Another year, another Hall of Famer retiring after playing with the Sharks for two years. This year it is Sharks captain Rob Blake, a 20 year NHL veteran who has won the Olympic Gold Medal, a Stanley Cup, and the Norris trophy. He is one of the highest-scoring defensemen of all time, and is legendary for his booming slapshot from the point.

Rob Blake wasn’t quite the fan favorite that Jeremy Roenick was, but he was one of the Sharks’s best shut-down defensemen in his two years here, despite him reaching 40 and his propensity for hooking and interference penalties (hence his nickname, “Captain Hook”). He was a leader for the Sharks in every sense of the word.

Here is a live blog of his press conference.

11:02 – Brodie Brazil and Dan Rusanowski introduce the press conference. Devin Setoguchi, Evengi Nabokov, Joe Thornton, and Patrick Marleau are all here. So is Mike Ricci. Also lots of Rob’s non-Sharks friends. Maybe I’m reading too much into this, but I’m taking the presence of the three free agents (plus Joe) as a good sign for their re-signing prospects. But that’s just me over-analyzing.

11:03 – Greg Jamison just used the phrase “rain on our parade” to describe Blake’s effect on the Sharks throughout the years while he was with the Avalanche and Kings. Now I have that song stuck in my head.

11:04 – Blake would have been a farmer if not for a hockey player. “It would have been a great farm.”

11:05 – Blake has 10th-most goals, 3rd-most power play goals among defensemen of all time. It was such a great moment when he passed Doug Wilson on the all-time list. Sort of a full circle moment – the first Sharks captain’s place in history had been surpassed by the current Sharks captain.

11:05 – “It took us about 5 years to convince him to come here, and it was well worth the wait.” Doug Wilson showing that he always targets guys for a long time before he actually gets them.

11:06 – DW is crediting Blake’s wife for all of his success, since he achieved most accolades after he got married. “Probably should have married her earlier.”

11:08 – Awww, DW is talking about Blake’s father and their mutual respect for each other. Also, DW just offered Blake a job. Well, he offered Blake’s wife to take Blake off her hands by giving Blake a job.

11:09 – Dan R just gave me a bit of a scare – “Now, let me introduce the captain of the Sharks -” Wait, they’re introducing the new captain now?!? “-Rob Blake.” Ohhhh, phew.

11:10 – Rob Blake just said it, so it’s official. “I am announcing my retirement.” The guy barely got through that statement.

11:11 – Make a wish!

11:11 – Very emotional moment for a guy who doesn’t wear his emotions on his sleeves.

11:12 – Telephone time! First up: Todd McLellan.

11:12 – McLellan is disappointed that he’s retiring. Blake definitely could have gone another year as a top 4 defensemen, easy. But McLellan said that he’s definitely going to tap into Blake as a resouce.

11:14 – Bob Nicholson (CEO of Hockey Canada) called in. Blake won gold in Finland and Salt Lake City, and so Nicholson is thanking him for his dedication to his country and Team Canada.

11:16 – Joe Sakic! Taping Sakic’s message off of a TV probably wasn’t the best idea.

11:16 – “I’m proud that I can say that I had an opportunity to play with Rob Blake.” Also told Blake that he’s going to love retirement, haha.

11:18 – Rob Blake highlight package. Still not a fan of the whole “recording off the TV thing.”

11:19 – There’s Blake’s famous hip check.

11:19 – Haha, probably a good third of the highlights are him scoring against/checking the Sharks.

11:20 – At least he was able to complete his career with a Cup. I hate that Roenick was never able to.

11:21 – Rob Blake didn’t go into the year thinking he would retire, but as the season went on, he knew he was going to.

11:22 – On what he is going to do: “I don’t know, I have to confer with my wife on that.” HAHA!

11:23 – He definitely wants to stay in the game, probably in a mangement role.

11:23 – Haha, a reporter asked him about stories that his teammates would rather not share. “We’ve been taking over this lifeguard tower in front of our house for the last couple of weeks.”

11:24 – “One of the more proud moments I’ve had was named captain here in San Jose.”

11:25 – Asked who he thinks should be the next captain. Sidestepped the answer, said that there’s a leadership group in the locker room.

11:27 – There was an extreme feeling of disappointment after this season. “It’s not rewarding unless you can build on it next year.” Players also understand that they need to put more work in for the Cup.

11:27 – LA Times on the phone. Asked about if he regretted not winning the Cup with the Kings. Let me answer for him: DUH.

11:28 – Credits Larry Robinson as a big influence on his game.

11:28 – NHL.com guy on the phone. Since Blake has been in California during it’s major growth period, he was asked about hockey in the Golden State.

11:29 – Blake talks about how the amount of hockey here would be unheard of when he started playing. Credits the Junior Sharks and Junior Kings.

11:30 – Haha, Blake has already been signed up as an assistant coach for his sons’ teams. Not quite head coach, though.

11:31 – “I think that Rob Blake is one of the classiest players that have ever worn the Sharks jersey.”

11:31 – “…and when the Sharks win the Stanley Cup…” HELL YEAH!

11:32 – Press conference over. He’ll be on Chronicle Live later tonight after the Giants game.

11:33 – Final thoughts: a lot shorter than Roenick’s press conference, and less goofy than JR’s laugh-fest with Tkachuck talking about how he was either going to be on Dancing with the Stars or a judge on American Idol. But the professionalism suits Blake – I’d be a little shocked if he did joke around more than he did – and it was a nice ending to such a great career.

Thank you, Blake, for being such a great player and a great captain for the Sharks. Your influence on the game, between your booming slapshot and lethal hip checks, will be missed. I know Vlasic is already missing you.