Rob Blake : Los Angeles Kings Hero or Villain?

(Courtesy of @NHL_PR)

Blake’s contract with the Kings was ending at the end of the 2000-01 season.  The Kings’ GM at the time, Dave Taylor, started negotiating with Blake’s camp but was offering less than what Blake was hoping for.  Blake was looking for something more in the ballpark to what St. Louis Blue star defensemen (and 2000 Hart Trophy winner) Chris Pronger was receiving, which was $9.5 million a year (this was before the salary cap era).  Taylor refused to agree to that offer and who could blame him?  At the time, the Kings were not as financially sound as they are today in 2015.  Back then and even though there was no salary cap, the Kings simply couldn’t either fully afford the large contract or were just not willing to take on a contract of that size.  The franchise was still recovering from the financial disaster and bankruptcy that happened in the mid-90s due to the illegal business dealings of previous owner Bruce McNall.  The highest offer that Taylor and the Kings were willing to go with was reportedly $8 million a year (and considering Pronger had won the Hart trophy as league MVP and Blake never did, I thought this was more than a fair offer) but after thinking about it, Blake and his camp turned that down.  It seemed to be $9 million or Blake would walk and test the free agent market in the summer. His days as a King seemed to be coming to a fearful end. Afraid of losing Rob Blake to free agency, therefore not getting anything in return, Taylor triggered a trade with the All Star Colorado Avalanche on February 21, 2001.  The best Kings defenseman of all time (at the time), along with center Steve Reinprecht were gone.  In return was Forward Adam Deadmarsh, Defenseman Aaron Miller, Jared Aulin and a 1st round draft pick that became David Steckel.

In all fairness, I believe this trade was a good one for both teams.  Adam Deadmarsh sadly had his career cut short due to concussion problems but no one could see that at the time of the trade.  For the short time he was a King, Deadmarsh was a clutch performer at both the 2001 and 2002 playoffs.  Aaron Miller, was a solid defensive defenseman (think Matt Greene before 2013 but without the personality).  It was a fine trade but was it needed?  Whether Blake actually would or would not walk out on the Kings as a free agent created a he said/she said type scenario that still goes on today.  Either way, the hearts of Kings fans were broken and they were deeply disappointed.  Soon they would be angry too.

For those of you who are too young to remember all this or weren’t yet following the Los Angeles Kings yet, remember the metaphorical twisting knife I mentioned earlier?  This is where it comes into play.  As bad as it was trading away Rob Blake because he wouldn’t re-sign with the Kings (the knife stab), everything got worse as the franchise and its fan base had to witness Rob Blake and his Colorado Avalanche come back and take on the Kings in the second round of the playoffs and defeat them in an epic 7 game series (the knife starts to twist).  Then they had to witness Blake and the Avalanche go all the way and win the Stanley Cup (the knife just spun out of control). With the Kings going toe to toe with the Avalanche and coming (oh so) close to upsetting them, the Kings turned out to be a competitive team after all.  Maybe if Blake had stayed and signed for the $8 million, he would have been the missing piece to help get past and eliminate the powerful Avalanche and help the Kings win the first Cup in franchise history? Maybe but maybe not too.  We’ll never know for sure.  If Rob Blake had stayed or wasn’t traded when he was, there was still no guarantee the Kings would’ve gotten as far as they ended up doing or even go further in to the playoffs.  Adam Deadmarsh and his play was a major reason why the Kings went as far as they did.  Without him in the picture, it would be hard to say what would’ve happened but regardless, Rob Blake the hero was now a traitorous villain.

For years afterwards, there was a bitter feud between the Kings’ fans and Blake.  Whenever Blake would return to the Staples Center he would be greeted with a chorus of boos (not to mention worse between both him and the crowd in section 119). Blake was the most hated man in the Kingdom….that is until 2006, when the Avalanche decided to not re-sign Blake after his contract expired.  New General Manager Dean Lombardi then stepped in and did what nobody thought could be possible. He brought the protocol son back home!

Returning to the fold and wearing a Los Angeles Kings jersey for the first time since 2001, a lot of Kings fans weren’t sure what to make of Blake’s return?  Upon his return and deep understanding of the bad blood, Blake said in interviews that he always wanted to come back and play for the Kings again and possibly even retire there. In other words, he was there to put the wrong things right and finish his career where it started.  Even though the events of the past were still fresh in many minds, and with Blake now a step slower due to being in the twilight years of his career, slowly (and I mean sloooowly) the fans (well most of them at least) started coming around to him and offered forgiveness.  Blake’s return provided championship leadership and veteran experience to a very young and impressionable Kings team when such intangibles were desperately needed.  In his second season back with the Kings, he even returned to being the team Captain.  Rob Blake was once again a Kings hero… well except to those that still didn’t fully trust him, and those people had the right to say, “I told you so!” when another metaphorical knife appeared in another real life betrayal to fans.

At the end of the 2007-08 season, Rob Blake became a free agent and signed with the division rival San Jose Sharks (yes, THE SAN JOSE SHARKS!) The Captain of the Kings, the returned and (mostly) forgiven protocol son had left once again but now to the one team (of two or possibly three) that all Kings fans didn’t want or expected him to go to, the hated Sharks. This made the villain version of Rob Blake in 2001 look like an innocent choir boy. For many Kings fans, especially the ones who had forgiven Blake for originally leaving, this was the final straw.  This was treachery of epic proportions.

