rob blake

[Detroit # 1 Fan 2,204]

It's not like if we traded Meech for Blake we'd be screwed. I'd give up some youth for a cup run, I wouldnt trade away Kindl unless we were getting a player we were gonna keep.

[haroldsnepsts 4,826]

if you are among those hockeyfans who enjoy dirty D-men going for forward knees

then Blake may be the guy to follow. I'm definitely against such crap.

even more against aging dirty guys who take big bucks.

definitely doesn't look like a nice check to me. Perry's a ***** and he deserves

some beating but I'm refusing to enjoy such attacks which may look innocent

but are aimed on hurting the other guy.

"attacks???"

That was a clean hip check. If you want to see a D-man taking out a player's knees, watch Lebda's hip check from last year's playoffs.

as for dirty d-men, as othes have mentioned, we have (had) Chelios, Konstantinov, Hatcher, and among others of course, Dirty Harry.

Blake is not a dirty player. We're not talking about an Ulf Samelsson here. Hey, what do you know, he wore the winged wheel too!

[al48 1]

If defensemen are all victims of the team they're playing on, then why is Modry, someone who you'd expect to suck under a bad team, playing well in LA this year? Modry is flat even on the season...playing on the Kings. So, what's with Blake?

[al48 1]

It's not like if we traded Meech for Blake we'd be screwed. I'd give up some youth for a cup run, I wouldnt trade away Kindl unless we were getting a player we were gonna keep.

There's no way Lombardi takes a trade unless high draft picks or high prospects are factored in. He'll want, and most likely get, a first rounder plus for him.

Edited December 31, 2007 by al48

[cr00d 26]

Screw Blake, I'm hoping Kenny looks to Phoenix and trades for either Morris or Boynton.

[Guest DetroitIan]

No way Holland goes for Blake. It would be a bad move. Blake is having the worst year of his career so far. Blake will never don the winged wheel.

[akustyk 84]

That was a clean hip check. If you want to see a D-man taking out a player's knees, watch Lebda's hip check from last year's playoffs.

I'm actually far from saying Lebda is the cleanest D-man in this league. and I definitely don't buy many of his checks from playoffs - so at this point I agree with you.

as for Blake's check on the vid - it might be clean from the rulebook point of view, but Blake is running with his butt for the bottom part of skater's body. maybe not going that low to attack knees but it's still aimed at the vulnerable part of body. not to mention this is a straightforward way to launch attacked player into the air and send him headfirst into the ice. legal? maybe. dangerous? definitely. delibarate? looks so.

anyway. I was not calling Blake dirty because of this incident. I've seen him doing some real crap couple of times. my comment about video was only about it being pretty bad example of a D-men I'd like to see in Winged Wheel.

as for dirty d-men, as othes have mentioned, we have (had) Chelios, Konstantinov, Hatcher, and among others of course, Dirty Harry.

and we had like 2300+ PIM back in 90's. now it all goes constantly down to reach just 1000 PIM in recent seasons. and I see zero reasons to believe this trend is going to reverse soon with current formula being succesful. nor would I enjoy it as I like the product current Wings bring on the ice. yes, I'd like to see them being tougher but there's no free lunch in salary-capped NHL and I'd rather see skill than bullying.

sorce: http://www.hockeydb.com/ihdb/stats/teamseasons.php?tid=34

[Grittzkey 1]

I'd rather not to be totally honest.

That would mean we would have to HS Kronner/Lebda/Chelios which just will not happen. I like our defense as is.

[haroldsnepsts 4,826]

I'm actually far from saying Lebda is the cleanest D-man in this league. and I definitely don't buy many of his checks from playoffs - so at this point I agree with you.

as for Blake's check on the vid - it might be clean from the rulebook point of view, but Blake is running with his butt for the bottom part of skater's body. maybe not going that low to attack knees but it's still aimed at the vulnerable part of body. not to mention this is a straightforward way to launch attacked player into the air and send him headfirst into the ice. legal? maybe. dangerous? definitely. delibarate? looks so.

