Rob Blake

Rob Blake
Hockey Hall of Fame , 2014
IIHF Hall of Fame , 2018
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 .

Blake in the Los Angeles Kings jersey

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.

Blake in the jersey of the San Jose Sharks

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

1988 CCHA Championship with Bowling Green State University 1989 CCHA Second All-Star Team 1990 CCHA First All-Star Team 1990 CCHA Best Offensive Defenseman 1990 CCHA All-Tournament Team 1990 NCAA West First All-American Team 1991 NHL All-Rookie Team 1994 NHL All-Star Game 1997 NHL All-Star Game (cancellation due to injury) 1998 NHL First All-Star Team 1998 James Norris Memorial Trophy 1999 NHL All-Star Game

2000 NHL All-Star Game 2000 NHL Second All-Star Team 2001 NHL All-Star Game 2001 Stanley Cup win with the Colorado Avalanche 2001 NHL Second All-Star Team 2002 NHL All-Star Game 2002 NHL Second All-Star Team 2003 NHL All-Star Game 2004 NHL All-Star Game 2014 induction into the Hockey Hall of Fame 2018 induction into the IIHF Hall of Fame

International

1991 silver medal at the world championship 1994 gold medal at the world championship 1996 Second place at the World Cup of Hockey 1997 gold medal at the world championship 1997 World Cup best defender

1997 First all-star team in the world championship 1998 Best Defender of the Winter Olympics 2002 gold medal at the Olympic Winter Games 2002 admission to the Triple Gold Club 2004 gold medal at the World Cup of Hockey

Career statistics

				Regular season						Play-offs
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:

World Championship 1991 World Championship 1994 World Cup of Hockey 1996 World Championship 1997 1998 Winter Olympics

World Championship 1998 World Championship 1999 2002 Winter Olympics World Cup of Hockey 2004 2006 Winter Olympics

year	team	event	result		Sp	T	V	Pt	SM
1991	Canada	WM			2	0	2	2	0
1994	Canada	WM			8th	0	2	2	6th
1996	Canada	World cup	2nd place		4th	0	1	1	0
1997	Canada	WM			11	2	2	4th	22nd
1998	Canada	Olympia	4th Place		6th	1	1	2	2
1998	Canada	WM	6th place		5	1	0	1	6th
1999	Canada	WM	4th Place		10	2	5	7th	12
2002	Canada	Olympia			6th	1	2	3	2
2004	Canada	World cup			-	-	-	-	-
2006	Canada	Olympia	7th place		6th	0	1	1	2
Men overall					58	7th	16	23	52

( 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

Commons : Rob Blake  - collection of images, videos and audio files

• Rob Blake at legendsofhockey.net (English)
• Rob Blake at eliteprospects.com (English)
• Rob Blake at hockeydb.com (English)