NHL Penalty Plus/Minus: 2008-9 Final Results
On the Forecheck — ... nearly doubled that of his closest competitor, Calgary's Jarome Iginla (+35). Brown clearly has a knack for causing opponents to take penalties without taking too many himself (only 64 PIMs). Last year, Brown won a much tighter race, with a +43 that beat out Sidney Crosby (+39) and Pavel Datsyuk (+37). At the bottom of the rankings, we had a late upset: Vancouver's Mattias Ohlund fell to the last spot with a -33, just below San Jose's Rob Blake (-32). To put the value of Penalty Plus/Minus in perspective, ...

Stanley Cup Playoffs: Night 7
Defending Big D — ... severely lacking in the first two games of this series and their series last year against Dallas, it was their power play. Last year, Dallas did a lot of allowing Joe Thornton to carry the puck in the corner before smothering his passing lanes down low. They left the points wide open because Brian Campbell was about the only defenseman that posed a threat on the blueline for the Sharks. So San Jose went out and picked up Dan Boyle from Tampa Bay and Rob Blake from free agency. The first two games, those two were invisible. ...

Trade Specs: Jonathan Cheechoo For Michal Rozsival
Blueshirt Banter — ... for Jonathan Cheechoo. Although this trade would be entirely based on Rob Blake retiring or moving to another club, it's not such a farfetched dream as the  ...

Top Avs Of All Time: #4 Adam Foote
Mile High Hockey — ... heel and missed the next 12 games.  Then, just two weeks after returning from the heel injury, he separated his left shoulder, which required surgery and three full months of recovery and rehab.  He missed 35 games and didn't return until late March, just before the playoffs.  Luckily for the Avs, Foote stayed healthy when they needed him the most.  He played all 23 playoff games, racked up 47 penalty minutes and averaged more than 28 minutes of ice time.  Rob Blake was brought in while Foote was injured during the regular season, ...

Today In Colorado Avalanche History
Mile High Hockey — June 24, 2006 - In his first major move as GM, Francois Giguere makes a big draft day trade sending Alex Tanguay to the Flames for Jordan Leopold and a pair of 2nd round picks (Codey Burki in 2006 and Trevor Cann in 2007). The Avalanche had already lost Rob Blake, Adam Foote and Peter Forsberg to free agency, but, to me, this was the deal that signified an end of an era in Denver. I've never quite recovered from this trade.

A Look At The Unrestricted Free Agent Defencemen
Nucks Misconduct — ... most likely become unrestricted free agents in a few days. They are placed in order of previous dollar values. I've put my preferences in italics plus thrown in my "yay's" or "nay's" on each one. What are your thoughts? Scott Niedermayer - 35 - $6,750,000: Staying with the Ducks. Mathieu Schneider - 40 - $5,750,000: Old and expensive. Sergei Zubov - 38 - $5,350,000: Running into age and health issues. Still has the skill. Rob Blake - 39 - $5,000,000: Doesn't want to leave California. ...

2009 NHL Free Agency: A Look at Defensemen and Goaltenders with Updated News About Bouwmeester
Defending Big D — ... website. They're the source for all the lists of free agent defensemen and goaltenders you'll see below the jump. However, they are not complete lists as they do not include any free agents who did not spend any time this past season on any club's active roster. From a Stars perspective, these are now the two most glaring needs now that they've locked up Jere Lehtinen for another year. Now onto the free agents... Defensemen First off, Rob Blake, Johnny Oduya, and Tyler Sloan have each signed ...

July 1 Liveblog: "At My Signal, Unleash Hell"
Nucks Misconduct — ... 9:33 PM ET - Via Kukla, at least the Oilers are still struggling. 9:10 AM ET - For fun, via the NY Post, let's all delight in the collective joy that can only come from a big, fat NY Rangers FAIL. 8:58 AM ET - Opps, one more bit of Canuck news via the White Towel: Davison is joining Pyatt on the UFA line. 8:55 AM ET - Just to catch you up on the latest, Johnny Oduya resigns with New Jersey, Rob Blake returns to San Jose, Bill Guerin is sticking around ...

Back, meet corner.
Fear The Fin — ... based on his skill, age, injury history, whatever. Same for Huskins. You could even make the case that the Rob Blake deal was evidence of poor decision making by the ...

Svatos, Budaj Invited to Slovakia Olympic Camp
Mile High Hockey — ... That's a far cry from the 11 players we sent to Turin, Italy in 2006. While that is an indication that the team's talent level has dropped in the last few years, it also shows that the roster has become a bit less "international" llately. In 2006, we had Olympians from Canada (Rob Blake, Sakic), the Czech Republic (Hejduk), Finland ( ...

