Quotes of the day: Allen

MONTREAL - The Canadiens acquired goaltender Jake Allen from the St. Louis Blues on Wednesday. The seven-year veteran, who won the Stanley Cup with St. Louis as the backup last season, joined Montreal reporters via conference call to discuss the trade and his connections to Montreal.
Read on for some highlights of what he said.

Allen has played a variety of roles over the course of his seven-year career: bona fide starter, 1A/1B, and a backup. Here's what he had to say about joining the Habs to back up Carey Price:
"I'm obviously really excited to be a Montreal Canadien now. The role I'll be playing is behind one of the best goalies in the world, and a guy who's been a dominant force in the League. It's to provide just another assurance for the team. I feel like I played that role last year very well behind [Jordan] Binnington; I thought I had a solid season. I've played quite a few years in the League and I have a lot of experience in different situations. I feel like I can come into this spot, give Carey breaks when he needs them and play well for the team and go from there. I'm looking forward to the challenge and the opportunity."

This won't be Allen's first stint in Montreal, either. He played parts of his Junior career in the city, suiting up for the Montreal Juniors from 2008-2010 - a team which featured Xavier Ouellet, as well as current Canadiens assistant coach Dominique Ducharme and Laval Rocket head coach Joël Bouchard. Allen believes the transition to a new organization will be smooth given his connections to Montreal:
"It's funny how it's come full circle now - playing for the Montreal Junior in Verdun, and then playing in the NHL against the Canadiens and at the Bell Centre. It's wild how it's all sort of reinvented itself.

"Coming into a new team or organization, some familiarity makes everything a little bit more comforting. And for me, being from New Brunswick, it's not overly far from home. I've lived in the city - I lived in NDG when I played Junior - I've played against the Habs, it's a place where I've spent time in the offseason. There's a lot of familiarity there that makes everything a little bit more at ease, no question, than going to a place you're completely unfamiliar with. So to see Joël and Dom - I had those guys as coaches 12 years ago - back with the Canadiens organization, will be cool."
Serving as Binnington's backup as the Blues won their very first Stanley Cup in 2019, Allen is confident he'll be able to draw on his experiences from the team's title run to help guide his new teammates in Montreal to success:
"I personally do. I got a front-row look at the whole thing: to be able to understand what guys did to keep themselves prepared, to keep themselves accountable, to hold others accountable, the confidence guys had in the locker room. There are a lot of things that go into it. You need a little luck and you need to have good health on your side but yeah, all the other intangibles I think I could definitely help bring to the table."
Allen may be coming from the Western Conference, but that didn't stop him from keeping an eye on the Canadiens this postseason - and the 30-year-old backstop sees big things for the club in the not-too-distant future:
"Watching the Canadiens in the playoffs this year from afar, they look like a real force to be reckoned with in the next coming years. It's really exciting to join a group like that, that's on its way up with a lot of key veteran pieces as well."

Allen also believes he'll be able to develop some solid chemistry with his goaltending partner, and explained that he and Price share a lot of similar interests:
Tweet from @CanadiensMTL: Did Jake and Carey just become best friends?#GoHabsGo pic.twitter.com/FMbvzQicaz
"I'm definitely a country [music] guy. Just from hearing things through guys who have played in Montreal... I'm a big outdoors guy - I love to fish and hunt and stuff. Those are the things I'm into. From all accounts, that's sort of up his alley as well, so I think that's a good connection there."