Jake Allen

Jake Allen (born August 7, 1990) is a Canadian professional ice hockey goaltender for the St. Louis Blues of the National Hockey League (NHL). Allen was selected by the St. Louis Blues in the second round of the 2008 NHL Entry Draft with the 34th overall pick.

Early life
Allen was born in Fredericton, New Brunswick, the son of Kurt and Susan Allen of Fredericton. Allen grew up in St. Stephen, New Brunswick, where his father worked as a high school teacher until 1999. He started playing hockey at a young age, first as a skater, then switched to the goalie position.

Playing career
Allen played for the Midget "AAA" Canadians under Kevin Pottle, before being drafted in the third round of the QMJHL draft to the St. John's Fog Devils. After one season with the Fog Devils Allen was picked to play for the Under-18 World Hockey Championship in Kazan, Russia where he won gold, and was named tournament MVP and top goalie. The next season the Fog Devils were sold and moved to Montreal becoming the Montreal Juniors. One season later he was picked to play in the World Juniors in Saskatoon, winning silver and posting 4 wins 1 loss in the final to the Americans. Allen was traded to Drummondville after the World Juniors tournament and had a record of 18 wins and 3 losses with a save percentage of .933% and 1.75 GAA. Allen won the Jacques Plante Trophy as goalie of the year in the QMJHL in 2009-10.

On October 22, 2008, Allen was signed by the St. Louis Blues to an entry-level contract.

He made his NHL debut during the playoffs on April 30, 2012, coming in to briefly relieve Brian Elliott late in the Blues second game against the Los Angeles Kings in the Western Conference semi-finals.

During the shortened 2012-13 season, Allen was recalled to the Blues and recorded his first career NHL win in a 4–3 overtime victory over the Detroit Red Wings on February 13, 2013.

On April 17, 2014, he was named the Aldege "Baz" Bastien Memorial Award winner as the American Hockey League (AHL)'s Outstanding Goaltender for the 2013-14 AHL season season. Allen managed to gain a permanent spot on the Blues for the 2014-15 backing up Brian Elliot. On March 26, 2016, he shutout the Washington Capitals to help the Blues break their record for longest stretch without allowing a goal.

2016–17 season
Following the departure of Blues starting goaltender Brian Elliot, Allen was given the role of starting goaltender, He finished the season with a 30-19-5 record in 57 games.

He did not travel with the team to Winnipeg for the January 21 game against the Jets, and stayed home to be with his newborn daughter. He was scheduled to rejoin the team on Monday, January 23, for the remaining two games of the road trip.[3] He was pulled for the fourth time in six starts after another poor showing on January 19, allowing four goals on 10 shots against the Washington Capitals. On January 21, he has a 2.85 GAA with a .897 Save percentage. In the 2015–16 season, he had a 2.35 GAA with a .920 save percentage.

He was named Second Star of the Week on February 13, for the week of February 6–12. Allen, went 3–0–0 with a 1.00 goals-against average, a .967 save percentage and his 13th career shutout against the Ottawa Senators (February 7). His two other wins were against the Toronto Maple Leafs (2–1 OT, 31 saves, February 9), and Montreal Canadiens (February 11).

Personal life
On January 6, 2017, Allen's girlfriend gave birth to their daughter, Lennon Everly Allen.

In 2016, Allen created a painting of the St. Louis skyline for the Kidney Foundation of Canada Atlantic Branch's A Brush of Hope Celebrity Art Auction. His painting was auctioned off on ebay.ca in a ten-day online auction.