Zubov introduced by the KHL
From The Rink — ... 7 Mathieu Schneider  934 163 392 555 0.59 20 8 Rob Blake  904 178 376 554 0.61 ...

Avalanche By The Numbers: #3
Mile High Hockey — ... logo is, in spades). As we recently learned, #3 was retired by the Nordiques for J.C. Tremblay so when Miller got some limited duty with the Nords in '93-'94 and '94-'95 he wore #44 and #31. It appears that he kept #31 when he played 5 games in Denver after the move (again, photo evidence is sadly evading me). Beginning in 1996, Miller moved from a part-timer to a regular and changed to his preferred #3. He kept that in LA after being moved in the Rob Blake deal but had to move to #4 when he went to Vancouver ...

Avalanche By The Numbers: #4
Mile High Hockey — ... . In 2000, he was traded to the Avs in the Sandis Ozolinsh deal and retained his #4 (above). He changed to #44 midseason, though, when the Avs acquired the next guy on the list - Rob Blake. Pratt only played 46 games that year, and I don't know how many he played after the Blake deal, but I do know he played in at ...

Fantasy Hockey: Help the Fabulous Forecheckers choose a keeper
On the Forecheck — ... Eric Belanger (Min - C) 13 23 -5 26 4 9 4 147 Rob Blake (SJ - D) 10 35 15 ...

Monday Caps Clips: Rookie Camp Opens
Japers' Rink — ... camp and is still chasing the dream. [Toronto Sun] Did you know that Alex Ovechkin "had the most assists among non-centers in the NHL in 2008-09?" Of course you did, but it's still nice to see it shared with the rest of the world. [The Hockey News] In other AO news, he's been awarded the title of "Honored Master of Sports" in Russia, which is the most prestigious honor the country hands out to athletes. [Alex Ovetjkin] Rob Blake ducks the "Sid or AO?" question. [The Beckett Blog] ...

Season Review: Jack Johnson
Battle of California — ... Last year, after Johnson's unimpressive yet productive rookie season, Johnson looked around the league and saw he wasn't an elite defender.  He didn't quite have the positioning to protect his net, and he sure as hell didn't have the right mentor to lead by example.  (You suck, Rob Blake.)  Jack's solution?  Add 25 pounds of muscle.  Johnson's a guy that has always been physically superior specimen to his opponents, and he tried to regain that in the NHL (and immediately injured his shoulder).  The problem is, ...

A Win/Semi-Win Trade?
Battle of California — ... less over the past two years. Best to you, Cheech, and I hope you give Jason Spezza a lot of assists. Ok, that's enough being nostalgic. This is a results-oriented business, so if Heatley performs well, then we'll all forget about Cheech and Michalek pretty fast. His salary cap hit is huge ($7.5 million), and one wonders how the Sharks plan to actually manage all this considering the big salaries to Joe Thornton and Dan Boyle. This move essentially assumes that Rob Blake retires after this year and that either Evgeni Nabokov or ...

The Official "On the Forecheck" Fantasy Hockey League draft is complete
On the Forecheck — ... 8. (89) Bill Guerin - RW 9. (104) Kevin Bieksa - D 10. (113) Rob Blake - D 11. (128) Marek Zidlicky - D ...

Predictions sure to go wrong: 2009-10 Western Conference preview (playoff teams)
PensBurgh — ... after all, which has to clear his mind and set him up for another solid season. Defensive depth could be a problem, the Sharks will lean heavily on the almost 40 year old Rob Blake. ...

2009-10 NHL Season Preview: San Jose Sharks
From The Rink — ... out: Brian Boucher, Jonathan Cheechoo, Christian Ehrhoff, Marcel Goc, Mike Grier, Claude Lemieux, Brad Lukowich, Milan Michalek, Travis Moen, Tomas Plihal, Jeremy Roenick, Alexei Semenov Outlook: Pressed flush against the salary cap all summer, the Sharks stood pat well into August, adding only checker Scott Nichol via free agency and locking up Rob Blake, Kent Huskins and Ryane Clowe on new contracts. Exiting stage left ...

FTF Regular Season Cheat Sheet: Top Four Defense
Fear The Fin — ... Rob Blake #4 / Defenseman / San Jose Sharks Height: 6-4 Weight: 225 Born: Dec 10, 1969   ...

