The Vancouver Sun
September 11, 2000
By Elliott Pap

Bryan Allen emerged from the workout room at the Burnaby 8-Rinks complex Sunday looking far different than he had at any time last season. His constant companions a year ago, ice packs here and ice packs there, were no where to be seen.

"No problems at all,'' said the towering defenceman. "Everything feels a lot better than it has. I know my body pretty well, that's one thing I've learned.''

Injuries have been the Bryan Allen story for two years now. Since being drafted fourth over-all by the Vancouver Canucks in 1998, Allen has dislocated his shoulder, broken his foot and hurt both knees.

His name became a hyphenated elongated jumble. It was never just Bryan Allen but rather the injury-prone Bryan Allen or the surgically-repaired Bryan Allen.

Could the kid play? Who knew? He was never healthy and rarely on the ice.

This is his third training camp with the Canucks and the first time he is in one piece.

"Sometimes you aren't sure how bad things are so you keep too much to yourself,'' Allen said, reflecting on his first two camps. "You know . . . it's training camp and you're trying to prove yourself as much as possible. You don't want to say you can't play. It's a tough call when you have injuries.

"You have to know whether you're hurt or you're injured. If you're hurt, you can still play. If you're injured, you probably shouldn't be out there.''

There is no telling how much the injuries have set Allen back. General manager Brian Burke claimed two years ago that Allen had the team made but then the parties could not agree on a contract and Allen returned to junior.

Last year, Allen struggled through the pre-season before it became apparent he required knee surgery. He had shoulder surgery as well. He did not play a competitive game until late February and that was for minor-league Syracuse.

The Canucks, it seems obvious, are not counting on him for this season. Allen was not included on the Swedish roster while two free-agent signees, Scott Lachance and Bryan Helmer, were. Could the message be any clearer? Allen's ticket to the new farm team in Kansas City looks all but punched.

"I didn't really set my sights on Sweden,'' shrugged Allen, 20. "I just tried to get myself ready for a healthy camp. As far as them signing two defencemen, it's their call. It's out of my hands and out of my control. You can't think about those things. Whether they sign two guys or 10 guys, you're still trying to make the team and they're still going to take the best six guys to start the season.''

Due to his status as a first-round pick, Allen will be given every benefit of the doubt. He will be judged more on his pre-season games than on his training camp scrimmages. Nonetheless, he is leaving little to chance.

"Yes, I think the pre-season games will be the most important time for me but I think it carries on from the way you play here,'' said the the 6'5'', 225-pound native of Kingston. "You're going to get a bit more of an opportunity the better you play here.''

Kansas City coach Stan Smyl, who is running the Burnaby camp, was reserved in his first-day judgement of Allen.

"As the scrimmage went on, I thought he got better,'' Smyl said. "In the first half, I thought he was trying to force the play and he gave the puck away and that's not him. He really settled down in the second part of the scrimmage.''

Both Nathan and Tim Smith, not related, did not scrimmage Sunday. Nathan Smith, the Canucks' 2000 first-rounder (24th over-all), is recovering from an ankle sprain and may scrimmage Wednesday. Tim Smith, drafted in the ninth round (272nd) last June, has both a shoulder injury and charley horse and has been ruled off the ice for the entire week.

CAMP SHORTS -- Unsigned defenceman Brent Sopel has taken out insurance in the event he is injured before agreeing to a new contract . . . Thatcher Bell was the only player to score more than one goal in Sunday's scrimmage, won 7-4 by the Bryan Allen-Alfie Michaud White team. Steve Kariya had a goal and an assist for thelosers. There were four fights . . . The Canucks added two players to the Burnaby camp, centre Doug Ast and right winger Shane Kuss.



BACK