Skip navigation
Favorites
Sign up to follow your favorites on all your devices.
Sign up

Junior coach who let players study for exams gets suspension overturned

Mt Pearl

As we previously reported, Mount Pearl Junior Blades coach Brian Cranford, who has been volunteering in that position for the last 20 years, was suspended for the 2012-13 season after he allowed his players to skip the opening ceremony of the Don Johnson Cup tournament. He did so because they were in the middle of their university exams.

Well, Cranford has since received a bit of good news as his suspension has been overturned.

“In the interests of fairness, the [appeals committee] has determined that the decision to suspend the appellant should be overturned and, as such, the appellant’s suspension shall be lifted, effective immediately,” Hockey Canada stated in a letter, according to CBC.

They determined that Cranford did breached the tournament regulations. However, the prescribed punishment for such a transgression was already listed in the rules and it did not include the suspension of the coach.

“Had HNL wished to reserve the right to suspend the appellant, it should have included wording to that effect in ... the regulations, so that anyone who was considering failing to appear at the opening ceremonies and banquet would have been fully aware of the consequences of taking that action,” the letter stated.

It’s worth adding that Hockey Newfoundland and Labrador gave Cranford an award last year.

(Photo courtesy Mt. Pearl Junior Blades and Colin Peddle Photography.)