Blues goalie prospect Jake Allen played two seasons with the Montreal Juniors of the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League and, living in Montreal, became a fan of Jaroslav Halak.

"Now I'm sitting 10 feet away from him," Allen said.

Allen, a second-round pick of the Blues in 2008, is in training camp as one of the top young goalies in the organization. Halak, of course, is the team's No. 1 netminder after being traded here from Montreal this summer.

Allen, who will play in Peoria this season, said that he's relishing the chance to be on the ice with Halak and he's watching his every move.

"From afar, you only get to see them on the ice . . . you don't get to see their off-ice personalities and how they prepare," Allen said. "But now to be able to watch him and do drills with him is great for me, and I'm going to learn from it."

What specifically has Allen noticed by watching Halak?

"He's just so patient in the net, he's relaxed and he's never tense," Allen said. "It looks like it's effortless really. I think a lot of people realized that in the playoffs (with Montreal). It just looks like it's so easy for him. Sometimes I get a little too over-reactive and I just need to be patient like he is . . . he's a great guy to learn from."

Halak said that while he's just going about his business on the ice as he normally would, he's aware that a young goalie like Allen could be zeroing in on him.

"I was doing the same thing when I was first time or second time in training camp," Halak said. "I tried to watch the older guys with more experience. Right now in training camp, everybody needs to be aware that everybody is watching."

Allen is coming off a solid performance at the 2010 NHL Prospects Tournament in Traverse City, Mich. He was 2-1 with a 2.00 goals-against average and a .938 save-percentage. Following that tournament and this training camp with the Blues, Allen says he can't wait to get his first pro season underway.

"Obviously I want to stay here as long as I can, that's the goal," Allen said. "But I can't wait to get started (in Peoria). Ben (Bishop) has been there a couple of years now and I want to learn from him. He's been through the ranks, played a couple of NHL games, so I'm looking forward to cracking that squad and then take it day by day." 

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DAY AT THE BEACH

Cody Beach, the Blues' fifth-round pick this summer, looks more like a stick figure than an enforcer at 6-foot-4 and 184 pounds. But the 18-year-old forward said that he's going to use his first NHL training camp as a learning experience and return next season around 200 pounds.

"You can definitely tell that the speed and strength levels are a lot higher here," said Beach, who had 157 penalty minutes in 51 games with the Calgary Hitmen of the Western Hockey League last season. "But everything here is a good experience for me right now. Next summer is going to be a big summer for me, coming to camp, being stronger and fitting in a lot better. Right now, I'm just trying to take everything in and get my season going."

Beach, who will return to Calgary, is the younger brother of Kyle Beach, who was the 11th pick overall by the Chicago Blackhawks in 2008. The brothers have already dreamt about facing each other, and maybe even fighting, in the Blues-Blackhawks rivaly.

"We dropped the mitts in junior hockey when he was with Lethbridge," Beach said. "We could never agree on who would win, so we just did it. It didn't last long; we kind of stumbled down. After the game, I got a mouthful from my mom.

"Hopefully I'll be in the Blues' organization one day and getting the chance to play against him. The rivarly is huge and I'd love to have the bragging rights." 

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JANSSEN TAUNTS TEAMMATES

After the Blues' first practice today, Cam Janssen, Patrik Berglund and Alex Pietrangelo were allowed to skip the conditioning laps. Those three were rewarded for having the biggest improvement from last summer in the team's fitness testing.

"I think I got it because I'm just a freak of nature," Janssen said.

When told of Janssen's comment, David Backes indicated that Janssen had intentionally set the bar low on past fitness tests, so that he could win the "most improved" award. 

"That's what happens when you sandbag the testing for two years," Backes said.

In the afternoon group, Backes and Philip McRae were the players who didn't have to participate in the conditioning laps because of their improved test results.

The top three in the overall fitness testing also were excused from the conditioning: Roman Polak, Andy McDonald, and Ryan Reaves and Chris Porter (tie).

Blues strength coach Nelson Ayotte brought out Gatorades for the players who didn't have to skate. In the morning practice, Janssen sipped on his refreshmen and laughed at teammates, as they skated laps around the rink.

"It's always fun when you win something and you don't have to skate at the end," he said. "Your teammates are in a bad mood, and you're laughing at them . . . it's always a good thing."