Rob Blake
Hockey Hall of Fame , 2014 | |
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IIHF Hall of Fame , 2018 | |
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Date of birth | December 10, 1969 |
place of birth | Simcoe , Ontario , Canada |
size | 193 cm |
Weight | 102 kg |
position | defender |
number | # 4 |
Shot hand | Right |
Draft | |
NHL Entry Draft |
1988 , 4th round, 70th position Los Angeles Kings |
Career stations | |
1987-1990 | Bowling Green State University |
1990-2001 | Los Angeles Kings |
2001-2006 | Colorado Avalanche |
2006-2008 | Los Angeles Kings |
2008-2010 | San Jose Sharks |
Robert Bowlby Blake (born December 10, 1969 in Simcoe , Ontario ) is a retired Canadian ice hockey player and current official. During his active career between 1990 and 2010 , the defender played 1416 games for the Los Angeles Kings , Colorado Avalanche and San Jose Sharks in the National Hockey League . Blake was one of the most successful players ever and was inducted into the Triple Gold Club in 2002 and the Hockey Hall of Fame in 2014. Blake has been General Manager of the Los Angeles Kings since 2017.
Career
Blake played during his junior years initially in the lower-class Canadian junior leagues near his home town. When there was the opportunity in the summer of 1987 to switch to the higher-class Ontario Hockey League , Blake decided to go to an American college . He chose Bowling Green State University from the US state of Ohio , where, in addition to his schooling, he also played for the university team in the Central Collegiate Hockey Association , a league in the game operations of the National Collegiate Athletic Association . After a mixed rookie year 1987/88 with only 13 points in 43 games, he was selected in the following summer in the NHL Entry Draft in 1988 in the fourth round in 70th place by the Los Angeles Kings . The Canadian stayed at the university for two more years and steadily increased his offensive production. In his last game year 1989/90 Blake reached 59 scorer points in 42 encounters, which brought him nominations for various All-Star teams and the Hobey Baker Memorial Award . There he had to admit defeat to Kip Miller . Nevertheless, Blake was signed by the Los Angeles Kings following the NCAA season, making his NHL debut in the 1989/90 season in both the regular season and the playoffs .
In the fall of 1990, Blake made it through the training camp to join the Kings' regular squad and became one of the best defenders on the team alongside Steve Duchesne , Marty McSorley and Larry Robinson during the season . His good rookie season with 46 points from 75 encounters was finally rewarded with the election to the NHL All-Rookie Team . In the following season Blake was unable to match the previous year's performance and only achieved 20 points. Only in the 1992/93 season could the Canadian improve again. The year was crowned with participation in the final series, where the team led by Wayne Gretzky had to admit defeat to the Montréal Canadiens in five games. It was followed by Blake's best year in the NHL, measured by his points. He reached 68 points in 84 games and was invited to the NHL All-Star Game for the first time . One of a total of seven nominations in the Canadian's career. In the two years that followed, the defender was repeatedly slowed down by injuries. In the 1994/95 season , which was shortened by the lockout , Blake only played 24 of 48 games due to a protracted muscle strain in the groin region . The 1995/96 season was even worse when he failed for the rest of the year due to a tear in the cruciate ligament in his knee in the sixth game of the season on October 20, 1995. The Canadian only celebrated his comeback after recovering from injury in the 1996/97 game year , when he was initially unable to build on the good performances from the time before the injuries. Blake worked hard and played after Los Angeles again missed the playoff qualification, an outstanding 1997 World Cup. This game continued in the 1997/98 season, where he was again voted best defender in an international tournament. His strong playing time was ultimately rewarded with winning the James Norris Memorial Trophy and being appointed to the NHL First All-Star Team for the first time . In the following years Blake had the best time of his career and was consistently among the best defenders in the entire NHL. Nevertheless, the management of the southern California franchise was unable to form a competitive team around their defender after the departure of their lead player Wayne Gretzky in the spring of 1996.
When his contract expired at the end of the 2000/01 season and the Kings saw no chance to keep Blake, they transferred him to the Colorado Avalanche together with Steven Reinprecht , who in exchange were Adam Deadmarsh , Aaron Miller , Jared Aulin and the first-round draft picks of the years Sent to Los Angeles in 2001 and 2003 . The transfer business paid off for both Blake and the Avalanche as the team celebrated winning the Stanley Cup at the end of the season. The defender, who found a new sporting home in Denver for the next five years, played a major role in this with 19 points in 23 games. In the 2001/02 season , the Canadian played consistently at a high level and advanced to the conference final with the Avalanche. In the 2002/03 and 2003/04 seasons , the upheaval Colorado Avalanche continued to be one of the best teams in the league, but did not get beyond reaching the second playoff round. Still, Blake was one of the league's elite defenders.
