Hockey cards, collectibles and culture
I was pretty sick over the past seven days, so I didn’t get to publish Snap Shots for last week. Therefore, this week’s edition will take a look at the top 10 stories from past two weeks in the world of hockey. But don’t worry — this will be a quick read, I promise 🙂
It was another busy week in the NHL, as the league unveiled a new stat, two players hit the 1,000-game mark and the Blue Jackets retired a number for the first time in the team’s 22-year history. Plus, the IIHF took a stance on Russia’s participation in future ice hockey tournaments.
Last week was a great week for milestones and great plays. Four out of five of this week’s takes are from those two categories. The last take is rather sad; it’s about Ben Bishop and an injury that will cost him the rest of his playing career.
I won’t keep everyone down in the dumps for too long. It’s the holiday season and there is still a lot of hockey to be played.
Continue reading “Blake’s Takes: Ben Bishop’s Career Has Come to an End”
As the offseason continues to roll on, it gives the NHL time to get their affairs in order, too. Last week, the NHL released its vaccination requirements for all league and team personnel. I’ll start with my thoughts on those requirements this week. As promised, the remainder of my takes will examine some major offseason transactions over the last week or two.
Happy Monday!
Continue reading “Blake’s Takes: NHL Releases Vaccination Requirements”
Barely a week after the Lightning hoisted the Stanley Cup, the offseason has entered full swing. The expansion draft is on Wednesday, and the Kraken have an exclusive negotiating window with all UFAs until then.
In this week’s column, I’ll share my thoughts on who could suit up for the Kraken this fall, a number of high-profile offseason moves, and one notable retirement.
Happy Monday all! It’s a very big week because my birthday is tomorrow. If anyone wants to tell me how much they love me and my writing, Tuesday would be the perfect day. Just shoot me a DM on Twitter. I also accept gifts.
In all seriousness, while I’m very excited to be turning 26, you all want to read about hockey. This week, my takes include COVID running rampant in the NHL, some historic moments for one team, and two of my favorite videos and soundbites of the last few weeks.
Happy birthday to me!
Continue reading “Blake’s Takes: COVID Hits Multiple NHL Teams”
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!
Continue reading “Blake’s Takes: Outdoor Games at Lake Tahoe”
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.
Continue reading “Blake’s Takes: Evander Kane’s Twitter Brawl”
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.
Continue reading “Blake’s Takes: The Reverse Retro Jerseys Have Arrived”
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.