Since the day he joined the Canadian, during the summer of 2020, Jake Allen has never hidden how much he was an admirer of Carey Price.
Posted at 3:37 p.m.
Updated at 5:24 p.m.
What was once the blissful adulation of a young hockey fan – “I saw him in a downtown bar, but I was too embarrassed to go talk to him” – turned into a relationship of work and then in lasting friendship.
He therefore does not hesitate to list the qualities, first of all human, that he recognizes in number 31. A “good person”, down to earth, who knows how to keep the atmosphere light so that he and his teammates do not have not to “carry everyone on their backs”.
The roots of his admiration, however, go much further. They are rooted in Price’s prowess in net for as long as Allen can remember.
“He’s been an example for all goaltenders since his time at the World Juniors in 2007,” the veteran said Monday morning, minutes before the press conference during which Price gave an update on his future.
“He set the benchmark [gold standard] of the last 10 to 15 years for goalkeeping technique, Allen said. Lots of coaches, minor hockey kids and even NHL goaltenders have imitated parts of his game. He’s so fluid [smooth] and fast… Sometimes, by wanting to go too fast, you are everywhere at once. He lets himself be hit by the puck, he is tall, his butterfly posture is wide… ”
PHOTO FRANÇOIS ROY, LA PRESSE ARCHIVES
Carey Price in April 2022
Allen is further moved by the fact that Price’s game has “not changed much” over the years, a sign of an “incredible” technical foundation.
What particularly impresses Allen about the great goalkeepers of the modern era – he cites Price as examples, but also Martin Brodeur, Henrik Lundqvist and Marc-André Fleury – is precisely their longevity. “That’s the hardest part,” he said.
Demanding
This longevity, however, seems to come at an increasing physical cost to the masked men.
The goalkeeper position has always been the most demanding. In recent years, many have had to undergo major procedures in their thirties. Think of Pekka Rinne, Tuukka Rask and Robin Lehner, all of whom had hip surgery in the recent past. Not to mention Price, haunted by his knees.
Goalkeepers, Allen explained, must adapt to increasingly sophisticated attacking systems, “10 times more unpredictable than 10 years ago”. They have no choice but to “keep the pace”.
Ankles, knees, hips, abdomen and back suffer the repercussions, but “it’s the trend,” he admits, wondering if young players should not turn to this position later in their career. “Kids start working as NHL goaltenders at 10 or 11, it catches up with them as they get older” and are approaching the professional ranks.
Hockey is not the only one to live this reality: in baseball, we no longer count the number of pitchers who, literally worn out by too many pitches, undergo a Tommy John operation (ligament repair of the elbow) as of adolescence, although before reaching the major leagues.
“This is the reality in which we are, concluded Jake Allen. I think we will see goalkeepers play fewer and fewer games. But that’s only my personal prediction. By then I will be old and retired. But I see it happening. »