Sharks' Blake retires

SAN JOSE, Calif., June 18 (UPI) -- San Jose Sharks defenseman and team captain Rob Blake said Friday he's calling it a career after 20 NHL seasons.

Blake, 40, retired after a 2009-2010 season in which he finished with a plus-14 rating in 70 regular-season games. He had seven goals, 30 points and 60 penalty minutes in the regular season, then added a goal and two points in 15 playoff games before the Sharks were knocked out in the Western Conference finals by Chicago.

Blake reached the NHL in the 1989-90 season with Los Angeles and went on to tally 240 goals, 777 points and 1,679 penalty minutes in 1,270 career games.

"I was very fortunate to play 20 years in the NHL," Blake said. "I would like to thank [Sharks General Manager] Doug Wilson and the San Jose Sharks for allowing me this opportunity to say thank you to the teammates and organizations that have helped make this a very memorable journey. I also want to thank my family for all of their support throughout my career."

Blake, a seven-time all-star, won the Norris Trophy as the league's top defenseman in 1998 while playing for the Kings and won a Stanley Cup in 2001 with the Colorado Avalanche.

He is just one of 24 players to have won a World Championship (1994 and '97), Olympic gold medal (2002) and Stanley Cup (2001).

"What Rob Blake has accomplished over the course of his hockey career speaks for itself," Wilson said. "The standard that he helped bring into our dressing room will be felt by our organization and players for years to come."