The St. Louis Blues selected Jake Allen 34th overall in the 2008 NHL Entry Draft and the organization has done a great job helping him develop into an everyday starter in the NHL.
The 27-year-old has seen an increase in his workload year after year and is coming off his busiest NHL campaign. Last year, Allen posted a 33-20-5 record with a .915 save percentage and 2.42 goals against average in the 61 regular season games he appeared in, and played another 11 games in the postseason where he went 6-5 with a .935 save percentage and a 1.96 goals against average.
Despite getting off to a shaky start to the season, Allen was able to recover from his slow start and finished the season strong and he’s looking to repeat his second half this upcoming season. On Wednesday, the Fredericton, New Brunswick native unveiled his new gear for the 2017-18 season and he’s going to look very sharp from head to toe.
While the entire mask is pretty much a tribute to the St. Louis Blues and the city of St. Louis, Allen made sure to include New Brunswick on his new mask and dedicated the back of his mask to the place he calls home.
The lemon at the top of his mask on the back represents his eight-month-old daughter, Lennon, and the name “Bubs” at the bottom is a tribute to his late grandfather. As for the two dog prints, they represent his pets.
Both sides of the mask feature a mini tribute to blues and jazz musician Louis Armstrong, the man responsible for “Saint Louis Blues” and “When the Saints Go Marching In”, and it also includes his lyrics “I got Those Saint Louis Blues” on each side of the mask.
The mask was designed by Dennis Simone and was painted by Jason Livery of Head Strong Grafx.
(H/T NHL)
