In this week’s Blake’s Takes, I look at the increase in offense this season, Erik Karlsson’s recent resurgence, and say goodbye to Rick Nash.
Opinions
Blake’s Takes: Lawsuits and Lightning
It was a relatively-quiet week in the hockey world, but I was able to uncover a few stories worth talking about, including Mike Peluso’s lawsuit against the New Jesey Devils and a revived Dallas Stars.
Blake’s Takes: Drama in Dallas and the Over-Promotion of the Winter Classic
This week, I write about the controversy hovering over Dallas, my trip to the Great Lakes Invitational, and tomorrow’s Winter Classic!
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Blake’s Takes: From Appleton to Q
This week, another first, more coaching rumors and the World Junior Championships.
Blake’s Takes: Being Right…and a Mascot Fight!
On this week’s Blake’s Takes, I’ll mostly be bragging about predictions I made that are coming true. Plus, a rant on how much I hate ESPN. Let me know what you think in the comments.
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The Thermochromic Puck: Hockey’s Latest and Greatest Achievement
The NHL made the announcement yesterday that for the first time, official game pucks to be used in this season’s NHL Winter Classic game will feature a new technology using a thermochromic coating. Thermo-what, you ask? To put it in the simplest terms, PPG — yes the Pittsburgh-based paint company that sponsors the Penguins’ home arena and is advertised as the official paint of the NHL — has developed a coating that changes color based on temperature. That’s right — color changing pucks.
Where have we seen this phenomenon before? Continue reading “The Thermochromic Puck: Hockey’s Latest and Greatest Achievement”
Blake’s Takes: New and Unloved Teams
Welcome to Blake’s Takes, where I look at the players and teams that stood out to me during the past week of hockey.
Was Ryan Reaves Autographing Tom Wilson Injury Photo Going Too Far?
On Tuesday, Las Vegas Golden Knights forward Ryan Reaves hit Washington Capitals forward Tom Wilson with a blindside hit. Reaves was ejected from the game, and Wilson also left the game with a concussion. Fan response ran the usual gamut, from lauding Reaves for giving Wilson a taste of his own medicine, to demonizing Reaves for making what many would consider a dirty hit (while, presumably, not understanding what “irony” means).
Two days later, Inscriptagraphs, a sports memorabilia store based in Las Vegas that specializes in autographed items, was selling 16″ x 20″ photos of Reaves standing near an injured Wilson — and signed by Reaves in red ink with the inscription “He ran into a Lion in the Jungle,” which Reaves said in a postgame statement.
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Why Buyback Autographs are the Best Rookie Cards to Collect
If you were building a “best player’s ever” RC collection, it would be very easy to pick players such as Connor McDavid, Sidney Crosby, Alexander Ovechkin, and Carey Price. Pavel Bure, Sergei Fedorov, Jaromir Jagr, and Martin Brodeur would be great choices from the 1990’s, and Guy Lafleur, Ray Bourque, and Dino Ciccarelli would be great choices from the expansion and modern eras. With a list like that, spanning several decades of hockey history, your next question would likely be, “What version of their RC should I get?” The question is tougher to answer especially when you consider the modern era and how many different RC’s are produced each season. Buyback autographed RC’s are the easiest way to answer the question and provide are very unique, rare, and ever-growing collection at the same time.
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Blake’s Takes: Many Happy Returns
This week is all about returns! A few Toronto Maple Leafs are on their way to joining the lineup if they haven’t already. And Erik Karlsson made his first trip to Ottawa as a player on the opposing team.