Former King Rob Blake announces retirement from NHL
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San Jose Sharks captain Rob Blake, who played 14 of his 21 NHL seasons with the Los Angeles Kings, announced his retirement after at a news conference Friday in San Jose.
Blake joined the Kings in the 1989-90 season and was named to the NHL All-Rookie team in 1990-91 after scoring 46 points.
One of the top defensemen in the NHL, Blake served as team captain from 1996 to 2001 and won the Norris Trophy as the NHL’s best defenseman after the 1997-98 season.
Blake was traded to the Colorado Avalanche during the 2001 season but returned to the Kings as a free agent before the 2006-07 season. He played two more seasons with the team before moving on to the San Jose Sharks.
He ranked eighth on list of the 10 greatest L.A. Kings of all time, as chosen by readers of latimes.com/sports.
Blake, who won an Olympic gold medal with Canada in 2002, is 10th on the career list with 240 goals as a defenseman. He has 537 assists, 777 points and 136 power-play goals, the third most by an NHL defenseman (Ray Bourque has 173 and Al MacInnis 166).
-- Chuck Schilken
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
