Photo by: BGSU Strategic Communications
Falcons’ Rob Blake to Be Inducted into the NHL Hall of Fame
June 24, 2014 | Ice Hockey
Official Hockey Hall of Fame website
Bowling Green, Ohio – Former Bowling Green State University hockey player Rob Blake has been selected to be part of the 2014 NHL Hall of Fame class it was announced this week.
Blake is joined by centers Mike Modano and Peter Forsberg, and former Detroit Red Wings goalie Dominik Hasek. Also inducted are longtime coach Pat Burns and referee Bill McCreary.
"The Bowling Green Hockey Program is very proud of Rob for this fantastic honor. His accomplishments in the NHL make this decision very fitting," commented Falcons' head coach Chris Bergeron.
During his time with the Falcons from 1987-90, the Simcoe, Ontario native recorded 104 points (39 goals, 65 assists), including 18 powerplay goals, a shorthanded goal and three game-winners in 131 games. His 368 penalty minutes are tied for third most in school history.
Blake earned second team All-CCHA honors in 1988-89, helping the Falcons into the CCHA Championships for the eighth consecutive season. Tied 2-2 at Michigan, Blake's goal at 2:54 of the third overtime ended the fourth longest game in school history and handed the Falcons the third and deciding game of the series.
His final season at BG was even bigger, highlighted by a record-setting weekend at Miami (OH) in late November. His hat trick in the second game of the series tied a school record for goals in a game by a defenseman, his four goals and eight points on the weekend also tied or set school marks. His 23 goals in the 1989-90 season remains the record for Falcon defensemen. The honors poured in for Blake following that season, as he was named the CCHA's Best Offensive Defenseman, earned First Team all-league honors, and was named to the CCHA All-Tournament team. He also added the BGSU Team MVP award to that list. The top honor that season came when Blake was named a finalist for the Hobey Baker Award, college hockey's top prize, along with teammate Nelson Emerson.
Drafted in the fourth round of the 1988 NHL Draft by Los Angeles, Blake played 11 seasons with the Kings, landing a spot on the All-Rookie team in 1990-91, and making his first All-Star Game appearance in 1994. He won the Norris Trophy as the NHL's top defenseman in 1998, and took hockey's ultimate prize in 2001, winning the Stanley Cup for Colorado alongside another former Falcon, Greg DeVries.
In 1998, Blake was selected to play for Team Canada in the Winter Olympics. While the Canadians failed to earn a medal in the Games, Blake was named Best Defenseman. Four years later, however, he became the fifth Falcon icer to win a medal at the Olympics, and the third to win gold, as Team Canada took gold at the Salt Lake City Games. Ken Morrow and Mark Wells are the only other BG hockey alumni to win gold, as members of Team USA's 1980 "Miracle on Ice" squad. In December 2005, he was named to his third Olympic team, the most of any Falcon.
Blake was elected to the Bowling Green State University Athletics Hall of Fame in 1996 in his first year of eligibility.
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