Category: News & Views

Blake’s Takes: Outdoor Games at Lake Tahoe

Last week was perhaps the most exciting week of the NHL season. The league hosted two outdoor games at Lake Tahoe. The broadcast was incredible and the league might have created one of the most-attractive made-for-TV sporting experiences we’ve seen yet. I’ll share my thoughts on the Lake Tahoe experiment in this week’s column.

In addition to the outdoor games, the past week wasn’t short for headlines. New Jersey named their newest captain and a few other milestones were achieved. As usual, I’ll also share with you one of my favorite plays of the week.

Happy Monday!

Continue reading “Blake’s Takes: Outdoor Games at Lake Tahoe”

Blake’s Takes: Power Moves in Pittsburgh

Football season is over, which means hockey season is officially in full swing. Last week we saw a major front-office move. With the lack of other major storylines, I’m bringing you some of my favorite highlights I saw across the NHL last week. Buckle up because you’re in for some fun.

Continue reading “Blake’s Takes: Power Moves in Pittsburgh”

How to Organize Your Ticket Stub and Pocket Schedule Collection

I loved saving the ticket stubs from the Chicago Blackhawks hockey games I went to when I was a kid. Each time I went to a game, I was sure to bring my stub to school the next day to show off to my friends and prove that I was there.

Sometimes the games were important – all-star or playoff games – and sometimes it was just a Tuesday night regular season game. Regardless, it was cool to just go and then have that small, visual reminder that I could look back at.

Over the years, I have also saved pocket schedules, rosters, lineup cards, score cards and any other piece of game or team-related memorabilia I could find. I even saved concert ticket and movie ticket stubs. After a while, all of that started to add up, so I had to get it organized. BCW makes many different sizes of pocket pages that will fit almost any “non-card” collectible you may have. Read the rest of the story at the BCW Supplies Blog. 

Blake’s Takes: Rangers Waive DeAngelo

It was a rather calm week in the NHL. That doesn’t mean I don’t have five awesome takes for you. In this week’s column, I’ll share with you one major surprise around the league, one of the funniest things I saw, and a few of the best goals I saw this week. You can thank me later.

Continue reading “Blake’s Takes: Rangers Waive DeAngelo”

Blake’s Takes: GM Moves and Fun Goals

There wasn’t any monumental news around the league this week. At least none that forced me to edit my column at the last minute. This week, I’ll tie up a few more loose ends and highlight a few former GMs that made headlines. I’ll also share with you one of my favorite uniform concepts and a few special goals.

Happy Monday!

Continue reading “Blake’s Takes: GM Moves and Fun Goals”

Blake’s Takes: Winnipeg and Columbus Make Blockbuster Trade

In this week’s column, I finally caught up on all of the signings I couldn’t report in the past weeks. I’ll touch on those transactions and one notable injury. My favorite story this week involves my favorite team and a fight between two best friends.

Oh, and the Columbus Blue Jackets and Winnipeg Jets completed a monster trade this week. I’ll lead with that.

Happy Monday!

Continue reading “Blake’s Takes: Winnipeg and Columbus Make Blockbuster Trade”

Blake’s Takes: The 2021 Season Kicks Off

The NHL season is back and we are underway. There were so many storylines to pick from and choosing only five was a tough ask. This week, I’ll give my two cents on two of the NHL’s newest captains and a few instances of positive change on the diversity front.

For a few teams in the NHL, this week was monumental. It was also huge for the league as a whole as they successfully returned to play amidst the ever-present coronavirus for the second time.

Happy Monday!

Continue reading “Blake’s Takes: The 2021 Season Kicks Off”

Top 10 Hockey Collectible Stories of 2020

A lot happened in the humble hobby of hockey card collecting in 2020. Not surprisingly, most of it was because of the COVID-19 pandemic, which cancelled card shows and affected releases, while also forcing many people to work at home or shelter at home. This, in turn, led to many rediscovering their card collections from their youth, rekindling their interest and causing a surge that the card collecting hobby hasn’t seen in 30 years. Here are the biggest 10 hockey collectible stories from 2020. 

Continue reading “Top 10 Hockey Collectible Stories of 2020”

Blake’s Takes: Team USA Wins the World Junior Championships

NHL games start in a few days. That’s the most important thing about this week. However, last week still provided a ton of news from around the league. We saw another captain named, one of the game’s greats retire, and the end of the World Junior Championships in Edmonton. The NHL also announced a few of their unconventional business plans. I’ll speak to it all in this week’s column. Happy Monday!

Continue reading “Blake’s Takes: Team USA Wins the World Junior Championships”