Of course it was deliberate. what check isn't? To me it just looks like a solid hip-check, which often result in spectacular hits. Vladdy used to throw great hip checks. In open ice, they often send the guy flying, and along the boards, they end up crushing the guy to the wall.

I'm not huge Blake fan, and I'm definitely not saying we should get him. But he's never struck me as particularly dirty.

anyway. I was not calling Blake dirty because of this incident. I've seen him doing some real crap couple of times. my comment about video was only about it being pretty bad example of a D-men I'd like to see in Winged Wheel.

and we had like 2300+ PIM back in 90's. now it all goes constantly down to reach just 1000 PIM in recent seasons. and I see zero reasons to believe this trend is going to reverse soon with current formula being succesful. nor would I enjoy it as I like the product current Wings bring on the ice. yes, I'd like to see them being tougher but there's no free lunch in salary-capped NHL and I'd rather see skill than bullying.

sorce: http://www.hockeydb.com/ihdb/stats/teamseasons.php?tid=34

I'm not sure what you're getting at with the penalty minute thing. But the Ducks were the most penalized team in the league (and might have been in the playoffs too) and we know how that worked out.

Beyond that, I think size and nastiness is exactly what Detroit is lacking on the blueline. Our biggest d-man is Lilja, who doesn't really use his size. then it's Lids and Chelios. Chelios isn't nearly as intimidating as he used to be, and Nick doesn't play a physical style at all.

[Guest wingswillwincup]

Bertuzzi for Matthias

Blake for Meech

Kindl for Asham

Future for one good cup run. I'd rather not watch a rerun of the 90s Rangers.

as well as matthias is playing now i dont think hes gonna be a top 2 line player , that being said i still wish we had him ...... kindl isnt going anywhere , and meech hes all but gone hes got no future here so i would do blake for meech

lidstrom ( 2 more yrs )

rafalski and kronwall ( 5 more yrs )

lebda (2-3 yrs )

chelios ( as long as he wants lol )

thats 5 guys locked up ...... lilja is gone

ericsson will likely be called up cause babcock likes him , and personally so do i , hes a big body who can hit and chip in offensivly , quincey showed us in the post season he can play so i think meech will be traded and quincey called up as our 7th next year , which kinda sucks for kindl cause i think if he were on another team he would be playing'

then we got logan pyett and brendan smith in another 2-5 yrs .......... meech has no future in detroit

[Guest wingswillwincup]

Once Osgood is signed, the Red Wings will turn their attention to defenseman Andreas Lilja, who's been offered a two-year extension.

The club's desire to re-sign Lilja, who's been turnover-prone, might surprise some, especially since they have several young defensemen in their system (Derek Meech on the NHL roster; Kyle Quincey, Jonathan Ericsson and Jakub Kindl with AHL affiliate Grand Rapids). But Lilja has been a top-four defenseman for much of his three seasons in Detroit, he has good size (6-3, 220) and they're likely to get him at a reasonable price. He's in the final season of a two-year deal, earning $1 million.

just saw this on mlive , holland has finally lost his mind , i love him but whats he thinking ??

lidstrom rafalski kronwall chelios lebda ....... and now lilja ???

so wtf we gonna do ??? trade meech so quincey can be our 7th d and never play ?? make ericsson wait even longer when hes ready bigger and can play ? hes 24-25 how much longer can he wait , not to mention kindl

i seriously dont know what hes thinking and i hope hes just planning to sign him for a team hes planning to trade him to cause this makes absolutely no sense keeping him for the next 2 years , our young kids will suffer , we gotta blend them in, kindl is gonna have to wait till the 2009-2010 season and were gonna have to hope chelios retires or we trade lebda or ericsson if kindl comes up just to give him ice time , signing lilja is ridiculous

[eva unit zero 271]

Blake might be a good pickup if we gave up Meech and nothing else. Anything beyond that and we're overpaying. Why, you ask?

