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.
Continue reading “Blake’s Takes: Being Right…and a Mascot Fight!”
News & Views
This is Why I Check the Bargain Boxes
I thought I’d end the week with a fun look at some cards I picked up at a recent show. Although I don’t really write too many “look at what I bought” blog posts anymore, I am still an avid hockey card collector. Last month, I went to the Chicago Sports Spectacular, and since I don’t have an infinite budget for frivolous things, I will almost always stop and look through the bargain boxes — because you never know what you may find. Here are some of the gems that I scored for loose change.
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.
Continue reading “Was Ryan Reaves Autographing Tom Wilson Injury Photo Going Too Far?”
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.
Continue reading “Why Buyback Autographs are the Best Rookie Cards to Collect”
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.
Opinion: The NHL Needs Its Own Day
Or Maybe Even Its Own Month
I’ve been thinking about this for a long time now. Most major sports own a specific day or time of year that helps turn all the attention in the sports world to them — but not the NHL.
Best of the Worst: 2018-19 Upper Deck Series 1 Hockey
While we all loosen our belts and pass on the leftover green bean casserole, like every NHL team that passed on Jaromir Jagr’s contract last season, let’s take a deep dive into the Upper Deck’s latest offering of fresh, hot hockey photography from the 2018-19 Series One flagship set.
Continue reading “Best of the Worst: 2018-19 Upper Deck Series 1 Hockey”
Blake’s Takes: Can Ovie Top Gretzky?
The NHL had another big week, and so did I. This week I focused on my trip to Little Caesar’s Arena in Detroit to see the Red Wings, and a few big goal scorers.