Winnipeg Sun
Friday, October 26, 2001
By Kirk Penton -- Winnipeg Sun

Bryan Allen is ready, willing and able to make his mark on the NHL this season, but there's one crucial problem with his plan.

He's not in the NHL right now.

The 6-foot-4, 210-pound defenceman was finally injury free this past summer, enabling him to work out longer, harder and faster at his Kingston, Ont., cottage. He reported to his third Vancouver Canucks training camp in September never more ready to make the jump to the NHL high draft choices are supposed to make.

Unfortunately for Allen, he is almost 3,000 kilometres away from living that dream. He made Vancouver's roster at the start of the season, but on Tuesday -- a mere nine games into the NHL season -- the Canucks assigned him to the Manitoba Moose to start all over again.

Allen spent 75 games with the Kansas City Blades last season and only eight with the Canucks -- including a pair of playoff games. He believes he might have remained with the big club this fall had it gotten off to a better start than 2-6-1.

"You can't expect too much when you're a young guy," the 21-year-old said yesterday after practice. "But they felt it was easy to send me down and I could get some ice time. Hopefully I won't be here too long."

Unlike the past two years, when Allen's summer workouts were limited because of shoulder, foot and knee injuries, he doesn't have any serious ailments standing in his way as he tries to make his stay in Winnipeg a short one.

The only roadblock now is showing he belongs and, at the same time, dealing with a demotion.

"I'm just starting to learn that game now so that's going to be a new outlook on things," said Allen, the Canucks fourth overall pick in the 1998 draft. "Injuries are tough and they're something you can't do anything about. Hopefully at this stage right now, there is something you can do about it. You can prove yourself and prove to be up there."

Moose head coach Stan Smyl believes it's only a matter of time before Allen establishes himself in the NHL.

"He has a very bright future," Smyl said. "I know he's having the adversity of being a first-rounder and getting the injuries and dealing with them. He's made something of it. He's gotten himself back in good health and he's getting stronger.

"When he gets (to Vancouver permanently) I know he'll be ready for it. He's very patient, he learns fast and he asks questions. When the time comes, he'll be a natural NHLer."



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