Time to forgive Rob Blake (History/Jersey Retirement Chat)

[HYORI 1963]

Forgiven, but I still would be against jersey retirement.

Then you haven't truly forgiven.

 

[Telos]

I'm conflicted about it. Dean is a man who searches endlessly for and is all about character, and he was right there during the second Blake fiasco, and now he has him as his right hand man in office. That kind of speaks volumes about the guy and Dean would say that it is just a business and such.

As a fan though, it is really hard to forget all of that ******** over the years. Part of me wants to forget about it, but at the same time I can't let it go. So I am stuck in limbo between the two extremes. I wouldn't boo him, but I wouldn't cheer him either. I'm growing more indifferent that he is a part of the organization, but still annoyed by it at the same time.

I would still be heavily opposed of him getting a bigger role with the club or having his jersey retired though.

 

[Raccoon Jesus]

Then you haven't truly forgiven.

I know other teams have examples of guys who have gone on to another team who will get their jerseys retired, I can even think of current players who will be in the same boat--Iginla, for example--but I can't think of any who caused so much public organizational drama in doing so. I'm glad he's with the org, he appears to care and such, so I've come around to the idea of not booing him, but jersey retirement, imo, is for the greats who have honored an organization. Sorry, call me petty, I can't get behind it.

 

[HYORI 1963]

I'm conflicted about it. Dean is a man who searches endlessly for and is all about character, and he was right there during the second Blake fiasco, and now he has him as his right hand man in office. That kind of speaks volumes about the guy and Dean would say that it is just a business and such.

As a fan though, it is really hard to forget all of that ******** over the years. Part of me wants to forget about it, but at the same time I can't let it go. So I am stuck in limbo between the two extremes. I wouldn't boo him, but I wouldn't cheer him either. I'm growing more indifferent that he is a part of the organization, but still annoyed by it at the same time.

I would still be heavily opposed of him getting a bigger role with the club or having his jersey retired though.

I think your first paragraph pretty much says it all. Dean is a man of character and he has Blake as his right-hand man. That should pretty much sum it up. Whatever happened in the past, maybe we only know half the story.

Time to forgive and forget. I love Lombardi and now I love Blake.

 

[Ziggy Stardust]

Blake is respected by everyone involved in the sport, except for pockets of fans who are still bitter over something that happened in 2001. Looking at it in hindsight and given how things broke down with Luc Robitaille as well when he left that summer as a UFA, I think there is more blame that can be placed on the dummies who were mismanaging the team.

 

[HYORI 1963]

I know other teams have examples of guys who have gone on to another team who will get their jerseys retired, I can even think of current players who will be in the same boat--Iginla, for example--but I can't think of any who caused so much public organizational drama in doing so. I'm glad he's with the org, he appears to care and such, so I've come around to the idea of not booing him, but jersey retirement, imo, is for the greats who have honored an organization. Sorry, call me petty, I can't get behind it.

But are we 100% sure that Blake was the cause of the drama??? Maybe Lombardi had something to do with the drama as well. I just think we as fans THINK that we know the 100% of the truth, when we actually know maybe 50%. You know who knows 100% of what happened???? Dean Lombardi.

 

[redcard]

Then you haven't truly forgiven.

I wouldn't go that far, I have no problem with Blake in the organization and am happy that he was a part of the cup here.

But I don't see a point in retiring his jersey when there are 4 guys on the current roster who've done far more to deserve that.

 

[HYORI 1963]

I wouldn't go that far, I have no problem with Blake in the organization and am happy that he was a part of the cup here.

But I don't see a point in retiring his jersey when there are 4 guys on the current roster who've done far more to deserve that.

You could say the same about Taylor could you not?

 

[Reclamation Project]

 

[Raccoon Jesus]

But are we 100% sure that Blake was the cause of the drama??? Maybe Lombardi had something to do with the drama as well. I just think we as fans THINK that we know the 100% of the truth, when we actually know maybe 50%. You know who knows 100% of what happened???? Dean Lombardi.

I'm talking about long before Lombardi.

I know the organization was a total **** show back then as Robataille peaced out too, but this is a guy who the organization was counting on as a leader and left--twice, once forcing their hand into a trade after allegedly ripping off the C, once to a rival for more money. I'm sure we haven't heard the whole story there and I'm sure it's been presented differently depending on who you talk to. That's fine with me. I believe in his character and ability as a businessman and trust DL with the hire. Was a great player? absolutely. Was he a great leader? maybe, but imo based on info we have he quit on the team twice. I want guys who have honored the org as a player in the rafters. Dustin Brown didn't give up on this team through the ****** years.

I'm maybe more uncaring about this than it seems, I won't raise hell one way or the other and I'm done booing, but I feel like my 2c is important here because it's not as binary as you forgave him or you didn't. I'm over the player shenanigans and I'm genuinely happy he's in the org, but that's all the honor he deserves. Raising his number to the rafters to forever be a symbol is completely the opposite message I would want to send to the fans. Maybe a better question is why should he have his jersey retired? Heck, he was only here for 2/3 of his career.

 

[Scottkmlps]

You're really bringing back my youth with these videos.

 

[Choralone]

I never got the hate. It's just business. We fans stayed loyal to the team through many crappy years, but I think it's unreasonable and sort of narcissistic to expect players to reciprocate that same level of loyalty to the organization or its fans.

Hell, if he'd played poorly, fans would have turned and demanded the team to get rid of him, instead. We do it all the time - we're ruthless about wanting to trade or waive or buy out players as soon as we think the team can do better, which is pretty crappy when you think about it.

