The Vancouver Sun
February 27, 2001
By Elliott Pap

ST. PAUL, Minn. -- Nearly three years after the Vancouver Canucks made him the fourth over-all pick in the entry draft, Bryan Allen stepped into an NHL game Monday and emerged without stubbing a toe.

The oft-injured defenceman, who is enjoying a rare healthy year, played 11 minutes and 11 seconds in the Canucks' 5-2 victory over the Minnesota Wild. He recorded two hits, had no giveaways and took one cannonading shot that missed the net. He even saw some power-play time.

Allen earned another chance with his performance and returned to Vancouver, rather than minor-league Kansas City, when the night was done.

"It's quite a different atmosphere and it was pretty exciting,'' said the 20-year-old Kingston native. "What will I remember most? Probably that it was a win.''

Mattias Ohlund, who partnered Allen on most of his shifts, was impressed with the 230-pounder's lack of panic or nervous mistakes.

"For his first game, he played well,'' Ohlund said. "He played exceptionally well.''

Canuck head coach Marc Crawford deployed Allen carefully and was able to give him more ice time once the Canucks pulled into a three-goal lead. Allen played five shifts in the opening period, just three in the second and had seven in the third. Crawford found a number of things promising in Allen's game.

"He has good poise, he has his head up most of the time and he moves the puck very well,'' Crawford said. "His first pass is direct and he does a really good job of finding the open man. He let one shot go from the point that looked very difficult to handle, which was nice to see.''

Meanwhile, rambunctious Canuck forward Matt Cooke apparently was not concussed Monday after he was clobbered into the boards by 240-pound Wild enforcer Matt Johnson. The latter received a charging major for leaving his feet .

Cooke claimed he had nothing more than a normal headache.

"It's not a concussion, I don't have any symptoms,'' said Cooke, who sat out the remaining 7:54 of the game. "I just have a headache from where I took the blow. I got hit hard and got my bell rung. I didn't even see him. I didn't except him to leave the point and come down and hit me. He wasn't my man.''



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