Victoria Times Colonist
October 2, 1998

VANCOUVER -- The first thing Bryan Allen did when he got back to his hotel late Wednesday was pick up the phone and call Ontario.

Forget the time difference. So what if it was past 2 a.m. in tiny Glenburnie, just north of Kingston. Allen knew his mom and dad would be up waiting for the call.

"Dad was pretty excited when I told him I got into a fight,'' grinned Allen as he stood outside the Canucks dressing room and iced his badly swollen right eye. "Later that night, I thought, 'Whoa, I just played my first NHL game here.'''

That he did. And he has one ugly looking peeper to prove it. The swelling came courtesy of a Cale Hulse uppercut in the first period of a 3-3 tie with the Calgary Flames.

"I went to blow my nose in the middle of the night and I popped something and it really swelled up,'' he said. "I couldn't see out of (the eye).''

Allen, barely 18, had a lot of concerned teammates keeping an eye out for him in his NHL debut.

After the game, Don Brashear -- a serious contender for the NHL's unofficial heavyweight title -- gave him a boxing tip.

"He told me I kept dropping my head and that's why I couldn't see the punches coming,'' said Allen.

And thus continued the NHL education of Allen, a kid some people are already comparing -- perhaps unfairly -- to St. Louis superstar Chris Pronger.

The education will continue, perhaps even into the regular season, as coach Mike Keenan entertains the possibility of using him or Brad Ference, 19, if Bryan McCabe doesn't get signed and Bret Hedican (sprained ankle) can't start the season.

"Playing Allen in the regular season depends on needs of the team,'' Keenan said.

Initiating the pair so early could put a lot of extra pressure on kids who need to play 30 minutes a night back in junior. Allen would go to Oshawa, Ont., and Ference to Spokane, Wash.

But there could also be merit in keeping them here for a while to give them a taste of NHL life.

"That's all right,'' said Keenan when asked if the pressure might be too intense. ``If he's ready, you play him. If not, then you don't.''

Meanwhile, Allen, with a swollen eye but without a swollen head, takes it all in stride. "I don't want to say that I have to make this team,'' said Allen. "Hopefully, I'll get the chance.

"Maybe I'll go back to junior for another year and maybe that's the best thing.''



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