Game 1: Sharks at Avalanche, Preview and Open Thread
Mile High Hockey — ... that the team doesn't have enough mental toughness to succeed when it counts. To rectify this, the Sharks brought in a notorious quitter in Dany Heatley. I'm not sure that's going to do anything in the leadership department, but that douchebag sure can play hockey. The thought of him and Joe Thornton playing together is just damn scary. You can take a peek at the Sharks' offseason changes over at Fear The Fin (one change not listed there is the recent naming of Rob Blake as Sharks' captain). For the Avs tonight, Dater has the ...

Rangers Analysis: Rangers experience helping them win games
Blueshirt Banter — ... But even more important than their locker room presence is what they do on the ice when it matters the most. There is a reason why you would rather have Rob Blake on your blue-line when it's 2-2 in game 7 of the Stanley Cup finals rather than ...

Minnesota Wild @ San Jose Sharks: Game 4
Hockey Wilderness — ... Forwards Dany Heatley - Joe Thornton - Devin Setoguchi Ryane Clowe - Patrick Marleau - Jamie McGinn Jody Shelley - Scott Nichol - Jed Ortmeyer Frazer McLaren - Manny Malhotra - Benn Ferriero Defense Dan Boyle - Douglas Murray Rob Blake - Marc-Edouard Vlasic Kent Huskins - Jason Demers ...

Rangers Recap: Sharks crush Rangers 7-3, Rangers winning streak ends at 7
Blueshirt Banter — ... Rookie defenseman Michael Del Zotto tallied a power play goal and registered four shots in 15:54 of icetime; entering the contest, he was one of only four rookie defensemen in the last 20 years to score at least eight points in his team's first eight games of the season (Rob Blake - 10, Alexei Zhitnik - 9, and ...

Do the San Jose Sharks rush their prospects?
Fear The Fin — ... 4 remain with the Sharks. However, of Detroit's 13 picks, only 4 players are currently employed by NHL clubs (31%). 2 remain with the Red Wings. Eight of Detroit's picks remain within the organization, the same number remain with San Jose. However, it seems as if San Jose's rush to bring players to the NHL has been beneficial to the organization (I promise, I'll quit it with the numbers soon). When your team's biggest free agent acquisition in history is a tie between Rob Blake (at 38) and Jeremy Roenick (at 37), it almost doesn't need ...

Friday's news: Predators' Hamhuis on losing side of NHLPA vote
On the Forecheck — ... to SB Nation's Tennessee Titans blog, which just passed the 1 million visitor mark yesterday. Predators News Cox: When Crosby speaks, NHLPA listens - thestar.com Damien Cox writes about the turbulent times for the players' union right now, including a bit where Predator rep Dan Hamhuis writes his colleagues in support of NHLPA interim executive director Ian Penny, but ends up on the losing side of a 23-4 vote to empower the committee of Chris Chelios, Rob Blake, Nick Lidstrom and Mark Recchi to investigate the recent ...

Sharks Gameday: An Extra Hour Of Sleep
Battle of California — ... -Maybe the captain's C just weighs down whoever wears it, because Rob Blake sure looks two steps slow this season. It feels like it's almost a given that he'll take a bad holding/hooking penalty each game. ...

Looking at the San Jose Sharks
Winging It In Motown — ... 51 Patrick Marleau Shots against per game 29.2 12th (3B) Blocked Shots 37 Rob Blake Faceoff percentage 57.4% 1st ...

Gameday Preview: Dallas Stars @ San Jose Sharks (9:30 CST)
Defending Big D — ... in scoring in the NHL, and Battle of California is talking about re-signing him. He is enjoying a fantastic year so far with Clowe and Pavelski on his wings. With Setoguchi recently returned to the lineup, paired with Thornton and Heatley, the Sharks are a formidable group up front. Fear the Fin apparently doesn't care for Dallas much. Injuries: Dallas: Fabian Brunnstrom is out with a shoulder injury. Day-to-day. San Jose: Rob Blake (upper body) and Torey Mitchell (leg) are out tonight. ...

Sharks Gameday: Be More Defensive!
Battle of California — ... Heel was going to be its defense. There were always questions about whether Evgeni Nabokov would rebound from a bad playoff or if Dany Heatley would be an utter disaster, but it'd be pretty hard to argue that the forwards and goaltending would all implode at once. But that defense? Other than Dan Boyle and Marc-Edouard Vlasic, there were a lot of questions marks. Douglas Murray could alternate between emulating Scott Stevens or a traffic pylon, Rob Blake wasn't getting any younger, and Kent Huskins...well, Earl ...

