Time to Break the Ice With Blake

When Wayne Gretzky’s No. 99 finally took its rightful place high up in Staples Center last week, it represented more than an honor for the greatest player to ever wear a Kings sweater. It proved that grand achievements and special memories mean more than hurt feelings. It reminded us that the same should apply to Rob Blake.

Blake’s accomplishments merit a place alongside the retired numbers of Gretzky, Dave Taylor, Marcel Dionne and Rogie Vachon. Blake scored 138 goals, more than any other King defenseman, and in 1998 became the only King player to win the Norris Trophy as the NHL’s top defenseman.

A jersey retirement requires more than good stats. It’s about representing the team, and Blake became the Kings’ most identifiable player in the gap between the Gretzky era and this current group.

“Rob Blake’s jersey should be up there for sure,” said current King captain Mattias Norstrom. “No question, he’s the franchise’s best defenseman.”

But before that number goes to the wall, there’s some patchwork to do. Not on the jersey itself, but on Blake’s relationship with King fans.

It’s tough to picture a warm and fuzzy night honoring Blake because right now you can’t imagine him stepping on the Staples Center ice without the fans booing.

It’s time to fix it, and it can start tonight when Blake and the Colorado Avalanche play the Kings.

Blake should toss a verbal bouquet to the fans, let them know how much he enjoyed playing for them and remind them they shouldn’t take his decision to leave personally. He wouldn’t comment for this column.

The fans don’t have to do a thing to make peace. Silence would speak volumes.

Norstrom hears the boos, and he has only one question.

“Why?” he asked.

“For a guy that’s done so much for this organization and been just a great ambassador for hockey in Southern California. He’s been part of the community, still is, he lives here in the summertime. That’s why I personally have a hard time understanding why they’re still booing him.”

Mario Valdez can explain why he and the rest of the fans in Section 316 boo Blake every chance they get.

“Because he’s a traitor,” Valdez said.

Even his wife Nancy, who thinks Blake’s jersey should be retired, says, “We still have to boo him.... Let him know we’re still hurt.”

We know where the relationship went sour. Blake removed the captain’s “C” from his sweater during contentious contract negotiations in the 2000-01 season, and after it became clear the two sides wouldn’t reach an agreement the Kings traded him to the Avalanche.

Now it’s almost as if all the joy and goodwill he generated in the decade he spent with the Kings didn’t happen. Whenever he handles the puck at Staples Center the fans rain boos on him. It’s not just because he’s playing for the Avalanche, the team that knocked the Kings out of the playoffs the last two seasons. The King fans even booed him when he represented North America in the NHL All-Star game in February.

It’s difficult to see why the anger still lingers.

Blake and King management got over it. He won a Stanley Cup and signed a five-year, $47.5-million contract with Colorado. The trade helped the Kings win their first playoff series since 1993 two years ago.

Time and a better understanding helped Gretzky drop his resentment for the way the new ownership group led by Phil Anschutz and Ed Roski traded him in 1996. If Gretzky’s jersey retirement represented a public mending of that relationship, it also was a more discreet sign of the healing between Blake and the Kings.

He wanted to attend a celebratory dinner two days before the season opener last week but couldn’t find commercial flights that would get him from Denver and back without missing Avalanche practice. So King President Tim Leiweke offered Blake a seat on Anschutz’s private jet.

As they flew to L.A. they joked about the amount of money Avalanche goaltender Patrick Roy lost in Las Vegas when the Kings and Colorado played an exhibition game there.

Then they got to talking about Gretzky’s jersey retirement.

“I did mention to him that there’s going to be a day and time we do this for him, and how much we appreciate him coming back,” Leiweke said.

Some fans appear ready to make amends. Blake was so well received by some season ticket holders at the Gretzky dinner that he stayed to talk with them instead of moving to a VIP reception.

Robert Briceno even wore Blake’s No. 4 to the Kings’ season opener.

“I don’t blame the guy,” Briceno said. “It’s almost like the fans expect so much loyalty. You can’t expect a guy to give up millions of dollars. That’s not realistic.”

Blake has come to accept the booing.

“There’s nothing you can do about it, so I don’t care about it anymore,” Blake told the Denver Post recently.

The fans made their point. Any further booing is pointless.

The Kings have had more success without Blake in the last two seasons than they did with him in the previous seven seasons, so it’s not as if he left the franchise in the dumps.

But in order to cheer for what he did as a King, he first must stop being booed for every step he takes with the Avalanche.

J.A. Adande can be reached at: j.a.adande@latimes.com.