Thread: Rob Blake Retiring

If it is retired...it will have to be made of asbestos...

Originally Posted by NastiMarvasti

So do you hate all other ex-Kings players? After all, none of them carried the team to anything either. Not even the greatest player in the game could do it. This isn't about pedestals. This is about people just hating on the guy and not getting over something that was just as much the team's fault. Every other fan base, player, analyst, etc. has nothing but great things to say about him as a person. You guys who keep blasting the guy almost a decade later just come off as bitter ex's. This especially after Blake has publicly said he'd have done things differently.

Rob Blake was the greatest defenseman this team has ever seen so appreciating that about him is understandable. He IS a Hall of Famer and when he's in as a King, his number will be retired too.

+1, except for the retiring of his number. I don't believe that that will happen.

I cant say that it would surprise me too much to see Blakey back in the Kings organ-eye-zation in some capacity. If he can do something positive for the club, why not? But if he is just going to be a hanger on and run his mouth like JR then **** him.

Originally Posted by NastiMarvasti

So do you hate all other ex-Kings players? After all, none of them carried the team to anything either. Not even the greatest player in the game could do it. This isn't about pedestals. This is about people just hating on the guy and not getting over something that was just as much the team's fault. Every other fan base, player, analyst, etc. has nothing but great things to say about him as a person. You guys who keep blasting the guy almost a decade later just come off as bitter ex's. This especially after Blake has publicly said he'd have done things differently.

Rob Blake was the greatest defenseman this team has ever seen so appreciating that about him is understandable. He IS a Hall of Famer and when he's in as a King, his number will be retired too.

I think the word hate in this case is a bit too strong, i don't hate anyone, but I don't respect the person he is. Was he a good d'man sure, but the person he is has tarnished that in my eyes. This to me goes way back to greed. You're getting paid do something you love, at some point it seemed to cross over in Blakes mind, that he was living a dream, visiting the best cities in North America, flying first class, going to top notch restaraunts, and getting paid to play a game that he grew up loving. Then he says how much loves LA and would love to stay here, of course he says that to the media, but what he really meant was he would love to stay here for the right price. Maybe i just don't look at things in the same light, but after you make a certain amount of money, what's the real difference in 1 million dollars? When you're living a dream that less than 1% of the population live, you don't complain...look at the people that have to actually work and work hard just to make ends meat, then you have poor Rob Blake pickering over an extra half mil to a million dollars. I just don't respect that, and nothing he does on the ice will ever over shadow what I saw as his true colors. A hockey player with imense talent, that was down right greedy.

Do I dislike all ex kings, no....but Cammy is pretty close also, though he never went through the media. It goes back to something I said in thread a few weeks ago. Do you want players on your team that want to make money first and win second. Or do you want a player that wants to win at all cost and get paid second. As much as I've bashed Kariya and Selanne over the years, I atleast respect them, they took pay cuts to go to the Avs because they wanted to win. I respect that more than a player that bitches over a million dollars.
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Originally Posted by eyesk8r

I think the word hate in this case is a bit too strong, i don't hate anyone, but I don't respect the person he is. Was he a good d'man sure, but the person he is has tarnished that in my eyes. This to me goes way back to greed. You're getting paid do something you love, at some point it seemed to cross over in Blakes mind, that he was living a dream, visiting the best cities in North America, flying first class, going to top notch restaraunts, and getting paid to play a game that he grew up loving. Then he says how much loves LA and would love to stay here, of course he says that to the media, but what he really meant was he would love to stay here for the right price. Maybe i just don't look at things in the same light, but after you make a certain amount of money, what's the real difference in 1 million dollars? When you're living a dream that less than 1% of the population live, you don't complain...look at the people that have to actually work and work hard just to make ends meat, then you have poor Rob Blake pickering over an extra half mil to a million dollars. I just don't respect that, and nothing he does on the ice will ever over shadow what I saw as his true colors. A hockey player with imense talent, that was down right greedy.

