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!

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Blake’s Takes: Justice for Jacob Blake

The sports world was rocked last week after the shooting of Jacob Blake at the hands of a police officer in Kenosha, WI. Blake was shot while heading to his car after breaking up a fight. His three children were in the back seat. After the shooting, the Milwaukee Bucks of the NBA decided to forfeit their playoff game against the Orlando Magic. The Bucks were the catalyst for the many protests in sports that followed. The Bucks, as well as the other teams that protested, felt that it was no longer acceptable to allow themselves, as athletes, to be a distraction to what’s going on. Enough is enough.

For this edition of Blake’s Takes, all five of my takes will focus on how the shooting of Blake impacted the NHL. Sports can no longer serve as a distraction while more pressing issues like social justice and racial inequality exist in the world, especially in North America.

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Blake’s Takes: Fleury Stabbed in the Back

We’ve made it to the second round of the playoffs. That has created drama on and off the ice. In the past week, coaches have been fired and agents have posted controversial tweets, among other things. Keep reading to learn about the entertaining week that was in the NHL.

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Blake’s Takes: AHL Cancels Remainder of its Season

I’m glad I pushed my column back a day because a lot happened yesterday. Most notably, the AHL canceled the remainder of their season. I’ll give my take on it and give a few special shoutouts to AHL players. Also, a few reports published yesterday raised some eyebrows in the NHL community. 

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Blake’s Takes: The Pause Lingers On

We’re entering another week of quarantine. I hope everyone is staying inside and is assisting in preventing the spread of the Coronavirus. Sadly, a few new NHL players tested positive for COVID-19 last week. However, there was a bit of good news that I’m happy to talk about. The virus hasn’t stopped me from giving you all the hot takes you deserve.

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Blake’s Takes: COVID-19 Forces NHL to Pause Play

This might have been a slow week in the NHL, but it was the craziest in our lives. The Coronavirus has wreaked havoc on the country and has forced the U.S. government to declare a national state of emergency. I’ll do my best to wrap my brain around what that means for the hockey world. Even without any games being played, I’ll still be cooking up some hot takes for everyone.

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Blake’s Takes: Another Emergency Goalie!

Happy Monday and welcome back to my takes. The NHL was buzzing this weekend with big stories and exciting plays. I’ll obviously write about Hurricanes instant superstar, David Ayres, and Ovechkin finally reaching another milestone. You’ll want to read all five takes for a few other fun stories I highlighted this week.

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Blake’s Takes: Milestone Watch

Last week, we saw two of the game’s best players reach tremendous milestones. We also saw a milestone reached off the ice. And, as is tradition this season, another team in the hunt for the playoffs fired their coach. Read all about it below!

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Blake’s Takes: Peters Out in Calgary After Frequent Player Abuse

For this week’s takes, I dive into the entire Bill Peters saga and why his comments illuminate a growing issue in the NHL. I also comment on a few notable extensions up in Boston and look into a team moving up in the standings.

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Blake’s Takes: The Rise of Rookie Defensemen

This week was an exciting one in the NHL. Three major milestones were hit, all on the same day.  I’ll dive deep into those milestones and will highlight a pair of rookie defenseman that are tearing it up this year. Also, I’ll take a look into the frenzy taking place in Toronto. Happy Monday!

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