rob blake's #4 rises to the rafters

Saturday night (January 17, 2015) the LA Kings retired the second of my two, all-time favorite players' numbers.

Rob Blake's #4 will now forever hang in the rafters next to Luc Robitaille's #20, in addition to some other guys you may have heard of named Dave Taylor (#18), Rogie Vachon (#30), Marcel Dionne (#16) and Wayne Gretzky (#99).

Rob's jersey retirement ceremony included 30-ish of Rob's ex-teammates standing by to honor him, with Luc, Kings GM/Rob's current boss Dean Lombardi, current Kings Captain Dustin Brown, and Rob's defensive partner Mattias Norstrom (who flew in from Sweden) speaking about him and his accomplishments both on and off the ice.

People mentioned his records as a defensemen (that Drew Doughty will probably break). They noted he's the only King's defensemen to win the Norris Trophy (Drew will do that eventually too). And they spoke of his Hall of Fame induction last November. But that's all public knowledge.

Dustin Brown, who was beginning his career as Rob's was ending, spoke of how Rob set an example for the younger players like him and Anze Kopitar of how to carry oneself as an NHL player and how to be a leader.

And Luc spoke of how Rob, even when he no longer played for the Kings, paid for Kings season tickets for a family who's three children had muscular dystrophy. The family had attended one game as guests of the Kings, and afterwards while visiting the team in the locker room, the dad told Rob that the game that night was the happiest he'd ever seen his kids. Rob called up the front office the next morning and bought them season tickets that year, and continued to do so every year until, sadly, the kids had all passed away. But that dad -- Luc noted -- was in the crowd Saturday night to see Rob's number go up in the rafters.

That story, my friends, is why I love hockey and hockey players. They are just good guys. And in Rob's case, a good farm boy from Simcoe, Ontario, who made it to the big time, worked hard, developed a booming hipcheck when a shoulder injury made it too painful for him to check the normal way, broke a lot of records, won a Stanley Cup (with the Avs), and stayed humble.

Here's Rob's speech that demonstrates a little of that, and how he feels about his teammates:

The view from Section 205: 

#4 rises to the rafters

Close-up of #4 before being moved over next to #20

things that make me smile

Win number two in three years is now etched in silver. While the first time will always be the best, looking at these names is special because not only is the current team there, but three members of the LA Kings I learned to love hockey by watching in the late '80s / early '90s -- Luuuuuc, Blakey and part of the All-American line from our first Cup run, current scout Mike Donnelly. 

things that make me smile

With the appearance of a FedEx tag on my front door, today became my favorite day in September -- Season Ticket Box of Goodies Arrival Day!

Not only did I get another "Luc Robitaille-Authenticated" container of melted ice that the LA Kings won the Stanley Cup on, but I got my discount card and all my tickets, which are awesome!

The Kings went all out on the season ticket books this year! Not only is every player (not just the long-contracted stars) on a ticket (I guess that means no one is getting traded this year :p), but every ticket has a different photo of Stanley Cup Championship happiness on it and the special games have special tickets. 

This is my favorite ticket :) 

(Glad they used a photo of him sticking out his tongue! Haha)   

oh christmas tree... the hockey edition

My friend Diana is posting an ornament a day this month on Instagram for the 25 days leading up to Christmas. (That will equal about 1/100th of the ornaments on her tree -- ha!)

I like that idea, but not enough to do it everyday for 25 days. ;) So I'm officially kicking off my own abbreviated version of showing off my tree -- six themed days of ornaments, showcasing the collections that have manifested throughout my Christmas tree over the years.

Tonight, in honor of the Los Angeles Kings' 4-1 victory over the San Jose Sucks.... I mean Sharks... here are most* of my hockey-themed ornaments:

 

Hockey-playing S'mores Snowman! 

Autographed Rob Blake Kings Ornament

Scary Wayne Gretzky Hallmark Ornament from
the year he was an evil Ranger.

One of the most important ornaments on my tree...
It's been placed front and center the last two Christmases : )

*Note: I have a bunch more hockey ornaments on my parents' tree, but my mom won't let me take them from the "Family Ornament Collection" to my own. Maybe I'll take pics of those this weekend :)

happy in hockeywood

This past Thursday was an EXCELLENT day in LA Kings-land... especially for people like me who own a Dustin Brown jersey and at least one, if not two (shut up!) Rob Blake jerseys.

"Captain Crush" Dustin Brown, acting as his own agent, negotiated his contract a season before it was set to expire and is now a signed, sealed, toothless member of the Kings through the 2021-22 season. He's the first LA King to touch the Stanley Cup and he sends players on opposing teams flying through the air at mid-ice. Oh and he scores goals at really clutch moments too. So YAY! My jersey will get more than two years of use :p

And then, in a more controversial move (because some Kings fans are stupid, hold grudges and don't understand how the team owners like to screw over the Player's Association [go research Rob Blake leaving the Kings to play for the Avs and/or the Sharks... I can't remember which one was him sacrificing himself for the union]), the Kings named my second favorite player of all time -- Blake -- their new Assistant General Manager. So this means my favorite player of all time -- Luc Robitaille -- and Blakey, who played together during the beginning of my Kings fandom, and quite honestly are the two main reasons I became such a huge fan, are now reunited in the front office of the Kings. Now let's just hope Blakey is as good at nurturing and retaining talent as he was at throwing hipchecks.

All this, plus the facts that the 2013-14 schedule was just released, and tomorrow is the day I get to enter the Kings virtual online seating system and potentially improve my already pretty okay seats, has me very eager for October to get here. Go Kings Go!