Do I dislike all ex kings, no....but Cammy is pretty close also, though he never went through the media. It goes back to something I said in thread a few weeks ago. Do you want players on your team that want to make money first and win second. Or do you want a player that wants to win at all cost and get paid second. As much as I've bashed Kariya and Selanne over the years, I atleast respect them, they took pay cuts to go to the Avs because they wanted to win. I respect that more than a player that bitches over a million dollars.
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For people who have to retire at 40, it's a really smart idea to make as much money as possible. This also goes back to the pre-union days when players would be flat broke later on in their lives. The owners were so bullyish back in those days (some stories are mind blowing) that after Goodenow took over, the players said "to hell with the owners". Now I get that when you're a millionaire like Blake, you should be able to hold on to that money, but I don't blame him for trying to make as much as he can. And you can't deny that the Kings tried bullying him into an offer just like every other contract negotiation they went through back then. The other thing that I brought up is his position within the NHLPA. He has a responsibility to all players in the league to make as much as he can to raise the market value of other players. By taking less, he's essentially screwing everyone else. And I do believe he had this in mind because of how he defended Norstrom the year before.

I find it funny how people judge athletes when they're fighting over millions of dollars when they have never and will never go through that experience. How come nobody blasts Joe Sakic when he signed an offer sheet with the Rangers and forced the Avs' hand? Was that not greed too?

Originally Posted by NastiMarvasti

For people who have to retire at 40, it's a really smart idea to make as much money as possible. This also goes back to the pre-union days when players would be flat broke later on in their lives. The owners were so bullyish back in those days (some stories are mind blowing) that after Goodenow took over, the players said "to hell with the owners". Now I get that when you're a millionaire like Blake, you should be able to hold on to that money, but I don't blame him for trying to make as much as he can. And you can't deny that the Kings tried bullying him into an offer just like every other contract negotiation they went through back then. The other thing that I brought up is his position within the NHLPA. He has a responsibility to all players in the league to make as much as he can to raise the market value of other players. By taking less, he's essentially screwing everyone else. And I do believe he had this in mind because of how he defended Norstrom the year before.

I find it funny how people judge athletes when they're fighting over millions of dollars when they have never and will never go through that experience. How come nobody blasts Joe Sakic when he signed an offer sheet with the Rangers and forced the Avs' hand? Was that not greed too?

I see your point, especially the union point, but, and the owners are responsible for this too, but this is what caused the lockout. Players asking for that kind of money, if the owner abliges and gives in, who gets hit the hardest with these high salaries, the owners are going to want to make a money, so ultimately it would all be passed on to us fans. That's a beer and parking cost more that your adimission to the game (if your in the cheap seats.) Can you imagine where this league would be if we didn't have a lockout...there'd be no cost certainty, no revenue sharing teams like the Oilers would barely spend 25-30 mil while the Rangers, Flyers, and Wings would spend over 80. Temas would be lossng money left and right, and before you knew it the average ticket price would be near 75 bucks just so teams could try and turn a profit. I don't ever want to see hockey turn into a sport that's only affordable to a certain class of people. I don't believe that any pro athlete is worth 10 million dollars a year. We all have basic needs in life, but those basic needs don't cost us that kind of money. Luxury does, but that's not a need, it's a want, and to me it gets to a point where that want just becomes greed...if a player is worried about not making money after he retires, there is nothing stopping said player from going to get a real job to make sure there is still some sort of income coming.

Blake a side, i don't think any pro athlete is worth that kind of money, especially if some of the cost ends up being passed down to my level.
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Fine retire it, I never liked the number 4 anyway.

Originally Posted by jt

I keep forgetting you're Euchrid.

Years ago I never woulda pegged you for a Blake apologist...I guess times change.

Not an apologist at all - just looking at the situation without bias one way or the other. Both sides are equally at fault for the entire drama. It just gets old hearing how Blake is evil incarnate and the Kings are poor victims all the time. The Kings are cheap - and have been ever since McNall. I'm not judging them, or saying it is right or wrong that they're cheap, they just are. And during that time, they were even more cheap. So when you take out all the emotional, touchy-feely, stuff and just look at the situation it boils down to the fact Blake wanted more than the Kings were going to pay, so they traded him. Everything else is irrelevant. Both sides made bad choices, it's over, and yet people can't move on.

Also, I find it hard to believe he is anywhere near as bad as you and other make him out to be when he has been repeatedly made captain of other teams, he was brought back by Lombardi who people around here keep saying only likes players with "character", and is held in high esteem by his teammates wherever he plays. I don't think he's hall of fame material, or that he should get his jersey retired, but he's not Hitler either.

Originally Posted by eyesk8r

All 3 of you Blake supporters

It isn't "supporting" Blake at all. I didn't want Blake back when your boy Lombardi signed him and still think it was a bonehead move. I just find it strange that people so conveniently forget how cheap the Kings were back then and how many players they pulled hardball tactics with just to keep salary at a minimum. Had the Kings just signed him when they had a chance, before Pronger signed, who knows what could've happened?