San Jose Sharks Player Critiques: Rob Blake

After Patrick Marleau had the captaincy taken from him, it was given to the team’s third-most important player facing unrestricted free agency, veteran Rob Blake.

Blake is 40 years old—and at midseason it looked as if his age had finally caught up to him. He was a step behind, and when he did not have the fleet-footed Marc Edouard Vlasic to cover for him, there were breakaways and odd-man rushes taking place. Even on offense, he frequently was late getting to the puck when pinching down and not able to get his powerful slapshot on net.

However, after missing several games, he came back revitalised. By season’s end, he had seven goals, 23 assists, and a plus-14 rating in 70 games, each of which was second among the team’s defensemen.

But even more importantly, as captain he was relied on for leadership not only on the ice, but also in the locker room. He performed admirably in these roles, helping to provide a steadying influence for a team that had two losing streaks of six games among just 31 losses (although one could put some blame on him for those streaks), and led them further than they have gotten in the playoffs in six years.

In all, there is no player but Dan Boyle in this unit that brings as much to the table as Blake. Blake still possesses a hockey IQ second to none thanks to his experience and past success. He still is as good a leader as the team has.

But his contributions are certainly not limited to mental and intangible qualities. He is as adept as anyone but Boyle in getting pucks to the net as well as getting them out of his own end. He hits as well as anyone but Douglas Murray, and blocks shots better than anyone on the team.

On the other hand, there is no defensemen but rookie Jason Demers who carried as much liability, either. The Sharks can get production out of Blake, but have to cover for his lack of skating ability.

The reality is that even when you factor in his intangibles, he could be considered anywhere from the second- to fourth-best player in the unit, even though he made slightly more than anyone but Boyle. That means he did not out-perform his compensation in the regular season and can earn no better than a C+.

In the playoffs, Blake disappeared on the stat sheet, with one goal, one assist, and an even rating in 15 games. But no player on the blueline had a better plus-minus rating, and he led the team in blocked shots—two reasons he was second on the team in shifts played despite his age.

More importantly, his leadership came through, as the team endured a 2-1 series deficit in the first round that had the whole world screaming choke to win seven of the next eight. They also bounced back from a 7-1 thrashing in their only loss of that stretch—one in which Blake was still blocking shots late in the third period—against the two-time defending conference champion Detroit Red Wings.

This earns him a B+ for the playoffs, and when given half the weight of the entire regular season grade of C+, his overall grade is a B- for 2009-10.

For his future with the organization, please see the companion piece on Shark-Infested Blogger.