Kevin Allen (journalist)

Kevin Allen is an American sports journalist and author. He was the national hockey writer for USA Today from 1986 to December 2019. Since Allen left USA Today, he has freelanced.

Early life and education

Allen graduated from Wayne Memorial High School in 1974 and attended Eastern Michigan University.[1] In his freshman year, he earned his first paid writing assignment with the University newspaper by interviewing Eastern Michigan football coach George Mans.[2]

Career

After university, Allen accepted a position with a local paper as a sports and political writer. He covered high school Native American reservation football and Arizona State football games.[1] He began his sports journalism career with The Times Herald in 1982 as a writer covering the Detroit Red Wings from 1982 to 1986.[3] As a reporter, Allen broke the news of Mario Lemieux coming out of retirement to play for the Pittsburgh Penguins. Of the incident Eric Duhatschek, Vice President of the Professional Hockey Writers Association, stated "That was a clean kill by Kevin. Nobody else had it. Local guys didn't get a whiff of it. National guys didn't get a whiff of it. Kevin got it. You only get stuff like that with one part asking the right question at the right time, but also having a lot of people in your sphere who trust you and to tell you things."[4]

In 2003, Allen was elected president of the Professional Hockey Writers' Association.[5] Allen has also authored 16 hockey-related books. He was awarded the Lester Patrick Trophy in 2013, for his contributions to hockey in the United States.[3] The next year, he was the 2014 recipient of the Elmer Ferguson Memorial Award.[6] In 2019, Frank Seravalli was elected the new president of the Professional Hockey Writers' Association and Allen was named secretary.[7]

References
  1. "Kevin Allen, WMHS Distinguished Alum". The Wayne Dispatch. May 7, 2015. Retrieved November 29, 2019.
  2. @ByKevinAllen (October 2, 2019). "In 1974, at age 18, I interviewed Eastern Michigan football coach George Mans and wrote a story for my college newspaper. It was my first paid-writing assignment. This week, 45 years later, I'm back at EMU writing about the football team for USA TODAY" (Tweet) – via Twitter.
  3. "Kevin Allen to receive 2013 Lester Patrick Trophy". nhl.com. October 8, 2013. Retrieved November 29, 2019.
  4. Corey Masisak (November 17, 2014). "Elmer Ferguson winner Allen first true hockey insider". nhl.com. Retrieved November 29, 2019.
  5. Brendan Savage (January 20, 2019). "USA Today hockey writer Kevin Allen, a Michigan resident, to receive NHL's Lester Patrick Trophy". mlive.com. Retrieved November 29, 2019.
  6. "PHWA President Kevin Allen named Elmer Ferguson winner". thephwa.com. June 5, 2014. Retrieved November 29, 2019.
  7. "Frank Seravalli elected as new PHWA president". thephwa.com. June 24, 2019. Retrieved November 29, 2019.
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