Junior career He played for the
Waterloo Black Hawks of the
United States Hockey League (USHL). Collegiately, he played one year at
Ferris State University before transferring to the
University of North Dakota (UND). He had to sit out one season due to
National Collegiate Athletic Association rules. He played three seasons for UND winning league titles all three years. Blake starred on their 1996–1997 National Championship team. before being signed to an NHL contract by the
Los Angeles Kings in
1999. He played in 64 games in
1999–00, his first season with the Kings, scoring 5 goals and played in 3 playoff games. In 2000, Blake joined
Team USA at the
World Championships. In the
2000–01 season, Blake played in only 17 games with the Kings before he was acquired by the
New York Islanders in a January trade, who sent a conditional pick in the
2002 NHL entry draft in return. While with the Islanders Blake played the wing on a line with
Alexei Yashin. In 2004, Blake was selected as part of Team USA for the
World Cup of Hockey. Along with Islanders teammates
Rick DiPietro and
Mark Parrish, Blake was part of Team USA at the
Winter Olympics held in
Turin Italy in February 2006. Team USA was led by
Peter Laviolette, his former coach with the Islanders. Team USA finished eighth in the tournament. Blake scored his 100th career NHL goal against the
Chicago Blackhawks at the
Nassau Veterans Memorial Coliseum on October 31, 2006. The milestone 100th goal came on the power play late in the 3rd period. Blake was named an all-star for the first time in his career during the
2006–07 NHL season.
Maple Leafs Blake was neither traded nor re-signed before the deadline and on July 1, 2007, Blake signed with the Toronto Maple Leafs to a five-year contract worth US$20 million. Before the
season began on October 8, 2007, Blake announced that he had been diagnosed with
chronic myelogenous leukemia, a rare but highly treatable form of cancer. He continued to play for the Maple Leafs for the rest of the season. In Blake's first season with Toronto, he played in all 82 regular season games while scoring 15 goals and 52 points. While he managed a considerable number of points, he struggled to score goals all season, having over 300 shots on goal, easily a career high. He was awarded the
Bill Masterton Trophy at the end of the season for perseverance and dedication to hockey through the difficult times he faced after being diagnosed with cancer. However, his
2008–09 season was up and down, with a fight during practice with teammate
Mikhail Grabovski making headlines and being taken out of the gameday lineup for poor play. In the
2009–10 season, Blake struggled for the Maple Leafs, posting 10 goals and 26 points in 55 games. He was traded to the
Anaheim Ducks, along with
Vesa Toskala, for
Jean-Sébastien Giguère on January 31, 2010.
Ducks and retirement Blake played the entire
2010–11 season with the Ducks compiling 16 goals and 32 points in 72 games. He began the
2011–12 season playing on a line with
Teemu Selanne and
Saku Koivu. On October 15, 2011, Blake and the Ducks were playing the
San Jose Sharks when Sharks' defenceman
Brent Burns accidentally cut Blake's left arm/wrist after Blake fell down during a faceoff attempt. The cut required surgery to repair and kept Blake out of the lineup for three months. He returned to play for the Ducks in January 2012 scoring three goals in his first two games back. He finished the season with 45 games played, having scored 7 goals and 12 points. Following the season, Blake was again an unrestricted free agent. However, the season was delayed due to a
lockout and Blake never signed with a team. ==Personal life==