Toggle sidebar

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

  • Xenforo Cloud will be upgrading us to version 2.3.5 on March 3rd at 12 AM GMT. This version has increased stability and fixes several bugs. We expect downtime for the duration of the update. The admin team will continue to work on existing issues, templates and upgrade all necessary available addons to minimize impact of this new version. Click Here for Updates
The Black1963 said:
Well, you are The Black Cloud, so, yeah, that's who you are, so be it.
Click to expand...

It's worse than that. I don't even have a silver lining. I have a deep black lining, so black in fact it's a black hole. A black hole of nothingness. Hence my hatred of all things Rob Blake.

My soul is lost. Forever.
 
kingsholygrail said:
The general view from those that don't like Blake is that he was a mercenary and he only wears the Kings logo so long as the check is good enough for him.
Click to expand...

Yet, when I brought up the maltreatment Patrick Ewing endured and still endures from Knicks fans back in page 4, Ewing was inversely in a competitive team and was not a mercenary. He ended up showing loyalty to the fans, despite not winning any ring. Yet, Knicks fan treated him like collateral damage at best, in terms of their collective rage directly aimed at James Dolan. :shakehead
 
ADifferentTim said:
Yet, when I brought up the maltreatment Patrick Ewing endured and still endures from Knicks fans back in page 4, Ewing was inversely in a competitive team and was not a mercenary. He ended up showing loyalty to the fans, despite not winning any ring. Yet, Knicks fan treated him like collateral damage at best, in terms of their collective rage directly aimed at James Dolan. :shakehead
Click to expand...

Wait until they get a hold of Rick Nash.
 
Julius Caesar Milan said:
I hope players think twice about signing there now that they bought out Brad Richards so quickly in to a long term deal.
Click to expand...

Think twice? Richards is laughing all the way to the bank... with Wade Redden... and Scott Gomez... and Chris Drury. They are all probably walking down the street together going to Chase to cash their checks.

EDIT: Without the compliance buyout option for Nash, that could get ugly in the next year or two. I can't wait until cousin Leo comes over with crow bar in hand to let Rick know he'll be retiring next summer. Or do retirements count against the cap too? Are teams basically screwed with players they signed now? I know they can't stuff players in the minors but not sure about retirements (except over 35 y/o).
 
Buddy The Elf said:
Think twice? Richards is laughing all the way to the bank... with Wade Redden... and Scott Gomez... and Chris Drury. They are all probably walking down the street together going to Chase to cash their checks.

EDIT: Without the compliance buyout option for Nash, that could get ugly in the next year or two. I can't wait until cousin Leo comes over with crow bar in hand to let Rick know he'll be retiring next summer. Or do retirements count against the cap too? Are teams basically screwed with players they signed now? I know they can't stuff players in the minors but not sure about retirements (except over 35 y/o).
Click to expand...

Nash can be traded. They could always retain some salary too, but there will be taker.
 
Julius Caesar Milan said:
I hope players think twice about signing there now that they bought out Brad Richards so quickly in to a long term deal.
Click to expand...

If it wasn't for the compliance buyout they wouldn't have done this. They would have been throwing away cap space. And after this year those are gone. All further buyouts will be on the payroll
 
If you were Sather's boss, wouldn't you get sick of writing blank checks?

The guy does an admirable job getting himself out of issues that he puts himself in, but it's like he just can't help himself with UFAs.
 
Brad Doty said:
If you were Sather's boss, wouldn't you get sick of writing blank checks?

The guy does an admirable job getting himself out of issues that he puts himself in, but it's like he just can't help himself with UFAs.
Click to expand...

Sather can tell his boss that we just got to the Final and lost to the prohibitive favorite by taking them to three OT games. That would be enough to convince most owners to keep signing those blank checks.
 
Ron said:
Sather can tell his boss that we just got to the Final and lost to the prohibitive favorite by taking them to three OT games. That would be enough to convince most owners to keep signing those blank checks.
Click to expand...

I guess that works if said owner isn't paying attention. Otherwise, he wants to know why the guy you're paying the big bucks to handle business is being overshadowed by the part-timer getting paid 1/6 of what he's making :D

Though you're right, the Rangers have been Sharks-lite in the East minus the choking and with much more turnover.
 
