THE process of changing a hockey coach's or executive's mind usually moves at a pace between glacial and political.

Manitoba Moose defenceman Max Fortunus has first-hand knowledge of this challenge, though his impossible dream isn't always that impossible -- ask Jason Jaffray, Josh Green, Alex Burrows, Rick Rypien or Patrick Coulombe, all of whom have signed NHL deals after originally being contracted only to the Moose.

It's just that generally, the undrafted are unloved when it comes to NHL teams.

There may be a warming under way, however small, for the 24-year-old Quebecer who is about to begin his third season with the Moose.

"I know (Canucks assistant) Mike Kelly was a big Max Fortunus fan and I think Rick (Bowness, the other Vancouver assistant) is now, too," Moose coach Scott Arniel said Thursday. "Rick runs the 'D' and I think Max kind of grew on him."

Fortunus, a non-contracted player, actually made two pre-season appearances for the Canucks. Such an acknowledgment has to say something, doesn't it?

"Would Max have gotten a game without all the injuries? I don't know," Arniel said. "It would have been close. There were other people they might have looked at. But Max was real good in camp and so they gave him a game and he played so well he got a second one.

"That's the thing about Max, he grows on you. He's not flashy, he's consistent and that's what he did in Vancouver's camp, played his game."

Fortunus's rainy-day face has rarely been seen in these parts and he was his happy self Thursday, just two days after being re-assigned.

"I went there to make the team," Fortunus said. "You take a look at their roster, though, and you have to be realistic. It could have happened. You just never know. But now I'm coming back here to have another good season, maybe open some eyes still and maybe these guys will pick me up and maybe one day something's going to happen.

"But I'm here to have a great season and have some fun."

He was positively confident he gave his best in Vancouver, and that it might have mattered.

"It was great," he said. "I think I actually did open some eyes, maybe. I think I did my best. It's all I can do. It's why I went, to show those guys what I can do.

"Maybe that'll be good for the future."

The NHL exhibition appearances, the first two of his career, meant a lot, he said.

"It was awesome," Fortunus said. "I didn't play the first two games, was in the stands and I wanted to be out there so bad. Just with the feeling and the crowd, all those people and seeing those big names, Getzlaf, Pronger, like that, and then playing against them, what a great feeling.

"I'm glad about what I did there. And I'm coming back here not satisfied. I played two good games there and it's part of a dream that's just starting to come through. I'll keep on playing good here and who knows."

For the present, Fortunus has plenty of friends in these parts.

"I think he lives at (assistant coach Brad Berry's) house in the off-season he loves him so much," Arniel said. "And I do, too. He's real reliable. You look down the bench and you know he's a guy that gives you the same night in and night out. He's the same player, a safe, solid player.

"And as much as Alex Edler is going to be a good NHL player and defender, I think he recognizes that Max Fortunus had a lot to do with his development last year. Max is a real easy guy to play with and real helpful as a partner."