Allen | Young goalie anxious to show what he can do on the international stage for Canada at world jr. tourney

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By BRUCE HALLIHAN
hallihan.bruce@dailygleaner.com

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For the second straight year, Jake Allen has made it to the final four stage among goaltenders vying for a spot on the Canadian junior hockey team.

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Determined to be part of Canadian rush for gold: Fredericton's Jake Allen, 19, who has played the last two seasons with the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League's Montreal Juniors, will be one of four goaltenders attending the national junior development camp in Saskatoon, Sask. Aug. 5-10 with the goal of earning a spot on Canada's national junior team which will be vying for its sixth straight world gold medal at the tournament beginning Dec. 26 in Regina. He was among the final four last year as well but didn't make the final grade. Allen, a second-round draft pick of the St. Louis Blues in 2008, has experienced success at the international level, backstopping the Canadian U18 team coached by NHLer Pat Quinn to a gold medal at the world championship in Russia in 2008. He was named tournament most valuable player.

He's hoping to be the final one.

"I'd love to be leading the charge to gold," said Allen, fresh off a four-day goalie evaluation camp in Calgary. "If that's not my role, then I'll do whatever it takes. But I just want to get there first and see how things go."

Allen, the 2008 Leo Hayes High School graduate drafted 34th overall by the St. Louis Blues last summer, was on the short list for the 2009 national under-20 team, too.

But Tampa Bay Lightning prospect Dustin Tokarski and Nashville Predators' first-round pick Chet Pickard beat out Allen and Tyson Sexsmith for the two spots. Tokarski went on to backstop Canada to its fifth straight world junior hockey title.

"I was disappointed not to be part of the team, but I was happy for them obviously," Allen said. "Just like all hockey fans in this country, I'm still a fan. It was neat watching what guys I played against in camp brought to the tournament."

With Team Canada, the pressure to win is always there, but Allen wants to be part of the 'gold' rush.

"I'm a lot more excited and confident than I was last year in what I can do," said Allen, who'll turn 19 on Aug. 7. "Last year I never really knew how good the players were and had to adjust to the speed of the game. When I went to summer camp, I was a little bit behind at the start. This summer, I'm going to work hard to get as quick as I can."

Allen, who plays for the Montreal Junior of the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League, will be attending Canada's junior team development camp in Saskatoon, Sask., Aug. 5-10. The final evaluation camp will be in December.

In Calgary, Allen "had a pretty good camp. It was about the same thing as last year, so I knew what to expect going in. I just wanted to try to get my spot back that I had last year and take it from there."

Hockey Canada goaltending consultant Frédéric Chabot, one of the original Fredericton Canadiens in the American Hockey League days, ran the goalie camp for 10 under-20 netminders and four under-18s.

"He was very helpful," Allen said. "He sees what he sees and he tells us what he thinks we need to work on."

The other goalies selected to the summer camp were fellow QMJHL puckstopper Olivier Roy of the Cape Breton Screaming Eagles, Matt Hackett - nephew of former NHL goalie Jeff Hackett - of the Ontario Hockey League's Plymouth Whalers and Martin Jones of the Western Hockey League's Calgary Hitmen.

"I know Olivier from playing in our league," Allen said. "He's a very good goaltender, very athletic, and he never gives up on the play.

"The other two I only saw last week for the first time, but I was really impressed. It's not going to be easy, that's for sure. It's going to be another tough competition like last year."

The four goalies will be joined by 17 defencemen and 24 forwards - New Brunswick's Patrice Cormier and Kelsey Tessier among them.

"I know we're going to have a really strong chance again this year," Allen said. "There's going to be a lot of talent - some great players coming back if they're not in the NHL, and some great players coming up. I know I played with a couple of them on the under-18 (team that won the world championship in 2008)."

Allen, who was MVP of the world U18s that year, is coming off a standout season in Montreal. The six-foot-two, 177-pounder had a 28-25-0 record with a 2.86 goals against average and a .916 save percentage.

In a Prospects Hockey magazine poll of coaches, scouts and reporters, Allen was unanimous choice as the top 'money goalie' in the QMJHL.

"You want to be as consistent as possible and try not to have any mental errors or errors in your game," Allen said. "You want to try to keep everything simple and play the way you're capable of playing."

Allen, the Q's defensive player of the month last September, said "I thought I had a great year. I just want to have another strong start to the season and hopefully that will lead me up to Christmas time and give me another chance to show my game to Team Canada."

Montreal has lost five of its top seven pointgetters from last season, so Allen expects to face a lot more rubber behind a young team.

"It's going to be another challenge in Montreal," he said. "I know we're trying to rebuild for the next couple of years. We have some great young players. Give them a year or two and they're going to be the top-notch players in the league. I can tell already."

Jean-Francois Berube is Allen's capable backup.

"He's very good in his own right," Allen said. "He was also at the camp last week and he impressed a lot of people. For sure he's going to go somewhere in his hockey career."

Allen, who signed a three-year, entry-level contract with the Blues, will be in St. Louis for a rookie camp July 7-12. He'll be at the Team Canada camp less than a month later and in Montreal for Q camp Aug. 19.