Blake’s Takes: Drew Doughty is Back and Happy One-Year!

This week marks my 52nd week writing this column. Although I’ve been writing Blake’s Takes for a bit over a year, this felt like the perfect time to celebrate. I want to thank everyone who reads this column each week. I appreciate all of your support and I have really enjoyed the experience. A special thanks to my number-one fan, Aaron Walters, for all of the kind words. Here’s to another 52 weeks!

The NHL is buzzing right now and takes are easy to come by. For this week’s Blake’s Takes, you can expect a Jack Hughes update and additional Devils’ news. Also, I’ll feature one of the best rivalries in the sport that flared up over the weekend and highlight what could be this year’s best goal.

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Blake’s Takes: Extension Season

Zach Werenski

NHL GMs were busy this week dishing out a ton of money in extensions. I’ll look into four of the most impactful deals and why one of them could open the floodgates for the many unsigned RFAs. 

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Blake’s Takes: More Offseason Talk

There were so many moves made this offseason that I had to comment on some of the signings from the beginning of July. I also look into the new contracts of Jordan Binnington of Kevin LeBanc, and the big trade between Colorado and Toronto.

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Blake’s Takes: Gold Medals & Game 7s

Every week in the Spring is another big week in hockey. This week, we saw a bunch of jerks move on to the conference finals and a prospect finesse his way into a contract. The World Championships are also starting this week and one country is particularly stacked. I also highlight a few potential additions to the Triple Gold Club.

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Blake’s Takes: A Good Problem to Have

The NHL playoffs are in full swing and we saw the second round begin late last week. This week, I look at one of the NHL’s good problems, some interesting contract decisions and a name you need to know for the rest of the playoffs.

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Blake’s Takes: Tampa is in Trouble

In this week’s edition of Blake’s Takes, I give my two cents on the impact of the Nikita Kucherov suspension and look forward at a potential playoff matchup. I also show some love to an unloved team and predict another award.

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The Top 5 NHL Free Agents of 2019

Editor’s Note: Joe Banish is a new writer for Puck Junk. Please welcome him in the comments below. 

Each season, at least one high-profile free agent is available, causing fans to speculate if he will stay with his current team, or go to another team that can give him more money — or a better chance to win the Stanley Cup. Here are five high-end free agents that will make a splash wherever they sign in the offseason. 

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Blake’s Takes: Trade Deadline Edition

This week’s Blake’s Takes dives into Matt Duchene’s run in Ottawa and the impact of both trades. I also take a look into the hit that earned Connor McDavid his first suspension and another jersey retirement ceremony. 

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G.I. Joe-inspired file cards of NHL players

Like many kids growing up in the 1980s, I played with G.I. Joe action figures. Each figure had an interesting code name like Snake-Eyes, Shipwreck, Roadblock or Cobra Commander, had a ton of poseability  — including swivel-arm battle grip! — and came with some pretty cool weapons.

Flint_cardback
The back of each G.I. Joe figure’s toy packaging had a file card. Flint here has a degree in English literature.

Another great thing about G.I. Joe action figures was that each one came with its own file card on the back of the toy packaging — a small profile about the character that you were supposed to cut out and save for future reference. Believe it or not, these file cards many times became a factor when deciding which figure to buy. As a nine-year old, standing in the toy aisle of K-Mart, with only enough scratch in my Ghostbusters wallet to get one figure, I had to make a tough choice each week. All the figures looked awesome, so the file cards told you what kind of character the toy was supposed to be, which made picking one easier.

So this got me thinking, what if NHL players had file cards that summed up what you needed to know about them? It would quickly get you up to speed if you haven’t been following their career, and help you decide if you were going to like them or not.

I imagine they’d look something like these.

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Card ‘Toons: Columbus Fires More Than Just Cannon Balls

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Steve Galvao is a good old Canadian kid who grew up loving hockey and collecting hockey cards. To see more of Steve’s work, visit his website, the Shoebox Collection. You can view his earlier blog posts here. Follow Steve on Twitter @galvaost.