Rob Blake Swatch Card

(As per years past, this is a twin-post with my "regular" blog, where I predicted the Los Angeles Kings would finish last in the NHL in 2019-20).

Rob Blake is many things: a Hall of Famer, a Stanley Cup winner (Colorado Avalanche, 2001), the 11th member of the Triple Gold Club, a former captain of two NHL teams (Los Angeles Kings and San Jose Sharks), a Norris Trophy-winning defenseman (1998), and a current General Manager, a position he has occupied since April 10, 2017 and has yet to make any significant impact in.

With his Kings finishing in last place in the West last season, he opted to make the following roster moves at the trade deadline and over the summer:

• Traded Carl Hagelin, who had played only 22 games with the team after being acquired for Tanner Pearson, to the Washington Capitals for two mid-round draft picks
• Traded Nate Thompson, who had played only 79 games with the team, to the Montreal Canadiens for a fourth-round draft pick
• Traded Oscar Fantenberg, who had played only 74 games with the team, to the Calgary Flames for a conditional pick in 2020.
• Bought out the final two years of Dion Phaneuf’s contract
• Signed Joakim Ryan to a one-year deal in free agency

What the actual fuck.

He's spending $11M annually until 2025 on Drew Doughty, a defenseman who has been alternating good and bad seasons since 2009-10 - and last year's 8 goals, 44 points and -34 rating in 82 games is the worst among everyone making over $7M a year - and the same can be said for $10M captain (until 2024) Anze Kopitar, who's been on and off since 2013-14.

That's saying nothing of former captain Dustin Brown's annual salary of $5.75M until 2022, who seems to have maxed out at some 20 goals per season after five straight seasons below that threshold.

And, instead of trying to help Russian superstar Ilya Kovalchuk regain his mojo, Blake stayed with head coach Willie Desjardins until the end of the season, despite Slick Willie being unable to get his team to win or even want to play.

So many bad decisions followed by so much inaction - yet so much dead wood to get rid of.

Unless he's tanking for the benefit of his successor, Blake actually seems to be on a mission to waste his boss' money with absolutely nothing to show for it on the ice, performing a reverse-Wayne Gretzky and trying to kill off hockey in California.

It seems like the only logical explanation.

Here he is wearing the King's white (then-home) uniform from the 1998-2008 era, sporting the captain's "C", on card #GG-RBL from Panini's 2013-14 Titanium set and Game-Worn Gear sub-set:

It features a black game-worn jersey swatch from the team's black (away/third) uniform of the same era.

Rob Blake Autograph Card

Depending how you look at it, the Los Angeles Kings either succumbed to public pressure or didn't fall prey to feelings and matters of the heart when they fired GM Dean Lombardi and head coach Darryl Sutter earlier today, i.e. the two architects of the team's pair of Stanley Cups.

The coach has yet to be named, but stepping into the spotlight as the general manager will be Rob Blake, the team's former two-time captain and Lombardi's assistant since 2013. He was on board for the 2014 Cup, and had also won one as a player with the Colorado Avalanche.

The question on everyone's mind is how the former Team Canada star will fare as a GM, whether he'll be more like Joe Sakic (currently in over his head and hurting the Avs' chances by not improving their defense) or more like Steve Yzerman (building a contender with his Tampa Bay Lightning).

Still, he's already in the Hall Of Fame as a Norris Trophy winner two-team captain (he also wore the "C" with the San Jose Sharks before retiring) and member of the Triple Gold Club (the 2001 Cup, 1994 and 1997 World Championship gold and 2002 Olympic gold); there's no chance he can ruin his playing legacy even if he fails to build a championship team in L.A.

Here he is as captain of the Kings, wearing their old white (with purple, black and silver accents) uniform, on the signed (silver) insert version of card #212 from In The Game's 1998-99 Be A Player set:

It's signed on-card in thin blue sharpie.

Rob Blake Autograph Card

Now's as good a time as any to congratulate the Los Angeles Kings on their second Stanley Cup in three years, and what better way to do so than through a card showcasing Rob Blake, their long-time captain and current assistant-GM.

