No animosity between Blake, the Avalanche

0 Comments | Gazette, The (Colorado Springs), Oct 24, 2006 | by BRIAN GOMEZ THE GAZETTE

DENVER - John-Michael Liles beamed like he was on a breakaway when he saw his former Colorado Avalanche teammate standing outside the visitor's locker room.

"Look at you!" Liles told Los Angeles Kings defenseman Rob Blake, giggling as he rubbed the top of Blake's head Monday before the Avalanche's 6-1 win at Pepsi Center.

Save for a shorter haircut, Blake, 36, resembled the player who had four-plus productive seasons with the Avalanche in his first regular-season game in Denver since he rejoined the Kings.

He chatted with Avalanche goaltender Jose Theodore while stretching at center ice during pregame warm-ups, then received a mixture of boos and applause when his name was announced in the starting lineup. He was occasionally booed when he handled the puck.

Blake called his time with the Avalanche "stuff I can treasure." He had 251 points in 390 games, including six goals and 13 assists in the 2001 playoffs to help the Avalanche win its second Stanley Cup.

"I was fortunate the Avs acquired me on the (trading) deadline," said Blake, who was dealt from Los Angeles to the Avalanche during the 2000-01 season. "I came to a first-class organization and a team that was poised and ready to win the Stanley Cup."

Fitting in never was a problem for Blake, whose 62 regular- season goals with the Avalanche are the second-most by a defenseman in franchise history. He played an integral role on the power play and also was used in penalty-kill situations.

Blake expressed interest in re-signing with the Avalanche, although the club let him go in a cost-cutting move triggered by the NHL's collective bargaining agreement. The Kings, who drafted Blake in 1988, gave him a two-year deal worth $12 million.

"It's business," Blake said. "A couple years previous to that, the Avs always found a way to get things done and seal deals up with players. With the new (salary cap) structure, it's a little limited."

Avalanche coach Joel Quenneville said the team couldn't afford Blake even though the salary cap rose from $39 million to $44 million. The Avalanche still had to pay Blake a $2.3 million bonus, which counted against the cap.

"You can't keep these guys around," Quenneville said, referring to Blake and Alex Tanguay, now with Calgary. "We had to make some decisions, and players had to make decisions, too. We tried to keep Rob here."

In Blake's absence, Brett Clark has seen increased playing time, and Ken Klee, Karlis Skrastins and Liles, who wears Blake's No. 4 jersey, have been used extensively. Clark is averaging a teamhigh 25 minutes, 3 seconds of ice time.

"It's a big hole that he left behind," Avalanche center Ian Laperriere said of Blake. "We'll never fill the void completely. He's a (future) Hall of Famer. You don't replace a guy like that."

Asked what he took from Blake, Liles said, "What didn't I take from him? He taught me the ins and outs of the NHL -- taking care of yourself, staying in the weight room, little things on the ice and off the ice. There's not a better guy to learn from."

Blake said he had fond memories of Colorado.

"Time goes, and you move on, and you move places, but this always is a little home for me," Blake said. "The time I was here was remarkable. I'll remember it for a long time."

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