Rob Blake would be a third-pairing defenseman on the Detroit Red Wings, AT BEST. He is basically Cory Cross with a better resume. Rob Blake currently plays on the Kings' third pair with Tom Preissing; at almost 9m it is easily the most expensive third pair unit in the NHL.

The Wings should look into physical, gritty defensively skilled defensemen. That's not Blake, and has never BEEN Blake. Lilja is not only better defensively than Blake NOW, he's better defensively than Blake has EVER BEEN. Ideally, we should be looking at guys between the ages of 24 and 33 who cost less than 3m on a full season. Some guys I would be interested in that fall into that group would be:

Nick Boynton, PHX

Brooks Orpik, PIT

Keith Ballard, PHX

Paul Mara, NYR

Marek Malik, NYR

Vitaly Vishnevski, NJD

[Detroit # 1 Fan 2,204]

Once Osgood is signed, the Red Wings will turn their attention to defenseman Andreas Lilja, who's been offered a two-year extension.

The club's desire to re-sign Lilja, who's been turnover-prone, might surprise some, especially since they have several young defensemen in their system (Derek Meech on the NHL roster; Kyle Quincey, Jonathan Ericsson and Jakub Kindl with AHL affiliate Grand Rapids). But Lilja has been a top-four defenseman for much of his three seasons in Detroit, he has good size (6-3, 220) and they're likely to get him at a reasonable price. He's in the final season of a two-year deal, earning $1 million.

just saw this on mlive , holland has finally lost his mind , i love him but whats he thinking ??

lidstrom rafalski kronwall chelios lebda ....... and now lilja ???

so wtf we gonna do ??? trade meech so quincey can be our 7th d and never play ?? make ericsson wait even longer when hes ready bigger and can play ? hes 24-25 how much longer can he wait , not to mention kindl

i seriously dont know what hes thinking and i hope hes just planning to sign him for a team hes planning to trade him to cause this makes absolutely no sense keeping him for the next 2 years , our young kids will suffer , we gotta blend them in, kindl is gonna have to wait till the 2009-2010 season and were gonna have to hope chelios retires or we trade lebda or ericsson if kindl comes up just to give him ice time , signing lilja is ridiculous

A 2 year deal? Wow Kenny, I had some hope for you, but re-signing Lilja first off is a mistake, and for 2 years is 2 mistakes.

I really hope Lilja prices himself out of town. I like him, but I dont want him to stay in Detroit. Maybe Toronto would want him? At least that way I could still cheer for the guy .... but we do NOT need him back. Quincey deserves a shot, and Lilja only plays well when he's fighting, and since he's not, wellllllll......

Edited December 31, 2007 by Detroit # 1 Fan

[YoungGuns1340 1]

Once Osgood is signed, the Red Wings will turn their attention to defenseman Andreas Lilja, who's been offered a two-year extension.

The club's desire to re-sign Lilja, who's been turnover-prone, might surprise some, especially since they have several young defensemen in their system (Derek Meech on the NHL roster; Kyle Quincey, Jonathan Ericsson and Jakub Kindl with AHL affiliate Grand Rapids). But Lilja has been a top-four defenseman for much of his three seasons in Detroit, he has good size (6-3, 220) and they're likely to get him at a reasonable price. He's in the final season of a two-year deal, earning $1 million.

just saw this on mlive , holland has finally lost his mind , i love him but whats he thinking ??

lidstrom rafalski kronwall chelios lebda ....... and now lilja ???

so wtf we gonna do ??? trade meech so quincey can be our 7th d and never play ?? make ericsson wait even longer when hes ready bigger and can play ? hes 24-25 how much longer can he wait , not to mention kindl

i seriously dont know what hes thinking and i hope hes just planning to sign him for a team hes planning to trade him to cause this makes absolutely no sense keeping him for the next 2 years , our young kids will suffer , we gotta blend them in, kindl is gonna have to wait till the 2009-2010 season and were gonna have to hope chelios retires or we trade lebda or ericsson if kindl comes up just to give him ice time , signing lilja is ridiculous

The only way I semi dont mind this is 1) if its a media prop to make Lilja look he could actually be a trade asset even as a UFA (doubtful) or 2) If Cheli is for sure retiring after this season.