Around The Pacific: Sharks Charging Ahead With Division Lead
Defending Big D — ... Out (IR / Out / Suspended / Physically unvailable) Player Injury Type Injury Date Rob Blake arm 11/05/2009 ...

Off the Post - November 19
Fear The Fin — ... and Sages) Down Goes Brown's awesome top secret flowchart of NHL suspension protocol. Die by the Blade's Ten Rookies Who Have Impressed... Jason Demers only gets an honorable mention. Ten types of Toronto Maple Leafs fans... LOL at how to deal with the Bandwagon Jumper. Rob Blake in the new Sharks commercial... ...

We Made The Sharks Brains Bigger: Hawks at Sharks Preview/Thread/Ethics Panel
Second City Hockey — ... He blocked a shot in their last game in Anaheim, and there's been some call-ups from the Shark affiliate in Worcester (how's that for a shuttle?).  If Boyle doesn't play it really affects the Sharks.  That blue line looks a lot less threatening without him, and the power play could take a hit as they have no other QB back there.  That doesn't mean the Hawks should feel the need to parade to the box, however.  Devin Setoguchi also probably won't play, and Rob Blake is a long-term absentee.  ...

Team Canada - One Month Out
Pension Plan Puppets — ... Rob Blakesaid in a recent interview that one of the main issues in the Turin Olympics was the lack of puck-moving defensemen who could skate through the trap.  I highly doubt that will be an issue this time around, as I expect Yzerman to pick at least three and possibly 5 puck-movers for this team.  The first pairing will undoubtedly be Scott Neidermayer and ...

Team Canada - One Month Out
Pension Plan Puppets — ... Rob Blake said in a recent interview that one of the main issues in the Turin Olympics was the lack of puck-moving defensemen who could skate through the trap.  I highly doubt that will be an issue this time around, as I expect Yzerman to pick at least three and possibly 5 puck-movers for this team.  The first pairing will undoubtedly be Scott Neidermayer and ...

Eww. Whose Chum Is That? Your Blues at Sharks GDT
St. Louis Game Time — ... The san Jose Sharks are cruising. As mentioned in our Road Music segment (many thanks again, CCR), the team has one completely unconscious offensive line when they put Thornton, Marleau and Heatley together, but they also have soliod secondary scoring from guys like Setoguchi (gesundheit), Pavelski and Clowe. They have a great offensive defenseman in Dan Boyle and a formerly great offensive defenseman in Rob Blake. And then there's the goalie Evgeni Nabokov. Nabokov can have the odd terrible night, but for the most part, he is ...

Around The Pacific: Kings, Coyotes & Stars Holding Steady
Defending Big D — ... and Rob Blake. Joe Thornton gets a pass here as he was the requisite forechecker on the play (along with beating out the icing call), but Heatley and Marleau need to make a quick change so they don't get caught with tired legs in the defensive zone. Whether it was an honest mistake, competitive instinct, or a case of seeing that empty net opportunity to pad the stats a bit doesn't matter. That shift change needs to get done. ...

Kings Gameday: "Lolita" is Overrated Too
Battle of California — ... chief among them.  You might think it odd that I would hate Nabokov more than anyone not named Rob Blake on the Sharks, but I do.  Evgeni Nabokov isn't really that good, in that he's probably not top 10 in terms of ability or talent; he's only good because he can play 70 games a season.  He's a league average starter, an innings eater, more Derek Lowe than CC Sabathia.  Really, try to come up with a better situation than the one Nabokov has had since the lockout: ...

Sharks Gameday: Battle of California?
Battle of California — ... almost halfway through December. While there's always a chance for any team to experience an epic meltdown, I think we can finally stop talking about what a good young team LA will eventually have, and we can check them off as this season's SoCal rival. It's just kind of different getting amped up about a BoC game without Chris Pronger involved, though. The King I'd Like On My Team: Ryan Smyth, just so Rudy's head would explode when he scores off a Rob Blake pass. Prediction: Sharks 4, Kings 2. Goals by ...

Stargazing: Stars Win again in San Jose, 3-2 in Shootout
Defending Big D — ... the Sharks are a very good team, and they'll be fine. The Mercury news brings you some amusing quotes from the Sharks coach on the shootout... For 10 rounds, the Sharks and Dallas Stars sent skaters out in a one-on-one skill test, and for 10 rounds, only one shooter on each team could put the puck past San Jose goalie Evgeni Nabokov or Dallas goalie Marty Turco. "You start looking around," Sharks captain Rob Blake said. "Who's next? 11? It's getting down there." ...