Blake has had a Hall Of Fame career, with a Norris trophy (1998), a Stanley Cup in 2001 with the Colorado Avalanche, captaining both the Kings (twice) and the San Jose Sharks, and winning Olympic gold (2002) and World Championship gold (1994 and 1997) with Team Canada.

He ended his storied NHL career with 240 goals, 537 assists, 777 points and 1679 penalty minutes in 1270 games (plus 26-47-73 and 166 PIMs in 146 playoff games) and was immediately thrust into important behind-the-scenes roles, starting as Brendan Shanahan's assistant in the department of player safety (technically ''Hockey Operations Management'') before moving to team managerial positions, first as assistant-GM with the Kings where he won the Cup in his first year replacing Ron Hextall, and last May as the actual GM for Team Canada at the World Championsips (Canada finished 5th).

Here is a card from just about when his career was getting into gear, from Upper Deck's 1995-96 Be A Player set (card #S113, meaning it is the signed insert version of card #150, autographed on-card in thin black sharpie):

You'll notice there is only a mention of the city where he plays but no team name, logo or uniform; that's because UD didn't have an NHL license for this particular product, so they made do with their NHLPA one; in other instances, such as on this Yanic Perreault card, the player is shown in an action shot, but in a position where the logo is hidden; there are also instances, such as on this Pierre Turgeon card, where it is simply airbrushed out.

Another sign that times have changed: back in the 1990s, ''premium'' products such as this one were usually printed on thinner card stock than the regular-issue cards, usually to give it a glossier feel, but also to make them more fragile and worth more over time as pristine copies become rarer as the years go by; nowadays, there are over-the-top sets where a pack of 5 cards costs over $100, but because a lot of them have pieces of jerseys inside them, the bulk of those sets is printed on heavier and thicker card stock, so as to not be too obvious about which pack contains what type of card.

Rob Blake Jersey Card

At the turn of the century, there was a proliferation of brands making hockey cards and each one had their gimmick to entice you, and jersey card inserts were the norm, so much so that any type of jersey became a fall-back when game-worn ones weren't available, such as this Paul Kariya practice jersey card I featured in 2010...

This time, it's a Rob Blake jersey card, from a very specific type of practice:

Yes, it's from Team Canada's pre-Olympic summer orientation camp, before their 2002 Salt Lake City gold medal win. Then why did they show Blake wearing the Colorado Avalanche's blue and burgundy away uniform on the front of the card?

The card is from In The Game's 2003-04 Be A Player Memorabilia set (card #PMP-6 of the Practice Makes Perfect sub-set).

I have no doubt Blake will be inducted in the Hall Of Fame next year, as the former Triple Gold Club (Olympic gold, World Championship gold, Stanley Cup), Norris winner, who has played in 6 All-Star Games and been on 4 end-of-season All-Star teams - one First Team, three Second Team - as well as captained two different teams, has a resume many currently in the Hall could only aspire to.

Ray Bourque & Rob Blake Dual Swatch Card

How good were the Colorado Avalanche in the early 2000s? Two former team captains - future Hall Of Famers - came to complement their defense and win Stanley Cups, hitching their wagons on the train led by Joe Sakic, Peter Forsberg and Patrick Roy. Which two?

Raymond Bourque - Mr. Boston Bruins for all of my life - and Rob Blake - leader of the Los Angeles Kings, the team's two-time captain. Bourque is on most people's top-5 defensemen of all time lists, probably mine too.

Though I usually prefer jersey cards of one player, and when there are multiple, that they be of the same team, I can totally live with this, as they are the best one-two punch of the past 25 years not on a national team. That being said, Blake did win Olympic gold with Team Canada in 2002 (and suffered severe losses in 1998 and 2006); he also won gold (1994 and 1997) and silver (1991) at the World Championships and another silver at the 1996 World Cup. Bourque was also part of the 1998 Team Canada fiasco, and played in three Canada Cups (1981, 1984, 1987) and Rendez-Vous '87.

This card was pulled from a pack of Upper Deck's 2005-06 SPX (it's card #WC-BB in the set, part of the Winning Combos insert sub-set). Though they are both pictured with the Avs, Bourque's swatch comes from a Bruins jersey, which is fitting.