Other than that....hell no. But then again, I have to ask myself, am I saying this because Im a spoiled Wings fans with a top 3 d unit in the league? Probably. Because really, if you replaced Lilja with a guy like Jason Smith, the Wings would have a perfect defensive unit. But without that exchange, its still a pretty damn good D. Maybe Kenny feels the money would be better used up front??

[Guest wingswillwincup]

The only way I semi dont mind this is 1) if its a media prop to make Lilja look he could actually be a trade asset even as a UFA (doubtful) or 2) If Cheli is for sure retiring after this season.

Other than that....hell no. But then again, I have to ask myself, am I saying this because Im a spoiled Wings fans with a top 3 d unit in the league? Probably. Because really, if you replaced Lilja with a guy like Jason Smith, the Wings would have a perfect defensive unit. But without that exchange, its still a pretty damn good D. Maybe Kenny feels the money would be better used up front??

well even looking ahead we dont have any spots for our young guys , we cant keep putting them off especially for a lilja , ericsson, quincey, kindl .......on most teams why would be playing next year , kindl will surely stay one more year in the ahl just cause he can ,which kinda sucks if you ask me , hes got loads of talent and it would benefit him to play with chelios and lidstrom while he still can , meech has no spot here , hes just here now so we dont lose him for nothing

if it was up 2 me next year would be ....

lidstrom rafalski

kronwall lebda

ericsson chelios

quincey

meech gone

2009-2010

we have no choice but to get rid of someone ...... lebda maybe ? i doubt chelios will be gone which in fact might not be to our benefit down the road , if he leaves ......

lidstrom rafalski

kronwall ericsson

lebda kindl

quincey

??

even quincey does not have space besides the 7th spot cause chelios and lidstrom ( though im not complaining too much about lidstrom, chelios is still good but come on hes almost 50 and gonna cost us some guys lol ), and even with chelios gone he'd be 7th in 2 yrs

anyways signing lilja would be suicidal

[esteef 2,679]

You must keep in mind that Lilja is LGW's whipping boy, he could get a hattrick every game during the playoffs but some how posters will still find a way to complain. I don't Blake contract but I assume its much higher then Lilja, and for the price I would say Lilja is a better value.

Lilja's getting better and better, Blake is not. I love the rationale here too, if a player is playing well it's because of his skill and veteran leadership etc., if he's sucking it's because his team sucks and it's not his fault. Or he's not really playing hard because he's not on a team that's going anywhere.

How about come to play your hardest every day or get the hell off the ice!

So yes, at this point, all things considered (including salary), Lilja > Blake.

Cheers!

esteef

[Guest wingswillwincup]

Lilja's getting better and better, Blake is not. I love the rationale here too, if a player is playing well it's because of his skill and veteran leadership etc., if he's sucking it's because his team sucks and it's not his fault. Or he's not really playing hard because he's not on a team that's going anywhere.

How about come to play your hardest every day or get the hell off the ice!

So yes, at this point, all things considered (including salary), Lilja > Blake.

Cheers!

esteef

lilja has coughed up the puck numerous times which has or almost resulted in goals scored against us , rob blake's salary might be higher but hes still rob blake , and i dont know how you can overlook the fact that blake plays for the worst team in the nhl while lilja plays for the best team

Look we all know lidstrom is the best and hes amazing , and im not even comparing blake to lidstrom but even lidstrom in a kings uniform would certainly be a - , rob blake is a cup winner i do believe he won a norris , not 100% sure so dont attack me if im wrong , and even though hes got a high salary its his last year and we got cap space , how can rob blake not be an upgrade over lilja ??? come on guys , i think some guys here are way too biased when it comes to our players , no way blake in a wings uniform isnt better then lilja ..... NO WAY

[chrisdetroit 189]

Once Osgood is signed, the Red Wings will turn their attention to defenseman Andreas Lilja, who's been offered a two-year extension.