![](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/9/94/Rob_Blake_Sharks.jpg/170px-Rob_Blake_Sharks.jpg)
Initially, the NHL season 2004/05 , which was completely canceled by a renewed lockout, did not change anything, in which Blake did not play any games and recovered, as he continued his previous performances in the 2005/06 season despite his age of 36 years. After his contract expired at the end of the game year, Blake was also a victim of the upheaval and the new salary structures of the NHL. He therefore returned in the summer of 2006 as a free agent to the Los Angeles Kings, who had presented him with a two-year contract. In a non-competitive team, even Blake, who was the club's captain during this time , failed to convince and was often criticized despite more than 30 scorer points in both game years. In order to have the opportunity to win the Stanley Cup again in his career, he moved to the San Jose Sharks after the end of the contract in the summer of 2008 on the basis of a one-year contract worth five million US dollars , which after the departure of Brian Campbell was looking for an offensive defender. The defender fitted in well with the Sharks' system and had the best season since leaving Colorado, whereupon his expiring contract was extended for another year shortly before the expiry. The new contract was worth $ 3.5 million. He was also named the Sharks' tenth team captain by head coach Todd McLellan just before the start of the 2009/10 season . In the early stages of the season, the Canadian had significant problems and could no longer build on previously shown performances in the offensive. It was only after an injury to his left arm that forced him to take an almost one-month break in November that Blake's values were put into perspective again. After the elimination of the San Jose Sharks in the playoff finals of the Western Conference, the then 40-year-old left his future open before he officially announced his retirement from active sport on June 18, 2010.
International
At the international level, Blake is one of the most successful players of all time and is one of the few members of the prestigious Triple Gold Club .
He played his first international tournament at the 1991 World Cup in Finland , where he only made two appearances in the course of the tournament, but was also awarded the silver medal. After a three-year hiatus, the defender received a renewed invitation from the Canadian Association for the 1994 World Cup in Italy . That year he won the first gold medal of his career. This was followed by another use at the World Cup of Hockey 1996 , which ended in a final defeat against the Americans . This was followed in 1997 by another gold medal in the world championships in Finland. In addition, Blake was named the tournament's best defender and voted into the All-Star Team. After a disappointing performance by the Canadians at the 1998 Winter Olympics in Nagano , where he was again named best defender, he also played at the World Championships that year and the following year.
The next big success was a long time coming, when Blake won the gold medal with the Canadians at the Winter Olympics in Salt Lake City . By winning the Stanley Cup with the Colorado Avalanche the year before and the two world championship titles, the automatic admission to the Triple Gold Club followed on February 24, 2002. Blake completed his last tournament at the Olympic Winter Games in Turin . He celebrated his last success at the World Cup of Hockey 2004 , where he was not used due to injury, but was in the squad of the victorious Canadians.
As a manager
For the 2013/14 season , Blake returned to the Los Angeles Kings and worked there as an assistant to General Manager Dean Lombardi . When he was fired after the 2016/17 season , Blake took over his position. In December 2017 it was announced that Blake was one of the six new inductees into the IIHF Hall of Fame in 2018. He had been inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame four years earlier .
