The conundrum in the Crane, as in Frank Crane Arena, continues. The Nanaimo Clippers coaching carousel has veteran Bob Beatty handling the bench duties as interim head coach but it is not known for how long.
Beatty, who has guided the team to a 3-2 record, has taken over from Darren Naylor, who with Clippers assistant coach Colin Birkas, has been placed on temporary administrative leave by the sa国际传媒 Hockey League for allegedly breaching the league’s coaches code of conduct. The BCHL has not specified what exactly those alleged breaches are, leaving an air of uncertainty hanging over the situation.
The BCHL informed the Clippers players of their decision to suspend Naylor and Birkas in an email to them on Feb. 7, and the league has hired an independent investigator to look into matters.
The Clippers are looking for some clarity.
“At this stage, the investigation initiated by the BCHL, is still ongoing and I really don’t know where the investigator is at, except to say that he hasn’t spoken to the coaches yet to get their version of the events,” Clippers owner Wes Mussio told the sa国际传媒 this week.
Impatience might be building.
“The Clippers hope that the investigation will be concluded quickly and a decision rendered shortly thereafter, because as of today, the coaches [Naylor and Birkas] will have missed five games due to the BCHL imposed administrative leave,” added Mussio, who is a lawyer.
“Bob Beatty was brought in as an interim coach pending the outcome of the BCHL investigation. The Clippers are uncertain as to how long he will be coaching the team as it depends on how long the investigation takes and what the outcome of the investigation is.”
The sa国际传媒 contacted the BCHL on Tuesday.
“We are still awaiting the results of the independent investigation. It is not completed, yet,” said Jesse Adamson, manager of communications for the BCHL.
In a team statement on Feb. 11, Mussio said: “A complaint was brought forth to our attention back on October. We immediately did our own internal investigation and found no serious issues.”
Meanwhile, Beatty coached the Cowichan Valley Capitals to the BCHL playoffs in 2015-16 and 2016-17. He was also head coach of the Humboldt Broncos and La Ronge Ice Wolves, winning the Saskatchewan Junior Hockey League championship with the Ice Wolves in 2010-11. Beatty most recently has been coaching the Shawnigan Lake School U-15 prep team. Beatty played minor-pro hockey from Erie to Utica and Salem to Syracuse.
The Clippers are third in the BCHL Coastal Conference at 26-15-2 and are next set to play Friday night in Langley against the Rivermen.
