Looking at the weather report this week from east of the Rockies, it's safe to say Taylor Allan is glad hockey season starts in September.
That means he's now in Prince George and not in his hometown of Calgary, which got buried this week in a 50-centimetre dump of fresh snow. Considering it's still officially summer, he'd much rather have a hockey stick in his hands than a snow shovel. He's been sticking exclusively to hockey the past three weeks getting ready for his first full season in the B.C. Hockey League with the Prince George Spruce Kings.
The Kings acquired the 19-year-old centre along with 20-year-old defenceman Valik Chichkin in an off-season trade with the Cowichan Valley Capitals that sent 20-year-old defenceman Skylar Pacheco and future considerations to Duncan. Allan came to the BCHL in January in a mid-season trade that sent him to Cowichan from the Okotoks Oilers of the AJHL. In 55 games last season with the Oilers and Capitals he collected 27 points.
"It's a bit easier adjusting this time, knowing what to go through and being with a new team at the beginning of the season where I'm not the only new guy," said Allan. "The guys here are great and they've been really open to having new guys here, it's like a huge family here.
"I see my role as being a top-six guy playing the middle or on the wing and I can put the puck in the net. I can quarterback the power play and set up plays pretty well and I'm willing to go in the corners. I'm a pretty big guy and I use my body well and go to the dirty areas to open up space for some of the guys."
Allan has been centring a line with bruising wingers Jake LeBrun and Brent Lashuk and that combination might be working together again tonight when the Kings play the Vipers in Vernon - the first of a weekend exhibition series that concludes with the Vipers visiting the Kings at the Coliseum Saturday night.
"Taylor is a big guy and he shoots the puck well and has good hands and he plays both ends of the rink and he'll be good for us," said Kings head coach Dave Dupas. "He's a leader and a positive influence in the dressing room. A lot of times those two-way guys aren't guys you notice right away. He just does a lot of the little things, he's feisty and for a guy who plays a lot of minutes he's more than capable of scoring."
The Kings open their season on Friday, Sept. 20 when they face Nanaimo at the BCHL Showcase in Chilliwack.
The Kings are blessed with a core of offensive-minded forwards and Allan possesses a wide assortment of finishing skills around the net. But he also plays with an edge. He's not afraid to drop the gloves if it comes to that and last season scrapped with Spruce Kings forward Matt Painchaud when the Kings visited Cowichan Valley.
"He's the type of player we needed here," said Kings general manager Mike Hawes. "He's good offensively but he's also defensively responsible. He's a player the coaching staff will be able to rely on in all situations and those are good guys to have on your team.
"He played a lot in Cowichan, and he was a big part of their team and I expect him to do the same here playing a bigger role for our team."
Allan stands six feet tall and weighs 185 pounds but he's only average in stature compared to his teammates. The Kings recruited some sizable bodies over the summer, addressing one of the team's weaknesses last season which led to a first-round playoff exit.
That bulking-up process is obvious to Allan and he can look to Chichkin as an example. Now in his fourth BCHL season after stints with Langley, Trail and Cowichan, Chichkin is a six-foot-three, 206-pound behemoth with fleet feet.
"He has good hands, he can skate, he loves jumping into the play, and he's tough to get around," said Allan. "He's very good defensively and he's good at moving the puck and he has a good first pass from the net.
"We have a lot of size, and not only do we have size but we have big guys who can skate. We play on a smaller rink and we hope to use our size to our advantage."