Achievements and Awards
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International
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Career statistics
Regular season | Play-offs | |||||||||||||
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season | team | league | Sp | T | V | Pt | SM | Sp | T | V | Pt | SM | ||
1987/88 | Bowling Green State University | NCAA | 43 | 5 | 8th | 13 | 88 | |||||||
1988/89 | Bowling Green State University | NCAA | 46 | 11 | 21st | 32 | 140 | |||||||
1989/90 | Bowling Green State University | NCAA | 42 | 23 | 36 | 59 | 140 | |||||||
1989/90 | Los Angeles Kings | NHL | 4th | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4th | 8th | 1 | 3 | 4th | 4th | ||
1990/91 | Los Angeles Kings | NHL | 75 | 12 | 34 | 46 | 125 | 12 | 1 | 4th | 5 | 26th | ||
1991/92 | Los Angeles Kings | NHL | 57 | 7th | 13 | 20th | 102 | 6th | 2 | 1 | 3 | 12 | ||
1992/93 | Los Angeles Kings | NHL | 76 | 16 | 43 | 59 | 152 | 23 | 4th | 6th | 10 | 46 | ||
1993/94 | Los Angeles Kings | NHL | 84 | 20th | 48 | 68 | 137 | - | - | - | - | - | ||
1994/95 | Los Angeles Kings | NHL | 24 | 4th | 7th | 11 | 38 | - | - | - | - | - | ||
1995/96 | Los Angeles Kings | NHL | 6th | 1 | 2 | 3 | 8th | - | - | - | - | - | ||
1996/97 | Los Angeles Kings | NHL | 62 | 8th | 23 | 31 | 82 | - | - | - | - | - | ||
1997/98 | Los Angeles Kings | NHL | 81 | 23 | 27 | 50 | 94 | 4th | 0 | 0 | 0 | 6th | ||
1998/99 | Los Angeles Kings | NHL | 62 | 12 | 23 | 35 | 128 | - | - | - | - | - | ||
1999/00 | Los Angeles Kings | NHL | 77 | 18th | 39 | 57 | 112 | 4th | 0 | 2 | 2 | 4th | ||
2000/01 | Los Angeles Kings | NHL | 54 | 17th | 32 | 49 | 69 | - | - | - | - | - | ||
2000/01 | Colorado Avalanche | NHL | 13 | 2 | 8th | 10 | 8th | 23 | 6th | 13 | 19th | 16 | ||
2001/02 | Colorado Avalanche | NHL | 75 | 16 | 40 | 56 | 58 | 20th | 6th | 6th | 12 | 16 | ||
2002/03 | Colorado Avalanche | NHL | 79 | 17th | 28 | 45 | 57 | 7th | 1 | 2 | 3 | 8th | ||
2003/04 | Colorado Avalanche | NHL | 74 | 13 | 33 | 46 | 61 | 9 | 0 | 5 | 5 | 6th | ||
2004/05 | Colorado Avalanche | NHL | not played because of lockout | |||||||||||
2005/06 | Colorado Avalanche | NHL | 81 | 14th | 37 | 51 | 94 | 9 | 3 | 1 | 4th | 8th | ||
2006/07 | Los Angeles Kings | NHL | 72 | 14th | 20th | 34 | 82 | - | - | - | - | - | ||
2007/08 | Los Angeles Kings | NHL | 71 | 9 | 22nd | 31 | 98 | - | - | - | - | - | ||
2008/09 | San Jose Sharks | NHL | 73 | 10 | 35 | 45 | 110 | 6th | 1 | 3 | 4th | 4th | ||
2009/10 | San Jose Sharks | NHL | 70 | 7th | 23 | 30th | 60 | 15th | 1 | 1 | 2 | 10 | ||
NCAA overall | 131 | 39 | 65 | 104 | 368 | |||||||||
NHL overall | 1270 | 240 | 537 | 777 | 1679 | 146 | 26th | 47 | 73 | 166 |
International
Represented Canada to:
( Legend for player statistics: Sp or GP = games played; T or G = goals scored; V or A = assists scored ; Pkt or Pts = scorer points scored ; SM or PIM = penalty minutes received ; +/− = plus / minus balance; PP = overpaid goals scored ; SH = underpaid goals scored ; GW = winning goals scored; 1 play-downs / relegation )
Web links
- Rob Blake at legendsofhockey.net (English)
- Rob Blake at eliteprospects.com (English)
- Rob Blake at hockeydb.com (English)
Goalkeeper:
Cal Petersen |
Jonathan Quick
Defender:
Drew Doughty ( A ) |
Ben Hutton |
Kurtis MacDermid |
Matt Roy |
Joakim Ryan |
Sean Walker
attacker:
Michael Amadio |
Dustin Brown |
Jeff Carter ( A ) |
Alex Iafallo |
Adrian Kempe |
Anže Kopitar ( C ) |
Trevor Lewis |
Blake Lizotte |
Matt Luff |
Trevor Moore |
Tim Schaller |
Austin Wagner
Head Coach: Todd McLellan Assistant Coach : Marco Sturm | Trent Yawney General Manager: Rob Blake
personal data | |
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SURNAME | Blake, Rob |
ALTERNATIVE NAMES | Blake, Robert Bowlby |
BRIEF DESCRIPTION | Canadian ice hockey player and official |
DATE OF BIRTH | December 10, 1969 |
PLACE OF BIRTH | Simcoe , Ontario |