Allen: 'Carey's going to be awesome to work with'

MONTREAL - Goaltender Jake Allen wasn't all that familiar with some of his new teammates' capabilities when the Canadiens acquired his services from the St. Louis Blues in early September.

But that isn't the case anymore with three training camp practices and one intra-squad game now in the books at the Bell Sports Complex.
The 30-year-old Fredericton, NB native, who'd spent his entire seven-year NHL career to date in the Western Conference, has been on the receiving end of plenty of rubber, and he's quickly discovering that captain Shea Weber isn't the only member of the group with some serious shooting power.
"Kotkaniemi - I can't pronounce his name yet - his shot is next-level. That kid's got an absolute missile of a wrister. Suzuki can get it off really well, too," responded Allen, when asked to share which players immediately caught his attention in between the pipes. "Same with Anderson. For such a big man, he can shoot in stride really well. That's important in this game, to be able to shoot in stride, add some deception and hide the release a little bit."

No doubt seeing shots from players he doesn't have a book on yet is helping Allen prepare himself for the upcoming 56-game regular season campaign, which gets underway on January 13 in Toronto.
Goaltending coach Stephane Waite and starter Carey Price have also been important resources for the the QMJHL grad in his bid to get as comfortable as possible in his new digs, of course.
"Every time you get a chance to work with someone like Stephane, you've got to take as much as you can from it. He's just trying to make us feel good, make us feel confident and he's not trying to change my game specifically in any way. He's just trying to make me feel good, make me feel confident and ready to go," explained Allen, who posted a 12-6-3 record with a 2.15 goals-against average and a .927 save percentage last season. "We've had a couple of meetings about his philosophy and the way he works. It's all been A-1 so far. I've had a lot of different goalie coaches in the past and he has a great background. It's off to a good start."

His all-important relationship with Price is steadily taking shape, too. Allen had been eagerly anticipating the chance to practice with the seven-time All-Star since the trade was completed and he's confident the duo will deliver the goods.
"Carey's going to be awesome to work with. It took the last couple of months for it all to soak in and realize I get to be a tandem with one of the best goalies in the world for the last decade-plus," said Allen, who signed a two-year extension through the 2022-23 season in mid-October. "On the ice is the easy part, but off the ice is the important part. You want to be able to have that good, solid relationship. I think we're going to get along great and take things forward."
Allen envisions their partnership being mutually beneficial development-wise. He's primed to absorb as much information as possible from Price to better his game, and happy to share any goaltending intel with his counterpart, too.
"I'm always trying to learn. The game's changing every year, every season. I think the biggest thing for me is to be able to learn from Carey's tenure here with the Canadiens, being one of the best goalies in the league for the past 10-12 years. To do that consistently is a feat that not many guys can pull off. I feel that just being able to watch him night in and night out and learn little things and little tricks of the trade that he uses will be huge," mentioned Allen. "Maybe he can also learn a couple of things from me. Every goalie can always take something from each goalie and that's my objective, especially at the start, just to sort of understand his game and why he's so good, successful and can contribute to my game."

During his post-scrimmage press conference on Thursday, head coach Claude Julien revealed that the coaching staff has come up with a plan with respect to Allen's usage in the weeks and months ahead, but he wasn't prepared to get into specifics.
Nevertheless, the veteran bench boss made it crystal clear that the four-time 20-game winner will be busy.
"We got Jake to give Carey some rest. Jake is going to play his fair share of games. We're going to do everything we can to make sure that Carey stays good and stays fresh. That's the goal," said Julien. "It's not going to be where out of 56 games Carey plays 45 and the other guy plays 11. We're looking at much better numbers than that. We've done that, and we're hoping that we can stay on track with what we've pre-planned."
Allen and the Canadiens will have a day off on Friday before returning to the ice for practice on Saturday on the South Shore.