The club's desire to re-sign Lilja, who's been turnover-prone, might surprise some, especially since they have several young defensemen in their system (Derek Meech on the NHL roster; Kyle Quincey, Jonathan Ericsson and Jakub Kindl with AHL affiliate Grand Rapids). But Lilja has been a top-four defenseman for much of his three seasons in Detroit, he has good size (6-3, 220) and they're likely to get him at a reasonable price. He's in the final season of a two-year deal, earning $1 million.

just saw this on mlive , holland has finally lost his mind , i love him but whats he thinking ??

lidstrom rafalski kronwall chelios lebda ....... and now lilja ???

so wtf we gonna do ??? trade meech so quincey can be our 7th d and never play ?? make ericsson wait even longer when hes ready bigger and can play ? hes 24-25 how much longer can he wait , not to mention kindl

i seriously dont know what hes thinking and i hope hes just planning to sign him for a team hes planning to trade him to cause this makes absolutely no sense keeping him for the next 2 years , our young kids will suffer , we gotta blend them in, kindl is gonna have to wait till the 2009-2010 season and were gonna have to hope chelios retires or we trade lebda or ericsson if kindl comes up just to give him ice time , signing lilja is ridiculous

IF the wings go on to win the 11th Cup this spring, I have a feeling Cheli will retire. Then we will have 1 open spot for the kids to compete for.

[chrisdetroit 189]

lilja has coughed up the puck numerous times which has or almost resulted in goals scored against us , rob blake's salary might be higher but hes still rob blake , and i dont know how you can overlook the fact that blake plays for the worst team in the nhl while lilja plays for the best team

Look we all know lidstrom is the best and hes amazing , and im not even comparing blake to lidstrom but even lidstrom in a kings uniform would certainly be a - , rob blake is a cup winner i do believe he won a norris , not 100% sure so dont attack me if im wrong , and even though hes got a high salary its his last year and we got cap space , how can rob blake not be an upgrade over lilja ??? come on guys , i think some guys here are way too biased when it comes to our players , no way blake in a wings uniform isnt better then lilja ..... NO WAY

There's no question that Blake in his prime >>> Lilja. But Blake in his prime has left the building. The Blake of today is 38 years old and is currently a -7. "rob blake is a cup winner i do believe he won a norris" is an assanine statement. What he did 5 years ago has no bearing on how he plays today. And yes, Blake won the Norris in 1997. That was 8 years ago.

I wouldn't trade one of our top prospects like Kindl or Ericsson for Blake. Meech or Quincy maybe but LA is not going to make that trade.

[haroldsnepsts 4,826]

Blake's +/- isn't great, but if you do look back through his career, it pretty much coincides with him being on a crappy team versus a good one.

If he came to Detroit, Lids would still be carrying the load, as would Rafalski. Blake could play more defensively minded, and that should show up in his stats.

Even though he's old, I like the size and bit of nastiness that he brings to the blueline. But I didn't realize he was making 6 mill in L.A. Even for a rental, that's a bit much.

How much of that would Detroit be on the hook for if they picked him up at the deadline?

Edited December 31, 2007 by haroldsnepsts

[esteef 2,679]

Blake's +/- isn't great, but if you do look back through his career, it pretty much coincides with him being on a crappy team versus a good one.

If he came to Detroit, Lids would still be carrying the load, as would Rafalski. Blake could play more defensively minded, and that should show up in his stats.

Even though he's old, I like the size and bit of nastiness that he brings to the blueline. But I didn't realize he was making 6 mill in L.A. Even for a rental, that's a bit much.

How much of that would Detroit be on the hook for if they picked him up at the deadline?

