Rob Blake

Robert Bowlby Blake (born December 10, 1969) is a Canadian former professional ice hockey player and executive who most recently served as the general manager of the Los Angeles Kings of the National Hockey League (NHL). He was originally drafted by the Kings in 1988, appearing in the 1993 Stanley Cup Finals, winning the James Norris Memorial Trophy and serving as team captain for five seasons in his initial 11-season stint with the club. In 2001, Blake was traded to the Colorado Avalanche and was a member of their 2001 Stanley Cup championship team. It was his only Stanley Cup as a player, though he won the Cup again as a member of the Kings' front office in 2014. After a two-season return to Los Angeles, Blake signed with the San Jose Sharks in 2008, retiring as its captain after the 2009–10 season. Four years later, in 2014, Blake was elected into the Hockey Hall of Fame.

Internationally, Blake played for Canada in three consecutive Winter Olympics in 1998, 2002, and 2006, winning gold in 2002 and becoming the 11th member of the Triple Gold Club. He was inducted into the IIHF Hall of Fame in 2018.

Blake was selected 70th overall in the 1988 NHL Entry Draft by the Los Angeles Kings. He had completed his freshman year with Bowling Green State University of the Central Collegiate Hockey Association (CCHA) when he was drafted and went on to play three years total in the college ranks, earning CCHA and NCAA West first All-Star team honours in 1990. Blake was also the first player to ever receive the CCHA Best Offensive Defenseman award. Foregoing his final season of college eligibility, Blake joined the Kings for the final four games of the 1989–90 season before scoring 46 points in his NHL rookie campaign in 1990–91 to be named to the NHL All-Rookie Team.

After a 59-point campaign in his third season, Blake helped lead the Kings to the 1993 Stanley Cup Finals, where they were defeated in five games by the Montreal Canadiens. The following season, in 1993–94, Blake improved to a career-high 48 assists and 68 points, but the Kings failed to qualify for the playoffs.

In a season where Blake was kept to just six games due to injury, the Kings traded captain Wayne Gretzky to the St. Louis Blues at the 1995–96 trade deadline, leaving the team's captaincy vacant. Blake was named the 11th captain in team history prior to the 1996–97 season. In 1997–98, Blake received the James Norris Memorial Trophy as the NHL's best defenceman after recording a career-high 23 goals to go with 50 points.

On February 21, 2001, with Blake about to become an unrestricted free agent in the 2001 off-season, the Kings traded him (with Steven Reinprecht) to the Colorado Avalanche for Adam Deadmarsh, Aaron Miller, Jared Aulin, and a first-round pick (used to select Dave Steckel).

After 11 seasons in Los Angeles, Blake joined Colorado late in the 2000–01 season and made an immediate impact, scoring 10 points in the final 13 games of the regular season after being traded. In the 2001 playoffs, he played a second-round series against his former club, the Kings, before he won his first and only Stanley Cup with the Avalanche, adding 19 points in 23 playoff games. In totaling 59 points in 67 games in the regular season, Blake was selected to the NHL second All-Star team.

On July 1, 2001, Blake re-signed with the Avalanche in the off-season to a five-year contract with an optional sixth year. As the Avalanche's top defenceman, Blake recorded his highest total with the Avalanche in recording 56 points in 75 games, third amongst NHL defenceman, in the 2001–02 season, before falling in their defence of the Stanley Cup in the Western Conference finals to the Detroit Red Wings. For his third successive season, Blake was selected to the NHL second All-Star team.