panoo

Canadian Press
2/26/2007 5:49:30 PM

(CP) - Rob Blake is staying put in Los Angeles.

Reports surfaced over the weekend that he had agreed to waive his no-trade clause. But the 37-year-old star defenceman said nothing could be further from the truth. He cemented his future with the Kings after a pair of meetings with GM Dean Lombardi over the weekend.

"Dean and I simply talked about the future of our team, the same thing we did last July when I signed," Blake told The Canadian Press on Monday. "Nothing really has changed. I don't know where all that stuff (inaccurate reports) had come from."

Blake also confirmed that he was never asked by the Kings to waive his no-trade clause: "No, never, never was."

The native of Simcoe, Ont., has another year left on his deal paying him US$6 million this year and next. He's comfortable in his role as a mentor to the young core on his club. He'll be counted on to help mould highly touted defenceman Jack Johnson next season.

FULL STORY