The Kingston Whig-Standard
June 17, 1998
By Doug Graham

What will be a big two-week period of Bryan Allen's hockey career began yesterday with the Glenburnie resident being invited to the national junior team's evaluation camp next month.

Forty-one players were invited to Winnipeg, where both the evaluation camp and the world junior championship in December will be held.

In just over a week, Allen, a defenceman with the Oshawa Generals of the Ontario Hockey League, is expected to be an early selection in the National Hockey League Entry Draft in Buffalo.

The 17-year-old Allen was finishing his exams at La Salle Secondary School yesterday afternoon and wasn't aware of his junior camp invitation.

"That's news to us. Usually they send a letter out,'' said Nigel Allen, who was sure his son would be happy to have his exams end and to hear about the junior team invitation, too.

Allen, who played for the Canadian under-18 team last summer in Prague, was one of 13 defencemen invited to the selection camp, Aug. 9-17.

However, the six-foot-four, 208-pound Allen, who turns 18 on Aug. 21, and Ottawa's Nick Boynton were the only defencemen from the OHL invited. The majority of the blue-line players were from the Western Hockey League.

George Burnett of the OHL champion Guelph Storm is head coach of the national team.

Among the team's 41 selections was Vincent Lecavalier of the Rimouski Oceanic of the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League. Lecavalier is the top-rated player for the NHL entry draft. Nine of the invitees played on the Canadian team that finished eighth last winter at the World Junior Championship in Helsinki.

'VETERAN GROUP'

"This is a veteran group, with 25 19-year-old players and 16 players who are 18,'' Burnett said in a news release. "It certainly helps that the pool of candidates for the team includes so many players with international experience.''

The Kingston Frontenacs, who sent Matt Bradley to the Canadian team last year, had no players invited to the camp. The Frontenacs' Mike Zigomanis has been selected to the Canadian under-18 team that will play in a three-country tournament in the Czech Republic in August.

Besides Allen, the other OHL players receiving invitations were Justin Papineau and Jonathan Cheechoo of the Belleville Bulls, Boynton, Matt Zultek and Mark Bell of the Ottawa 67s, Scott Barney of the Peterborough Petes, Plymouth Whalers' Harold Druken and Randy Fitzgerald, London Knights' Rico Fata and Jay Legault, goaltender Pat Desrochers and forward Jeff Heerema of the Sarnia Sting, Adam Mair of the Owen Sound Platers, Guelph's Manny Malhotra, Tyler Rennett of the Erie Otters, Barrie Colts' Daniel Tkaczuk and Jason Ward of the Windsor Spitfires.

Thirty players will be invited to a selection camp in December.

LIFE OF BRYAN

What: Invitations went out yesterday to 41 players to attend the summer evaluation camp for the Canadian team that will represent Canada in the world junior hockey championship

Who: Glenburnie's Bryan Allen, a student at La Salle Secondary and a defenceman with the Oshawa Generals of the Ontario Hockey League, was invited to the Aug. 9-17 camp in Winnipeg

Rising star: After playing junior B with the Ernestown Jets as a 14-year-old, Allen was an underage draft pick by the Generals. He played on the under-17 Ontario gold-medal team in 1997 and played in the Memorial Cup as a rookie for the Generals. Last summer, Allen was on the Canadian under-18 team that won the three-nation international tournament in Prague.

Upcoming: The National Hockey League's Entry Draft on June 27 in Buffalo. Allen, 17, is expected to be among the top five picks.



BACK