A hockey coach suspended for giving his Pee Wee AAA team punitive pushups is speaking out for the first time.

Louis Isabella was suspended for the season by the Lac St. Louis Hockey Association after complaints by parents that he forced his players to do punitive pushups following the team's 7-2 loss on Sept.18.

Speaking on TSN 690 with Tony Marinaro Friday, Isabella defended his coaching methods.

Parents and children said that Isabella had ordered the children to do at least 100 pushups after the loss, with some saying the players did more than 300 pushups.

He said he gave the team 70 to 100 pushups not because they lost, but because of their attitudes in the game.

“During that game, the players were a little bit distraught. They were bickering at each other. The game wasn’t going their way because of a lack of effort and work ethic. The players were disrespecting each other on the bench, also they were very disrespectful to the coaches,” he said.

Isabella denies claims he had the 12-year-olds perform “hundreds of pushups,” saying they did ten at a time in intervals over a span of 20 minutes.

“I only let them do what they were capable of at that age group,” said Isabella. “They’re 12-year-old kids, they can’t even handle those types of pushups.”

Parents had reported that a few players missed school the day after the game.

Isabella, who has coached Pee Wee hockey for some 20 years, said he was disappointed with how the decision to suspend him came about. He said he only heard from the region ten days later that he would have to step aside.

“I was a little shocked because of the way everything unfolded,” he said, explaining that he never had a conversation with parents and no complaint was made to the league.

He also said none of the players complained to him about the pushups.

“Nobody complained in the room. I would never force a kid who was ill or injured,” he said, adding that he did pushups when he played minor hockey. “I don’t think it’s anything malicious… It’s a form of discipline we use for many years. It was trying to get the players back on track.”

Isabella said the hockey team is a AAA team with elite-level players, and this was not a recreational team.

“I’m sorry if things got out of hand, I just wish them all the best,” he said.

Isabella is permitted to return to coaching next season. He said he doesn’t have plans so far to return, but if he does, is open to foregoing the pushups as a form of discipline.

“I can change. There are always new ways of doing things,” he said.