I'm not foreign to the notion that Blake's play might pick up in Detroit, it's basically the money that does it for me. I mean, he doesn't really bring that much more than we already have for the money he'll demand. Put it this way, if he ends up being our only choice for a defensive acquisition, I vote to get a forward instead.

peace,

esteef

[Guest wingswillwincup]

There's no question that Blake in his prime >>> Lilja. But Blake in his prime has left the building. The Blake of today is 38 years old and is currently a -7. "rob blake is a cup winner i do believe he won a norris" is an assanine statement. What he did 5 years ago has no bearing on how he plays today. And yes, Blake won the Norris in 1997. That was 8 years ago.

I wouldn't trade one of our top prospects like Kindl or Ericsson for Blake. Meech or Quincy maybe but LA is not going to make that trade.

blake now is still better then lilja , hes playing for the worst team in the nhl and lilja is playing for the best and they both got similiar stats on giveaways etc...... if he was playing here over lilja regarding if or not hes not as good as he was he'd still be better ... WAY better ...... and who said anything about trading kindl or ericsson ?? You crazy ? Meech id trade in a heartbeat hes got no future here , and blake is making ALOT of money and underperforming as you said , but I believe thats a change of scenery especially to a team like the wings would do wonders and he'd actually wanna play again , cause im sure he doesnt give it his all every game , if you keep losing all the time would you ?

[Guest wingswillwincup]

I'm not foreign to the notion that Blake's play might pick up in Detroit, it's basically the money that does it for me. I mean, he doesn't really bring that much more than we already have for the money he'll demand. Put it this way, if he ends up being our only choice for a defensive acquisition, I vote to get a forward instead.

peace,

esteef

well the reason i bring him up is because we got 5.5 million cap space left and realistically shouldnt cost us alot on the trade front , hes older making big bucks and isnt producing like he use to , but again i do believe if he comes here that'll change , if he comes here im guessing we'd have to pay 2.5 to 3 million ???

that will still leave us PLENTY of money to go for a forward to help us out later on , and we'd be set on defence and goaltending for the playoffs , how can anyone not lile blake over lilja is beyond me ,lilja cost us the cup last year with that mistake that turned the series around and hes cost us a few goals this season with his stupid play , i for one am not willing to take a chance on that especially since lidstrom,chelios etc.... arent getting any younger

lidstrom rafalski

blake kronwall

chelios lebda

whats not to love ?? I know some might say chelios and blake won their norris's along time ago but thats still 3 norris winners AND rafalski , and 2 young speedy guys who can play , and hasek and ozzie in nets , i guarantee you if we picked up blake pierre mcguire and the tsn staff would be praising holland over the pick up and drooling over our defence , but hey thats just my opinion

Edited January 1, 2008 by wingswillwincup

[chrisdetroit 189]

blake now is still better then lilja , hes playing for the worst team in the nhl and lilja is playing for the best and they both got similiar stats on giveaways etc...... if he was playing here over lilja regarding if or not hes not as good as he was he'd still be better ... WAY better ...... and who said anything about trading kindl or ericsson ?? You crazy ? Meech id trade in a heartbeat hes got no future here , and blake is making ALOT of money and underperforming as you said , but I believe thats a change of scenery especially to a team like the wings would do wonders and he'd actually wanna play again , cause im sure he doesnt give it his all every game , if you keep losing all the time would you ?

but they DON't have similar stats. How can you say that he'd be great if he was playing here? What is that based on? A Norris trophy from 11 years ago. If he isn't giving it his all regardless of the team that he's on, I don't want him. I want guys that will give 110% no matter what.

[Kp-Wings 3]

I'd take him. He's a UFA at seasons end anyways, so if he doesn't work out, he'll just leave.

The Wings need better defenseman. Anything to take ice time away from Lilja is fine with me. Lilja has cost us in 2 playoffs now, and I don't want to see how he'll do it in a 3rd. Aquire Blake, and have him take up Lilja's spot.

Besides: we need someone better for the 2nd PP unit. Lebda and Samuelsson suck pack there on the point. If you bring Blake in, you get somebody to play that role who knows what he's doing, and he has a good shot. I see no harm in bringing Blake here to the Wings, as long as they don't give up too much for him.