Jason Blake is becoming a problem
by Likely on Nov 12, 2008 4:16 PM EST
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"Well, one, you’ve got to get the puck, I don’t know… maybe it’s just not going to happen [for me] in Toronto, I can’t answer that. If it’s not going to work out here, it’s not going to work out. Every shift, I go out there and work my butt off, but [the puck] isn’t going in. You need opportunities to score, and it is what it is. I totally respect Ron Wilson, but it’s no fun not playing. Maybe it’s not meant for me to be here." (quote via hanky)
That's two days in a row that Blakie has been a bit too honest with the media in regards to being in the dog house. If this thing gets any uglier it's going to become a a dark cloud hanging over the rest of the guys, if it already hasn't.
We're not going to be able to trade him. What should Cliff do? Give him one more shot (no pun intended)? Waive him? What say you?
PensionPlanPuppets.com is a fan community that allows members to post their own thoughts and opinions on the Toronto Maple Leafs and hockey in general. These views and thoughts may not be shared by the editor of PensionPlanPuppets.com.
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I don’t know but I am sure Burke has an idea of what to do!
Pension Plan Puppets: A Toronto Maple Leafs blog and a group therapy session.
I think we should Mark Bell him.
Trade Kabby/Kubina to someone in desperate need of a puck mover, but force em to eat Blakes salary too.
Because Taking The Leafs Seriously Is Not An Option
by JaredFromLondon on Nov 12, 2008 5:00 PM EST reply actions
you mean “Trade Kubina to someone…”
Not Kabby.
A Toronto sports blog, where we unequivocally and unapologetically support the home team...
you best make peace with that eventuality now...
or it’s gonna really sting come february…
Anybody throws me against the boards I'm gonna piss all over myself.
The Left Coast Lock
by blurr1974 on Nov 12, 2008 5:14 PM EST up reply actions
If he wasn't pissed
everyone would be bitching about how he has no passion.
The guy cannot win in this town.
A Toronto sports blog, where we unequivocally and unapologetically support the home team...
It’s not that he’s bitching because White was bitching too and we hated that but one of the two made the necessary changes and is earning his spot back while the other pretends to not know why he’s being benched…
Pension Plan Puppets: A Toronto Maple Leafs blog and a group therapy session.
honestly, if Blake didn’t bitch and whine and instead worked his ass off to get back into practice I would admire the crap out of him. He earned major points earlier this season for getting benched and then coming back and contributing, this tantrum ruins all that in my mind. It’s no mystery why he’s benched, except maybe to him.
Meanwhile in the background
the Stay Puft Marshmallow Man moves in for the kill…
If it's after midnight, it must be time for hockey!
inside Wellwoods mind “You know, he is the same shade as Vanilla Ice cream, Good think i have this chocolate sauce in my pants”
Because Taking The Leafs Seriously Is Not An Option
by JaredFromLondon on Nov 12, 2008 5:06 PM EST up reply actions
why
does he have chocolate sauce in his pants…?
Anybody throws me against the boards I'm gonna piss all over myself.
The Left Coast Lock
by blurr1974 on Nov 12, 2008 5:40 PM EST up reply actions
because he is Kyle Wellwood, he keeps in in a holster
Because Taking The Leafs Seriously Is Not An Option
by JaredFromLondon on Nov 12, 2008 5:41 PM EST up reply actions
he keeps the whip cream in his ankle holser and a spoon in his wrist
Because Taking The Leafs Seriously Is Not An Option
by JaredFromLondon on Nov 12, 2008 6:25 PM EST up reply actions
He’s like wolverine but with utensils instead of blades!
by LeafFanInVan on Nov 12, 2008 6:55 PM EST up reply actions
hold on...
Wellwood?
Blake?
Chocolate sauce???
that’s a fanfic even I wouldn’t touch
Making stuff up since real Leafs news is far too depressing
I wonder
if there is a photo of all our inside jokes with the leafers—stajan giving fuck me eyes, Blake’s fist pumping, Carlo’s bones exploding…what else is there?
Making stuff up since real Leafs news is far too depressing
Cursed Frogurt?
Because Taking The Leafs Seriously Is Not An Option
by JaredFromLondon on Nov 13, 2008 11:04 AM EST up reply actions
I don't blame Blake
I blame JFJ… okay it’s more like 80/20 fault here but still.
Blake has had ONE 40 goal season, ONE. Look at his track record, he stunk it up in 01/02 when he only managed a measely EIGHT goals in 82 game, and the other seasons he was averaging about 25 while playing 75 to 80 games. Blake had ONE good season and all of a sudden JFJ is all over this guy, gives him a huge contract and starts selling him to the rest of Toronto as the last missing cog that would propel Sundin to become our true saviour.
Expectations were simply unrealistic, he hadn’t proven himself when he donned the Buds uniform yet there was the mentality in this city that he’s this experienced 40-goal-scoring-veteran. What the hell? I blame JFJ, I blame the media… so okay maybe Blakey only gets 10 percent of the blame… we’ll say 70/20/10 in terms for blame distribution.
