News & Views

Blake’s Takes: Gretzky Breaks Another Record

Another week of 2020 is in the books. There weren’t many notable headlines last week, though I dug deep and ended up finding some of my favorite stories from the past year — all of which are random and offbeat. I think you’ll like them. This week, I write about what you all care deeply about: hockey cards. I also get into a bit of social justice and investigate another photo of Connor McDavid looking awkward. 

And I almost forgot, Happy Hannukkah!

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Best of the Worst: 2020-21 Upper Deck Series 1 Hockey

Greetings, my fellow hockey fans who aren’t watching hockey! While we are trying to socially distance and wash our hands like NBC Sports washed it’s hands of several problematic co-hosts, Upper Deck dropped a lump of coal in our turkey before yelling, “Happy St. Paddy’s Day!” and throwing beaded necklaces at us. And who can blame them since we don’t know what day it is, let alone what holiday. But that’s no lump of coal: it’s a box of Upper Deck’s Series 1!  If it was coal, it would have said “Panini.”

Before jumping to the goods, I was worried that I wouldn’t find enough cards to make fun of in a post, and this has been the case for the past few boxes of Upper Deck’s flagship hockey set. Honestly, the first half of the packs that I exhumed not only lacked of comical merriment fuel, but frankly, they lacked anything awesome or inspiring. The cards were boring. Dull. Safe. But thankfully, the later half of the box got things back on track! 

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Blake’s Takes: Evander Kane’s Twitter Brawl

I’m back after a two-week hiatus. I hope everyone ate themselves sick during Thanksgiving or just another Thursday for our Canadian readers. Most of all, I hope everyone stayed safe.

It’s been an odd last two weeks. The biggest news was Tampa Bay inking Mikhail Sergachev to an extension. The rest of my takes this week will cast a wide net from interesting to flat out weird. If I accomplish anything this week, I hope you learn something.

And if you don’t learn anything, at least listen to this song. But, if you don’t like my column, you probably won’t like the song either.

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Blake’s Takes: The Reverse Retro Jerseys Have Arrived

Last week and Monday were exciting days off the ice. The hyped reverse retro jerseys were finally released and they shook Twitter. In this week’s column, I’ll share my takes on my favorite and least favorite Reverse Retro jerseys!

I’ll also touch on a few smaller storylines across in the NHL and even one in college hockey.

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Blake’s Takes: Wings Extend Mantha

Last week was a pretty calm one in the NHL. Most free agents are signed and trades have been made. There was one rather large signing I want to talk about.

Other than that, like the last few weeks, I’ll revisit some transactions I didn’t have a chance to touch one at the beginning of free agency.

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The Third Annual Puck Junk Awards

A.K.A. 7 NHL Awards We Need Right Now

The NHL gives out 17 individual awards at the end of the season. To some, that might seem excessive. Do we really need a Mark Messier Award for Leadership when the league already has two awards for MVPs? 

However, I would argue that the NHL needs more awards, so in 2018 I created some new ones. We all know who the highest scorer, top coach and best goalie are. Now, let’s give props to the toughest player, greatest surprise and biggest jerk, among others. Plus, there is a new Puck Junk Award for 2020. 

Here are your winners of the third-annual Puck Junk Awards. 

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Blake’s Takes: Coyotes Renounce Pick

Last week was hot with news as most of it came from the desert. The Arizona Coyotes dominated the headlines when they renounced their rights to a draft pick after ugly details from his past surfaced. The organization also made a minor move that might actually benefit the team, too.

As always, I wrote about one of my favorite signings and a scorching hot jersey reveal. You won’t want to miss this week’s set of takes.

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Blake’s Takes: Additional Free Agency and League Notes

Sadly, there were no sexy storylines in the NHL last week. But, as I mentioned before, so much happened over the last two weeks with the opening of the free-agency window and the draft, there is plenty for me to write about.

This week, I’ll touch on some storylines that weren’t pressing enough to make into my columns over the last few weeks. Happy Monday!

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The Voice of Hockey Calls it a Career

Legendary NHL Broadcaster “Doc” Emrick Retires

Since 2005, when NBC acquired the rights to NHL broadcasting in the United States, there has been one consummate voice featured behind the microphone, serving up his eloquent and sometimes frantically excitable play-by-play for the feature games every week. On Monday, that voice decided to sign off for the last time. Mike “Doc” Emrick announced that after more than 50 years in the broadcasting business, he was retiring.

As the story goes, the first time Doc ever got the opportunity to cover a game in the NHL, he did so under the guise that he wasn’t getting paid anything…except a press credential. Continue reading “The Voice of Hockey Calls it a Career”

Blake’s Takes: More Free Agency Madness

In this week’s column, I’ll look at some of the major free-agent signings of the last few weeks. So much happened around the league during the first week of free agency that I couldn’t cover everything in my previous column. 

In addition to free agency news, I’ll highlight one of my favorite new uniforms released in the last few weeks. Happy Monday!

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