The Province
July 6, 1999
By Terry Bell

He's not yet 19 and already Bryan Allen has had enough bad luck to make a grizzled veteran whine.

Yes, that was the young defenceman sitting at Burnaby 8-Rinks on Monday watching Canucks conditioning coach Peter Twist put some of the team's prospects through a series of workouts. That was Allen with his right foot in a cast.

Allen, the Canucks top pick (fourth overall) in the '98 entry draft, fractured his right foot Friday attempting to negotiate a flight of stairs at the family home north of Kingston, Ont. He'll be out four to six weeks and will miss the Team Canada junior camp in Toronto in August.

"It's definitely a bit of a setback but it should be OK by training camp," said Allen, who had MCL knee surgery last summer.

In training camp last season he separated his shoulder in a fight and played in just 37 games with OHL Oshawa last year.

"This isn't very good timing," he said of the injury. "But I still can do the upper-body work.

"I haven't much luck whenever I've come to this city, but I've got to deal with it."

The Canucks have signed Allen to a three-year deal and expect him to play for them this season. GM Brian Burke has said he'd be shocked if Allen, who turns 19 on Aug. 21, doesn't make the team.

When the Canucks traded defenceman Bryan McCabe to Chicago so they could draft the Sedin twins Daniel and Henrik, Burke was asked how he plans to fill the hole on the blueline. "Bryan Allen may have to play more minutes," he said.

This flatters Allen, but doesn't unsettle him.

"I'm glad (Burke) is saying those things. It's nice to hear."

The 6-foot-5 Allen has been working with a personal trainer and bulked up to 220 pounds. He weighed 207 at camp last year.

"The shoulder and the knee felt really good," he said. "It was the best I'd felt in a long time, until Friday."



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