Blake is confused now because he’s playing the way he has always played and he’s getting flak for it because JFJ and the Toronto media had him labeled as a different type of player. It’s like telling a duck to be a chicken and getting pissed off at it when it doesn’t know how to do that.
With that said, Blake’s been completely mishandled, he a good player, he’s just not a good sniper which is what he was incorrectly pigeonholed for, and he’s overpaid… his contract was based on his stats from one season as opposed to his career… I expect him to be gone by the end of the season if not sooner.
"God's in His heaven. All's right with the world." - Robert Browning (1812-1889)
Blake is a good player WHEN he plays that crash and bang water bug style that we see from him ever 5-10 games. If he played like that every game and didn’t float shots in from wherever he got room.
He is an NHL veteran and should be able to adjust finer points of his game to a new roll.
But yes, JFJ is the main source of blame, the media second, ignorant fans like me (I had NO idea how Blake played when JFJ signed him and was distracted by that shiney bauble of a 40 goal season and thought Mats’s winger had finally arrived).
But alas, it comes down to one thing. Fuck You JFJ.
Because Taking The Leafs Seriously Is Not An Option
by JaredFromLondon on Nov 13, 2008 9:22 AM EST up reply actions
Same here
When Blake was signed, I was being bombarded by all sides on TV about how Blake is an awesome veteran because he scored 40 goals the previous season, no one bothered to mention his previous stats whatsoever, just that Blake scored 40 goals, that he’s a fast-skating and very skilled sniper and is the winger that Sundin has been missing and that everything’s going to be all roses from now on.
Honestly, I knew nothing about Blake, never even really heard of him until then.
"God's in His heaven. All's right with the world." - Robert Browning (1812-1889)
It’s like telling a duck to be a chicken and getting pissed off at it when it doesn’t know how to do that.
Dammit! JUST BE A CHICKEN!
One thing though, remember the 2002 series against the Islanders and every game after that? Remember how much you wanted to wring Blake’s neck because he was such a shit disturbing SOB? What happened to that guy? No one cares that they play against him now.
Pension Plan Puppets: A Toronto Maple Leafs blog and a group therapy session.
Yeah, my limited Blake knowledge was all about how he was such a pain in the ass to watch the Leafs play against.
Because Taking The Leafs Seriously Is Not An Option
by JaredFromLondon on Nov 13, 2008 9:37 AM EST up reply actions
Jared is right
Blake is a veteran, and should be able to adapt. But he’s not the 40-goal-scoring veteran that he kept being labeled with, one season with 40 goals does not entitle him to that… err… title.
But that’s the thing, Blake doesn’t adapt or adjust, he keeps trying and playing harder, but in his same style and that’s the real problem here. He likes playing his style of hockey, which is great for him, and he doesn’t want to change to fit mold that JFJ had initially set for him, or the new mold that Wilson wants him to fit.
So its too bad.
"God's in His heaven. All's right with the world." - Robert Browning (1812-1889)
Wilson was his coach for Team USA, he knew exactly how Blake played his best and he knew Blake’s game before either came to Toronto. If Wilson is benching Blake, it’s because he’s not doing what he needs to do. I don’t believe for a minute that Blake is being benched because of false expectations created by the TSM.
Yea but different team
Different roles need to be filled, national hockey teams are a different beast as the GM and coach are almost free to pick whoever they want for their roster… that luxury isn’t always afforded on a professional hockey league team.
Also, keep in mind that while the false expectation isn’t as prevalent since JFJ got the boot, it’s still lingering there. The media effed up when they pigeonholed the guy when he first came to Toronto and they are loath to admit any error, so they’ll keep blaming Blake as not fulfilling his potential as opposed to them setting an unrealistic potential.
"God's in His heaven. All's right with the world." - Robert Browning (1812-1889)
Personally, If Blake just played the way he currently does but brought back that super pest aspect, I could live with it. At least then he would be contributing, and getting ice time against the other teams best lines. We know he can keep up with the best players in the game, if he could get under their skin he could prove to be invaluable.
He’d probably be the most expensive agitator (too lazy to research) but he could also be one of the best.
Thats the Blake I realistically want to see.
Because Taking The Leafs Seriously Is Not An Option
by JaredFromLondon on Nov 13, 2008 9:46 AM EST up reply actions
The Leafs still need someone in the role of a Tucker or a Blake, Hollweg certainly isn’t it. There’s nobody on our team right now that acts like a little bastard down low and scores goals to underscore his point, claiming that Blake has to adapt to a different role on this team is a bit of a stretch imo.
True
I don’t even know what Blake is doing anymore, and he probably doesn’t either. When he was shooting like a gatling gun it was pretty clear he was trying to fulfill that 40-goal-sniper role initially set out for him, well that didn’t work out so he tried to pass and be the guy that set up plays, that seemed to have worked out better but doesn’t seem good enough still.
Jared has a good point, maybe they need to sit him down and show him tapes from that series and go “this is what we want you to be, piss off the other guys in the same manner you pissed Toronto off back then”, because the chap looks completely lost on the ice.
Anyway I am just hesitant to put too much blame on Blake, I just don’t think he’s getting treated fairly.
"God's in His heaven. All's right with the world." - Robert Browning (1812-1889)
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