 

[yankeeking]

I never got the hate. It's just business. We fans stayed loyal to the team through many crappy years, but I think it's unreasonable and sort of narcissistic to expect players to reciprocate that same level of loyalty to the organization or its fans.

Hell, if he'd played poorly, fans would have turned and demanded the team to get rid of him, instead. We do it all the time - we're ruthless about wanting to trade or waive or buy out players as soon as we think the team can do better, which is pretty crappy when you think about it.

like booing a young Larry Murphy to the HOF with other teams , yea I did cheer for Blake the other day mainly because of the timing, not the right time or place......some times fans forget this is how these guys make their living and who knows who was calling the shots for AEG in the negotiations, always try to remember our passion their livelyhood

 

[ScoreZeGoals]

No booing, no cheering, no jersey retirement. Some of the hatred has faded, but a portion of it will never go away

 

[BigBrown]

While I wouldn't be in favor of retiring his number, the booing is just embarrassing at this point. How anyone still can have hate in their hearts after two Stanley Cups in three years is beyond me, especially when he was a part of the latest one. Rob Blake was a part of bringing a Stanley Cup to Los Angeles, just think about that for a while. Yeah you probably can dismiss his role in the thing if you want to be that guy, but nonetheless he was a part of it and to still hold a grudge after all this time is getting ridiculous.

There definitely was a time when booing him was appropriate, but if the Stanley freaking Cup won't heal those wounds then I don't know what to say, I just feel sorry for you.

 

[HYORI 1963]

Every hockey players' dream is to hoist the stanley cup. Blake's dream came true with the avs and not the kings. I can't be mad at that.

 

[ADifferentTim]

This very situation alone is the very reason why "out of sight, out of mind" was a blessing in disguise during the Lakers' threepeat.

PEACE(^^)v

 

[johnjm22]

I forgave Blake when Lombardi hired him as the AGM. If Lombardi can forgive him, who am I to hold a grudge???

But are we 100% sure that Blake was the cause of the drama??? Maybe Lombardi had something to do with the drama as well. I just think we as fans THINK that we know the 100% of the truth, when we actually know maybe 50%. You know who knows 100% of what happened???? Dean Lombardi.

Lombardi wasn't around when the incident in question took place. DL has nothing to do with it.

I don't hate Blake, but he never really acted like he wanted to be here. I don't think he deserves to have his jersey retired because he didn't do enough to warrant it.

Glory days are upon us as Kings fan. Let bygone be bygones I say. Blake and the SJ ordeal is old news. Hope he continues doing a great job with Dean.

What does SJ have to do with this?

 

[lumbergh]

What a great player Blake was in those days. My favorite player by a mile. The cannon from the point, the thundering hip check. Just a dominant force on the blue line. That's the Blake I remember.

Some fans think that these hockey players owe them a career of loyalty, and for them, that break in trust can never be mended. They'll go on booing for life because this is how they repay Blake for what he didn't give. I personally don't think Blake owes any of us anything. He was playing a game for a living and then he left to play that game for a living elsewhere. No big deal to me.

 

[alpa]

Wasn't Dean telling Hammond how Blake had to go and really didn't have any other choice? I think there was a story about that on LaKingsInsider where Dean was just pouring out his heart all over Blake.

 

[HYORI 1963]

I don't hate Blake, but he never really acted like he wanted to be here. I don't think he deserves to have his jersey retired because he didn't do enough to warrant it.

In fairness, kings pretty much sucked the time Blake was here, so, I don't really blame him. Like I said, he wanted the cup, and he wasn't going to get one with the kings.

Time to move on.

 

[Scottkmlps]

This very situation alone is the very reason why "out of sight, out of mind" was a blessing in disguise during the Lakers' threepeat.

PEACE(^^)v

Oh for the love of god, that song.

Sorry, I have 2 daughters under the age of 5. I've heard that song at least 100 times.

 

[cyclones22]

Wasn't Dean telling Hammond how Blake had to go and really didn't have any other choice? I think there was a story about that on LaKingsInsider where Dean was just pouring out his heart all over Blake.

Yes, pretty much.

 

[Ziggy Stardust]

I used to side with management and didn't care for Blake after what went down in 2001, and Blake was my favorite Kings player after the Gretzky era ended, however, over time, I started to realize who was in the wrong, and it was Leiweke and his stooge, Kevin Gilmore.

Just read how Luc Robitaille explains the way the organization treated him. That speaks volumes of how they handled contract negotiations with their own star players. They didn't care for them.

http://mayorsmanor.com/2009/11/20-questions-with-20-interview-with-luc-robitaille/

I still don’t quite know what happened either. I thought we had a great run. When it comes down to a contract its always about one guy. I had a great year. I was 11th in scoring in the league. We had done everything right. But then I was offered a pay cut. I wasn’t expecting a huge…um…I don’t know what I was expecting. But I was expecting something. When I was offered a pay cut – you know – that never happens to the leading scorer on your team. I was really disappointed. It happened 24 hours before the July deadline. It was certainly weird the way it happened. There was not a lot of communication. I didn’t understand it. But at the time I wasn’t going to go and shop myself around. I was going to go for the team that really wanted me. So that’s what I let the Kings know at the time – I said “If you want me, you have until tomorrow to sign me” and that was going to be it for me. They never called me back.

And what did the Kings end up doing to replace Luc Robitaille that summer? They go with a cheap option and sign Steve Heinze. They were cheapskates at that time and were trying to put together a low budget team in a big market and a new building.

 

[redcard]

You could say the same about Taylor could you not?

Perhaps, but having 1200 games played (regular + playoffs) in one uniform is pretty much an automatic ticket in my books.