Winnipeg Sun
Monday, December 11, 2001
By Ken Wiebe -- Winnipeg Sun

The real Martin Brochu stood up and teams around the AHL are taking notice.

When you look for reasons why the Moose had such a successful road trip -- despite a grueling stretch of seven games in 10 games -- the stellar play of the veteran netminder should rate somewhere near the top of the list.

Brochu, who lost his first three games with the Moose after opening the season 0-3 with the parent Vancouver Canucks, allowed just 10 goals in five starts on the swing while posting a solid record of 3-1-1 to leave him 5-4-1 on the season with a 3.04 GAA.

"He's made some big saves and that's what you look for from Broch," said Moose head coach Stan Smyl, who felt it was only a matter of time until Brochu began to shine. "He's starting to feel more comfortable and you can see that. It's why he's been an MVP at this level (in 1999-00 with the Portland Pirates)."

Among the vintage performances was a 41-save effort at Harbour Station in Saint John to open the trip with a 5-1 triumph over the Flames and a 30-save outing last Friday to preserve a 3-3 tie with the Utah Grizzlies.

His only defeat came in a hard-luck 2-1 loss to the Quebec Citadelles on Dec. 3 at the Pepsi Colisee, where the Moose gave up a power-play goal with 2:08 to go in the third period.

Top prospect: During the two games against the Utah Grizzlies, Moose defenceman Bryan Allen continued to open some eyes with his strong play alongside Zenith Komarniski.

"He's the top prospect for the NHL that I've seen in the American League in the games that we've played," said Grizzlies head coach Don Hay.



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