Stoll to miss Kings’ game vs. Coyotes

By Dhiren MahibanMar 16, 2015, 9:00 AM EDT
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L.A. Kings’ forward Jarret Stoll will miss his second game on Monday due to an upper body injury.

Stoll was injured during the Kings’ 4-0 win in Vancouver on Thursday night and has not skated since.

According to The Los Angeles Times, Stoll is still being evaluated.

“We’re not going to have a recall here today, by any means,” said Assistant GM Rob Blake. “We don’t have a timetable on Stollie yet. He’s not playing [on Monday].”

Lisa Dillman reports Stoll was injured on a third period hit from Canucks’ forward Derek Dorsett.

Blake was asked if there’s any concern that Stoll’s injury could be long-term.

“Hopefully, not,” he said. “You saw the hit. . . . The problem with that is we don’t have a timetable for that stuff.”

With Stoll set to miss a second game, Andy Andreoff will get another opportunity tonight when the Kings play host to the Arizona Coyotes.

The 23-year-old won 5 of 6 face-offs and played 8:28 in the Kings’ 2-1 loss to the Nashville Predators on Saturday night.

“It’s tough. It’s been a long year,” said Andreoff, who played in just his second game since Feb. 3 on Saturday. “But I’m kind of getting used to it. You just got to make sure you’re being the hardest worker in practice and being ready for the opportunity.”

The Kings have won two of three meetings with the Coyotes this season. Monday is fourth and final game between the two clubs this season.

Report: Rob Blake would be Brendan Shanahan’s first choice to replace Dave Nonis

By Dhiren MahibanJan 30, 2015, 10:15 PM EDT
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In a perfect world, Brendan Shanahan would get permission from the L.A. Kings and hire Rob Blake as the next general manager of the Toronto Maple Leafs.

According to hockey insider Bob McKenzie, Mark Hunter, who was hired as the Leafs’ Director of Player Personnel earlier this season, is another rumored replacement for Dave Nonis.

However, if possible, Shanahan would like Blake to be the guy. McKenzie was on TSN Radio 1050 in Toronto Friday afternoon and had this to say on the matter:

There’s always been speculation about the future of Nonis and whether he’s Shanahan’s guy and what he’s going to do here.

When Mark Hunter got hired, I think there was a widespread presumption that he could be a general manager in waiting if and when Brendan Shanahan makes a move to terminate or put Dave Nonis out to pasture – whatever the case may be.

I’ve also heard, over the course of time, that Brendan Shanahan’s first choice, if he were to hire a general manager other than Dave Nonis, would be Rob Blake, who worked with Shanahan at player safety and now of course works for the Los Angeles Kings under the Dean Lombardi regime.

I personally don’t think Rob Blake has any interest in leaving Southern California. He’s a surfer, he likes working with the Kings, and as much as he one day maybe wants to be a general manager, I’d be absolutely shocked if he wanted to do it in Toronto.

For now, Nonis remains the general manager of the club, which is in the middle of an eight-game losing streak. According to reports, Nonis was in Manchester, NH Friday night scouting Kings’ property Mike Richards. Nonis will likely be the general manager till the end of the season, but it appears his days are numbered.

Video: Rob Blake’s Hall of Fame speech

By Dhiren MahibanNov 17, 2014, 11:00 PM EDT
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Rob Blake speaks after being inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame.

Kings to retire Blake’s number Jan. 17

By Dhiren MahibanAug 11, 2014, 2:14 PM EDT
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The accolades continue to roll in for former defenseman Rob Blake.

The 44-year-old, who will be inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame in November, will have his No. 4 jersey retired by the Los Angeles Kings in a pre-game ceremony in mid-January when the Anaheim Ducks visit the Staples Center.

Blake joins Wayne Gretzky, Rogie Vachon, Marcel Dionne, Dave Taylor and Luc Robitaille as the only Kings’ to have their number retired.

“It is an honor to be included with the former great LA King players who have their Jersey’s retired,” said Blake in a statement. “I have always felt LA was a special place to play and it was and is a tremendous privilege to put on an LA Kings jersey.”

Blake is the Kings’ franchise leader in games played (805), goals (161) assists (333) and points (494) by a defenseman.

Blake, who served as LA’s captain from 1996-01 and 2007-08, played 14 of his 20 seasons with the Kings. The fourth-round, 1988, selection of the Kings also had stops in Colorado (2001-06) and San Jose (2008-10).

In all, the Simcoe, Ontario native tallied 240 goals and 777 points in 1270 games.

Blake, currently serving as the Kings’ Vice President and Assistant General Manager, won a Stanley Cup as a member of the Avalanche in 2001, the Norris Trophy as the league’s top defenseman in 1998 and Olympic gold in 2002 for Team Canada.

On the same day his jersey is retired, Blake will also join the Kings Hall of Fame.

Related: Ducks to retire Selanne’s number Jan. 11 vs. Winnipeg

Hall Call: Hasek, Blake, Forsberg, and Modano make up 2014 Hall of Fame class

By Joe YerdonJun 23, 2014, 3:29 PM EDT
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The 2014 Hockey Hall of Fame induction class is one for the ages.

Dominik Hasek, Rob Blake, Peter Forsberg, and Mike Modano have been elected to the Hockey Hall of Fame for their storied careers as players.

Hasek was a six-time Vezina Trophy winner and a two-time winner of the Hart Trophy as league MVP while with the Buffalo Sabres. He’s also been a member of two Stanley Cup winning teams in Detroit with the Red Wings in 2002 and 2008.

Blake played for 20 years with the Los Angeles Kings, Colorado Avalanche, and San Jose Sharks and won a Stanley Cup patrolling the blue line with the Avs in 2001. He scored 40 or more points in 12 seasons in the NHL and was a Hobey Baker Award finalist at Bowling Green.

Forsberg was as dominating a force as could be found in the NHL during his 14 seasons in the NHL. He was the Calder Trophy winner in 1995 and won two Stanley Cups with the Avalanche in 1996 and 2001. Originally a first-round pick of the Philadelphia Flyers, he’ll forever be linked with Eric Lindros as part of the monster trade that sent Lindros to Philly and the building blocks to Cup winners to the Quebec Nordiques. He won the Hart Trophy in 2003 and won two Olympic gold medals with Sweden in 1994 and 2006.

source: APModano was the face of the Minnesota North Stars/Dallas Stars franchise over 21 out of his 22 seasons in the NHL before finishing his career at home in Michigan with the Red Wings. In his career he piled up 561 goals and 1,374 points, the most ever by an American-born player. His crowning achievement came in 1999 winning the Stanley Cup with Dallas beating Hasek’s Sabres.

Also joining those four are longtime coach Pat Burns who was elected as a builder and referee Bill McCreary who was selected for his work as an official.

Burns was a three-time Jack Adams Award winner as coach of the year and won his lone Stanley Cup with the New Jersey Devils in 2003. He’s forever known as being the face of the Montreal Canadiens and Toronto Maple Leafs during the 1980s and ’90s.  He also led the Boston Bruins for four seasons in the late ’90s. Burns finished his career in 2004 with a career winning percentage of .574 but passed away in 2010 from cancer.

McCreary spent 27 years as a referee in the league working 1,700 regular season games and 282 playoff games. Known for his mustache and no-nonsense style, he earned the respect of everyone throughout the league and was often the man called on to officiate the biggest games. He also worked the 1998 and 2002 Olympics and earned the call to work the gold medal game in both tournaments.

USA Today’s Kevin Allen and CSNChicago’s Pat Foley are the 2014 Media Honorees. That group will be inducted on Monday, November 17 in Toronto.