DoktorJeep said:
I wasn't happy when DL brought Blake back for a 2nd stint, but I viewed that as another "bridge" player move during the rebuild. What I think hasn't been really discussed here is the type of team the Kings were when Blake decided to give up the C and was eventually traded.

Back in the early 2K's, the Kings looked like a team that was finally starting to put things together on the ice. The post Gretzky years were mostly bad teams and bad ownership. By the time 2001 came around, the Kings had moved to Staples, and had players like Robitaille, Ziggy Palffy, Stumpel, Norstrom a resurgent Matt Schnieder and Glenn Murray. AEG built a practice facility in El Segundo, purchased a soley owned AHL affiliate and it finally felt like the Kings were being run like a legitimate NHL franchise. They had made the playoffs and finished 2nd in the pacific with 94 points in 2000. Andy Murray hadn't gone insane and started asking players to write essays and Dave Taylor had started to hold onto things like 1st rounders. Kings fans were talking about how much they couldn't wait to see how a guy like Alex Frolov fit in on a team that was looking like it was on a better path.

So just as things are starting to look better, along comes Rob Blakes contract dispute. It looked like he was going to sign, which most Kings fans wanted, but then Chris Pronger signed some crazy deal and the amount that the Kings offered wasn't enough for Blake, his agent, the NHLPA, etc. But that part didn't really make me dislike the guy, because even back then, I didn't begrudge a player for wanting market value. Even when Blake publicly gave up the C, I still blamed Lieweekly & Dumpster Dave because I felt they never really wanted to do what it took to ice a winner.

But even though I didn't like the spin that TL and DT put on the Blake situation, it was Blake himself who said he planned on testing free agency and that he had waited a long time to become a UFA. So fine, the guy plans on seeing what he can get on the open market, great, he's earned it. I also understand why you trade someone in that situation, especially considering that year, the Kings were not in a strong playoff position at the deadline, and it took getting Felix Potvin off the scrap heap to spark a bit of a mini-miracle dash to the playoffs.

But even with all that drama, the fact is, 2001 was a good year for being a Kings fan (before they started doing things like winning stanley cups). Beating Detroit in the first round was a big deal, and still is a great memory. Losing to the Avs in the 2nd round didn't seem that bad, because #1 they were loaded with talent and #2, Blake played 2nd fiddle to 50 year old Ray Borque (and Blakey never sniffed another cup after that year, when he wasn't surrounded by a ton of talent).

But then two things happened that make me not want to see his jersey ever in the Staples rafters (or any arena the Kings play in). First, Rob Blake didn't test free agency. The day before the UFA signing period starts, Blake, Sakic and (I think) Roy all signed big dollar contracts with the Avs. He never tested the free agent market, so that whole line about "I've waited a long time for this" "I want to see what is out there" blah blah blah was a line of BS. Dude just wanted out of LA in my opinion. He didn't want to be "the guy" and felt more comfortable as just another superstar, but he wanted to be the highest paid player BY FAR on a Kings team that was just emerging from some dark years. And then the cherry on top of the crap pile was the next year, Blake takes out Jason Allison (who hadn't turned into a malingerer yet) in the first round with a late hip check and the Kings go into another dark period that lasts until Taylor is canned and DL is brought in.

I'm glad Dave Taylor traded Rob Blake. I have far more good memories of Kings teams without Rob Blake than any with Rob Blake. I hope I never have to gaze up at the banners in the Staples rafters and see that slack jawed yokel's name & number up there.
Click to expand...

This is well said, but all the things you have a problem with is all just business to me. There's so much that goes on in these negotiations that we're not privy to. A guy wanting to test free agency and then signing a good contract instead is not unprecedented. "Dude just wanted out of LA in my opinion" is true in some sense, but maybe he didn't want out of LA per se, and instead wanted to go to a contender. There's a slight difference. We were not a terrible team then, but realistically we weren't a contender. Again we don't know, but I like to give people the benefit of the doubt.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Latest posts

Ad

Upcoming events

Ad

Top Bottom