Great Thing About Rob Blake Being Re-Signed, Part 1: Searching for images brings several Robert Blake results, which feeds both our fetishes for celebrity murder trials and "Baretta."
Great Thing About Rob Blake Being Re-Signed, Part 2: The San Jose Sharks retain the services of a defenseman that played well for them in the regular season (45 points in 73 games, plus-15) and into the postseason (4 points in 6 games, including a huge opening goal in Game 3 against the Anaheim Ducks). The Sharks are also getting Blake at $3.5 million for one season, as the 39-year-old defenseman takes about a $1.5 million pay cut.
This summer is a grand chemistry experiment for GM Doug Wilson: Which parts make the Sharks flimsy in the postseason, and which parts are essential to their foundation of success? Blake is rightfully seen as essential; forward Marcel Goc, despite being a cult fan icon, was not and wasn't tendered a qualifying offer. (Someone asked the other day for a good source for following the qualifying offers; we'd suggest NHL.com or the TSN master-list.)
By all accounts, the Sharks were very, very active behind the scenes at the NHL Draft. The remaking of this team is in its infancy, but it's refreshing to see Wilson getting aggressive early.
The other interesting news this morning comes from Twitter. Yes, we know there's an institutional bias against this form of communication as a journalistic venture. But last weekend was the first Twitter-covered NHL Draft, and more news was broken there than on a television or in a newspaper. So this is the first Twitter-covered Free Agent Frenzy, and news will be broken there, too. It's the new digital sandbox, and we all need to learn how to play in it -- even if we suspect some kids relieved themselves near the Tonka trucks.
(Both Leahy and Wyshynski are on Twitter; please to be following if you aren't already.)
Sports
From Kevin Allen of USA Today on Twitter comes this news on the Sedin Twins:
From my poking about on Komisarek, I have the sense that the Habs believe they will land Sedins if the twins don't re-sign in Vancouver.
Obviously, the Habs have the cap space. They also have something that may be just as important in signing Henrik and Daniel Sedin: The willingness to remake their roster around the two standouts, casting aside several UFAs in an attempt to get younger and better.
That said: The Vancouver Canucks are relentlessly pursuing the Sedins, and TSN's Darren Dreger reports that they are mulling an offer to remain with the team.
