Farewell Jason Blake

Well, it seemed like an eternity to fans but Jason Blake has officially made the round from darling to Former Islander in the blink of an eye. After staunchly refusing to negotiate during the season GM Garth Snow just lost the most prized piece of the team's puzzle. Reports have it that Blake inked a 5 year, $20 million deal with the the much-hated Toronto Maple Leafs. In 508 career games with the Los Angeles Kings and the Isles, Blake scored 134 goals (all but 7 with the Isles) and 152 assists for 286 points. His breakout season, coming at the age of 33, was this past year where he tallied 69 points on the heals of 40 goals. He has had 4 consecutive 20+ goal seasons with the Islanders. The Islanders loss is another team's gain and despite the squad he now joins being on an FIW "List of the Despised" team. We still wish Blake well.