Rob Blake
Rob Blake
Robert Bowlby Blakeis a Canadian retired professional ice hockey player and the current assistant general manager of the Los Angeles Kings of the National Hockey League. 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 helped the team win their second...
ProfessionHockey Player
Date of Birth10 December 1969
CitySimcoe, Canada
I think people understand there's a business side to the game and that's been put in the past now. It's time to move on and the excitement of the game will live again.
You don't even worry about what happened at the end of the season. Our whole focus is on Dallas this week. We'll go over their game plan and our game plan against them. As far as the regular season, that's forgotten and we go on.
We weren't up to the task. They are right back in this series. Now we have to try and go back there and win a game in their building.
This team in the past hasn't taken advantage of some of the leads we've had in a series. So we have to force the issue, not sit and wait and see what's going to happen. (The Stars) are a veteran team with guys who have won Cups and their best game is going to be (tonight).
It's a different feel for that game than any other game on your schedule. It has in the past, and always will.
I think the last 25, 30 games, we've been battling to find our way into the playoffs, and once we succeeded, I think the emotion was tough to bring. But now we move on against Dallas, and I think you'll see we won't have trouble bringing emotion.
When you win some games in a row, the panic gets out of the way. We know David's going to shut it down for us now.
They're a very veteran team. They understand they've been in the last two games. A bounce here or there and the games could have been different. Knowing that they have got guys that have been around a long time, had guys that have won Cups and guys with a lot of leadership, that's why we expect their best game.
There's an ongoing investigation, and we talked about this before the game that when an investigation's going on, there's nothing (that is) going to come out of our room.
You never want to give a team life - especially a team as good as Dallas. They've got some momentum now, but we've got a chance in the next game to take it away again.
Definitely. We're going to be fighting down the stretch and we have that western swing with . . . the teams we are battling with. You want be in a position for those three games coming up to be real big.
He's been a key to our success because I think other players take from what he does out there and their game picks up.
For those of us who play in the U.S., it was good to be reminded of the sense of passion for the game in Canada.
He was thrown into a defensive role because of his speed. He can use that the other way, too. He usually gets a chance or two a game where he's all alone on the goalie, so he'll be very effective for us.