Toronto Star
January 9, 1999
By Josh Rubin

When Bryan Allen was picked for the junior national team, it raised a few eyebrows.

After all, even though the Oshawa General defender was the first pick of the Vancouver Canucks last summer, he's still only 18 years old, a year younger than most of the national side.

Now that Allen and his teammates are the proud owners of world junior silver medals, doubts about the wisdom of his selection have been met head on.

Even Barry Trapp, the director of scouting for Canadian hockey and a big Allen fan, says he was surprised by Allen's showing at the world tournament in Winnipeg.

"I thought he improved every game he played. He did a lot better than I expected him to do. He was playing against the best talent in the world,'' said Trapp, noting the tournament has traditionally been dominated by 19-year-olds.

Allen led Canadian defencemen in scoring with a goal and two assists, and was a plus four. The goal proved crucial, sending the gold medal game against Russia into overtime.

Trapp says Allen's over-all package is what makes him appealing.

"His size and his skating ability and the way he handles the puck are all top-notch. Once he fills right out, he'll be fantastic,'' said Trapp, who was also part of the braintrust which selected Allen to the Ontario under-18 team last season.

The first time Trapp saw Allen was when the Kingston-area native was just 16.

"He was a big gangling kid who couldn't really skate all that well, but once he got used to his size, wow . . . ,'' said Trapp. Allen is 6-foot-5 and weighs 217 pounds.

With Allen, the Generals have a strong defensive corps. Without him, they're just average, as they were last night although they managed to turn back the struggling Mississauga IceDogs 3-1. The IceDogs, with the weakest offence in the league, managed 32 shots through two periods against the Generals, who have allowed Allen a few days off to recover from bumps and bruises suffered during the world tournament.

Surprisingly, Allen's international performance might not be enough to earn him a contract with the Canucks. Despite a shoulder injury during training camp, Allen could well have been with the Canucks this season but his agent, Larry Kelly, wasn't able to come to terms with the NHL side. Steve Tambellini, Vancouver's VP of player personnel, wouldn't say whether Allen's stock had risen to the point where the team would be more likely to agree to his undisclosed demands.



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