Blake was on the last year of the 2 year $6 million contract he signed to return to the Kings.  With its expiration fast approaching, GM Dean Lombardi tried to re-sign Blake and Blake even mentioned to the local media that he was sure to re-sign but Lombardi’s original offer was for much less than what Blake wanted and we all got a deja vu experience.  Blake wanted at least $5 million per season (or for a single season) but with Blake’s declining skills due to his age, Lombardi didn’t agree.  The strongest rumor that came out of these events (and irked the Kings faithful) was that Lombardi was trying to trade Blake (like Taylor did before him) so the Kings would at least get something in return instead of Blake just walking out as a free agent for nothing but Blake refused to be traded and threatened to not report to the team he was traded to.  The deadline came and went and there was no re-signing.  A few days later Blake signed with the mortal enemy Sharks for exactly $5 million for 1 season.  Blake made Kings history by becoming the most hated man in the Kingdom ….twice!  Signing with the hated direct rival Sharks was insulting.  If the original wound had indeed healed with Blake’s return, he cut it back open and made it even worse with a deeper infection with this latest betrayal.

So here we are in 2015.  As most of you already know, Blake returned home a third time before the 2013-14 season by becoming the assistant general manager to Dean Lombardi and the Los Angeles Kings (and general manager of the minor league affiliate Manchester Monarchs). The Kings would go on to win their second Stanley Cup in franchise history but this time with Rob Blake’s name (finally?) engraved into the Cup as a Kings member. Today, Blake’s number 4 will be retired and a banner will be added to what will now be known now to me as the “Royal Six” … but should Blake be included there?  How can someone, as skilled as he was, be immortalized forever with such a hurtful past to the Kings’ fans and organization? How can he be known as a Kings’ hero (for what would be now the third time) like the “Royal Five” were and are hero’s to the vast Kingdom?

Rob Blake recently spoke with “The Mayor” John Hoven in a radio interview for the NHL’s “West Coast Bias” show and openly denied the long-time rumor that he didn’t allow Lombardi to trade him back in 2008. According to Blake, there was a trade in play but it simply just fell through and never happened. He said he never would have asked Lombardi to not trade him and would have accepted any trade if it happened. When he didn’t hear back from Lombardi after the free agent market had opened, he signed with a team that wanted him (okay Rob Blake, fair enough ….BUT WHY THE SHARKS???!!!)

So is Rob Blake a hero or a villain for the Los Angeles Kings?  As discussed, he obviously was both at different times in his Kings career.  Whatever Rob Blake is currently in your own eyes and heart, as a fellow Kings fan that went through all this with all of you, I can understand fully why he is one or the other to you.  I could also understand if you are still conflicted and can’t seem to decide which one he is to you?  This is a complicated matter and I’m sure this debate will continue on for even more years to follow despite the upcoming retired number celebration.

Blake was one of my heroes when I was growing up and I was saddened by his trade to Colorado.  I will admit that a part of me (a very small, small part of me) was even happy to see him finally win the Stanley Cup in 2001.  I did wish that he had won that same Cup as a Kings player instead of for another team, especially a team that ended up beating us in the playoffs but what can you do? Returning home to Los Angeles in 2006 was very important to me as a fan.  Like Robitaille returning (twice) home before him, I easily forgot the past and embraced Rob Blake once again. He was still a Kings hero to me but admittingly, him signing with the Sharks and not a team that was a direct rival left a burning scar that has yet to be fully healed.  I was angry and feeling betrayed and if he wasn’t fully one to me before in 2001, Blake was now a full villain in my eyes, heart and soul.

But I choose to forgive Rob Blake and will let the past be the past. In the end he did return back to the Los Angeles Kings organization. He may even one day become our next General Manager?  Who knows what the future has in store as I’m sure none of us expected Blake to return to the organization we all love after leaving on such bad terms once already, let alone twice?  So I say congratulations to Rob Blake for having his #4 retired and reaching the highest echelon for a Kings player. He will be forever immortalized like how Wayne Gretzky, Luc Robitaille, Marcel Dionne, Rogie Vachon and Dave Taylor were before him and I will respect that.

So I forgive you Rob Blake … but I won’t forget. To me personally, you are no longer a Kings hero as you were to me back as recently as 2008.  I will always respect and support the fans that do see you as one though. As long as you stay and remain a part of the Kings organization and family I will respect you and the job you do and who knows, maybe in time you will be my hero once again? I can’t speak for you or for the Los Angeles Kings fan base but like Robert DeNiro while putting up with Ben Stiller in the “Meet the Parents” film trilogy, I am still suspicious and cautious. Whether you’re a true Los Angeles Kings hero or a villain, we are all paying close attention for your next move Mr. Blake.  The Kingdom is watching.

Stay with us at Calisportsnews.com as we will keep you up-to-date on all things Los Angeles Kings and the rest of the LA sports teams! All Cali, All the time!