’ve got half a day. And I think what we’re trying to get across to these guys is that it’s a journey. Explore the city and explore all it has to offer you. Guys want to play in the National Hockey League. That’s why they’re here. But while you’re here, enjoy it, man.
Was it tough to quit playing to turn to coaching?
No, because I started looking into getting into this profession. I didn’t get into this profession because I didn’t have anything else. I prepared for it by going to seminars, by becoming a players assistant coach, and I played for 10 years. If I couldn’t have gone into coaching, I would have played another year.
What has made coaching such a gratifying career?
It’s about trying to have people learn from your mistakes, trying to make people wise as opposed to smart, where they have to learn the mistakes themselves. Hopefully we as coaches and parents can expedite the process and they can learn from our mistakes and other people’s mistakes. I just think there’s joy when everything you talk about as a group comes together and you see people playing with a passion for the game and a passion for each other. And that doesn’t come easy.
How have you developed your coaching philosophy?
I’ve played for different guys and read about the ways people do it and try to evolve as a person. Being a parent has allowed me to think about how I would deal with my child here. You cannot yell and scream, and you want them to understand to do the right thing because it’s the right thing to do. You’re always going to get guys who test you, or your own kids test you.
Whom have you looked up to during your career?
I think every guy looks up to his dad. Whether people say that’s corny or not, that’s just the way it is. In coaching, I think that you watch the great coaches, like Bobby Cox in Atlanta and how he does it with 14 division titles. Mike Krzyzewski – how does he do it? Scotty Bowman – how does he do it? And you try to look at those people with longevity. How is it that these people have been able to be great teachers and educators and stay at the same place for a long time? What makes them successful? It’s probably their humanity and humility and the support they get from their administrators.
Have you been able to adjust to life in Iowa?
Iowa has been an absolute gift. The people I work with have made it a wonderful work environment. The building itself (Wells Fargo Arena) gives you everything you need as a player and a team to get better. And the community is our community. The guys have great opportunities and all kinds of things they can do here to explore the city. And this isn’t minor-league hockey. This is major-league hockey in a major city with major fans and major players.
How have your players taken to Des Moines?
I honestly have never seen kids that have been as excited about living and starting their journey of playing in a new city. I haven’t had one kid who’s not excited about the building, the people, our team and how people have treated them. It’s excellent.
Can Des Moines be a hockey town?
We can do anything here in Des Moines if we choose to. We’re going to bring a product here that’s enjoyable to watch. I expect our guys to be role models for kids. I expect people to come here and enjoy not only the entertainment on the ice but the entertainment in the stands. This is Des Moines’ team. What a wonderful opportunity for the whole community to have something that we’re all proud of. They built it; let’s use it. And this will help the downtown businesses. It’s just a win-win situation for everybody.
What is this year’s team capable of?
I think this year’s team is capable of growth. And I think that if we grow quickly and we can be wise about it, we will have an unbelievable team by the end of the year. I think the biggest thing that we have is the ability to grow together. We’ve got skill, we’ve got speed, we’ve got size, we’ve got toughness, we’ve got goaltending. We’ve got all the components. Now it’s just about working them all together into one cumulative machine.