Future Hall of Famer and current Los Angeles Kings executive Rob Blake spoke with Jim Matheson of the Edmonton Journal this week. In a wide-ranging conversation, Blake reflect on his stint as Brendan Shanahan's right-hand man with the league's Department of Player Safety.
"It’s not an easy job … you get critiqued all the time," said Blake. "We’re told in the summer to come down hard, then you act on a guy who’s had three suspensions before and his GM says ‘what are you doing? He didn’t do anything wrong!"
Blake also shared some opinions on John Scott's controversial hit on Bruins forward Loui Eriksson and predicted that Scott's suspension won't be "the big one people are waiting for."
Blake also addressed the speed of the game, and differentiated between honest accident and those players who habitually play the game with a dangerous look of respect.
"There can be accidents where a player’s timing is just a little off, but it’s the predators … I don’t know if you still call them that, but you can tell,” Blake explained. “Patrick Kaleta or Raffi Torres? You can tell two or three shifts before that they’re looking for somebody, then it happens."
