Allen honors Blue Angels with tribute mask

ST. LOUIS - Jake Allen has been flying high on the ice recently, but now he will also be earning his wings with the United States Navy by wearing a special goalie mask that pays tribute to the Blue Angels during Monday's game against the Arizona Coyotes.
Allen's tribute mask features the traditional blue and yellow of the Blue Angels, which happens to be an almost perfect match for the blue and yellow featured on his jersey. The mask also includes two Blue Angel hornet planes, the Blue Angels shield on the right side, a Blue Angels ribbon across the chin and a large Blue Note on the left.

The mask was designed as a collaboration between Jason Livery of Head Strong Grafx, who works on all of Allen's masks, and employees at Boeing, a company with strong St. Louis ties that has a long-time partnership with the Blues and manufactures the F/A-18 Hornet the Blue Angel pilots fly.
"We're excited with how Jake's mask shows the pride that the Blue Angels, the Blues and Boeing have in St. Louis," said Walter Rice, Boeing's Military Aircraft Communications Director. "A number of Boeing employees who are Navy veterans helped with the concepts that led to the artwork on Jake's mask. It's a great way to honor this community's commitment to naval aviation."

With the Blues in California for a five-game road trip in mid-March, a club representative took the mask to the Naval Air Facility in El Centro, which serves as the winter training home of the Blue Angels. Eight of the pilots posed for a photo with the mask in front of one of their planes and

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"I'm looking forward to wearing the mask in Monday's game," Allen said. "The blue and yellow complements our colors well, and it's a great tribute to the Blue Angel pilots who have the honor of flying and performing across the country."