Terry and Kim Pegula have made training, rehab and sports science the cornerstones of their ownership. They’ve expanded the performance departments of the Bills and Sabres. They spent $18 million to build a performance center at the Bills’ complex that is regarded as the class of the NFL.
Now they’re fighting in court to make sure the Sabres’ strength and conditioning coach gets to stay in the United States.
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U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services has denied an immigrant alien worker petition for Edward Anthony Gannon, a native of the United Kingdom who was hired as the team’s strength and conditioning coach in 2015. On Tuesday, Gannon and the Sabres’ owners (formally known as Hockey Western New York, LLC) filed a suit in U.S. District Court against federal immigration officials for wrongly denying the application.
The lawsuit says the denial interferes with the owners’ ability to “successfully conduct its operations in the U.S. and potentially subject them to substantial financial harm and disruption in developing their athletes if Dr. Gannon needs to depart the U.S.”
Gannon, who has a doctorate in applied strength and conditioning from the University of Bath in England, joined the Sabres when the Pegulas began their substantial expansion of the performance department. Gannon has been working under temporary nonimmigrant status, which is approved in increments up to five years with a total stay of 10 years.
“Let me stress that we selected Ed after an exhaustive search across the world of professional sports performance,” Kim Pegula wrote on Gannon’s behalf. “We spanned the globe to find an elite Strength and Conditioning expert because this role is absolutely critical to our overall organizational success. It is a critical role that is fundamental to our organization’s success both on and off the ice.
“We spend tens of millions of dollars each year on world class athletes. We require our Head of Strength and Conditioning to expertly monitor and train these athletes so they achieve success on the ice. It is a critical role that we entrust to someone who also has world-class credentials and who can properly take care of our valuable assets.”
The immigration department, which has tightened its rules under President Trump, declared that Gannon failed to meet the final determination for approval by being unable to show he has sustained national or international acclaim and failed to demonstrate that he has risen to the very top of his field.
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Immigration officials said evidence provided on Gannon’s behalf was given by only a few people, featured “several solicited letters from ‘trainers’ at athletic organizations” and included solicited colleagues “who claim” they utilize Gannon’s research findings and strategies with their own work.
“An individual with sustained national or international acclaim should be able to produce unsolicited materials reflecting that acclaim,” the immigration department wrote in its denial. “For instance, you did not submit national or international media describing the beneficiary’s significant original contributions.”
The Pegulas and Gannon scoff at those reasons for denial. They say immigration officials misstate facts, improperly ignore evidence and apply an artificially heightened standard of review.
“It is not common practice for professionals to write ‘unsolicited’ letters for colleagues,” the lawsuit states. “How else would these letters be obtained? Coincidence? Serendipity?
“The term ‘solicited’ in the denial is used in the pejorative and intimates that these expert letters lack accuracy and veracity, yet the denial decision offers no basis for that skepticism.”
The Sabres and Gannon insist he is among the world’s leaders in athletic training. They say he achieves that simply by being the head of strength and conditioning for a team in one of the four major sports, noting that only 31 positions exist in the NHL.
The lawsuit also claims Gannon is an innovator who created groundbreaking research on how force platform analysis can improve development at key milestones throughout a professional season. They say his research has changed the way strength and conditioning professionals in the field monitor and track lower-body strength and power, which are key indicators of an athlete’s readiness to perform at a high level. They also noted his lectures at leading universities and sports conferences.
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“He prepares players to lower their risk of injury, identifies trends that may be indicative of leading to an injury and helps return players to play from injury more quickly,” the plaintiffs wrote. “Gannon plays a critical role for the organization as a whole to reduce the financial cost of players’ lost game time through effective and efficient prevention strategies in the areas of mobility, stability, balance, strength, power and conditioning. This is critical as injury to key players can reduce the team’s chances of winning and represents a significant financial cost to the organization.
“Gannon is compensated at a high level compared to other professionals in his field in the NHL.”
The lawsuit requests that federal officials withdraw their denial and approve Gannon’s immigration application. There is no timeline on the lawsuit, but the Pegulas and Gannon are hoping for a quick resolution.
“Ed is a vital member of our team,” Kim Pegula wrote, “and his position as Head of Strength and Conditioning is testament to his leadership and expertise within his field.”
(Top photo of Gannon (left) at the 2018 NHL Scouting Combine: Bill Wippert/NHLI via Getty Images)
