Blake Christensen

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Blake Christensen
Born (1995-06-15) June 15, 1995 (age 26)
Coral Springs, Florida, USA
Height 5 ft 9 in (175 cm)
Weight 174 lb (79 kg; 12 st 6 lb)
Position Left Wing
Shoots Left
AHL team
Former teams		 Springfield Thunderbirds
American International
Manglerud Star Ishockey
Bakersfield Condors
Worcester Railers
Playing career 2016–present

Blake Christensen is an American ice hockey left wing. He was an All-American for American International.[1]

Playing career[]

Christensen bounced around between several junior hockey teams, playing for four different clubs over a two-year span. The constant changes did little to help his growth as a player and in 2015, Christensen left the USHL and headed north to Canada. In his final season of junior eligibility, he spent the entire year with the Wenatchee Wild and posted solid offensive numbers. He was able earn a scholarship to American International though, at the time, there wasn't much to celebrate about the situation. Since it had joined Division I in 1998, AIC had traditionally been the worst performing team in the nation. While the program had graduated all of its players over the years, very few would go on to professional playing careers after their time in Springfield. Christensen arrived just in time to meet a new head coach, Eric Lang, while Christensen's leading the team in scoring that year could have been a sign of things to come, the record wasn't much different that it had been for decades.

In his sophomore season, Christensen increased his goal output but his point production remained about the same. The team, however, showed a different level of play under their new bench boss and won 15 games during the season, the most the Yellow Jackets had recorded in 25 years.[2] The upward ascent of the program continued in Christensen's junior campaign and the entire team worked together to produce the best season in program history. Christensen more than doubled his point production and set program records for both assists and points in a season.[3] He finished just 3 points behind the national scoring leader and was named an All-American, the first for AIC at the Division I level. His offensive explosion helped the Yellow Jackets post their first 20-win season in 30 years and win their first ever regular season conference championship. In AIC's run through the Atlantic Hockey Tournament, Christensen was instrumental in helping the team win the title, scoring the overtime winner in the semifinal while assisting on the OT marker in the title game. The conference championship earned American International its first ever NCAA Tournament appearance, through the team was given the lowest seed in the bracket. However, despite being badly outshot in the game, Christensen assisted on Brennan Kapcheck's game-winner, giving AIC an astounding upset over top-seeded St. Cloud State.

Christensen returned for his senior season and was named as an alternate captain. While his scoring declined slightly, the Yellow Jackets were on pace to make a second bid for the NCAA Tournament. Unfortunately, after AIC won its second consecutive regular season title, the remainder of the season was cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic.[4] The pandemic also delayed the start of Christensen's professional career and he began the following season playing with Manglerud Star Ishockey. When the AHL season eventually got under way he debuted for the Bakersfield Condors but he couldn't find his form. Christensen ended up playing just 10 games and was not retained after the year.

Despite a lackluster first season, Christensen signed a second professional contract, this time with the Springfield Thunderbirds.[5]

Personal life[]

Blake's father Terry is a long-time ice hockey coach. He was an assistant at Michigan State when the Spartans won the national title in 1986.

Career statistics[]

Regular season and playoffs[]

Regular season Playoffs
Season Team League GP G A Pts PIM GP G A Pts PIM
2012–13 USNTDP USHL 29 3 2 5 57 — — — — —
2013–14 Youngstown Phantoms USHL 12 2 0 2 20 — — — — —
2013–14 Muskegon Lumberjacks USHL 10 1 0 1 19 — — — — —
2013–14 Lincoln Stars USHL 23 3 8 11 50 — — — — —
2014–15 Lincoln Stars USHL 27 5 8 13 82 — — — — —
2014–15 Sioux City Musketeers USHL 28 3 7 10 49 — — — — —
2015–16 Wenatchee Wild BCHL 52 16 20 36 32 10 5 3 8 10
2016–17 American International Atlantic Hockey 33 8 13 21 37 — — — — —
2017–18 American International Atlantic Hockey 34 13 10 23 50 — — — — —
2018–19 American International Atlantic Hockey 41 16 31 47 22 — — — — —
2019–20 American International Atlantic Hockey 34 11 17 28 12 — — — — —
Manglerud Star Ishockey Fjordkraftligaen 10 4 5 9 14 — — — — —
2020–21 Milwaukee Admirals AHL 10 2 0 2 12 — — — — —
USHL totals 129 17 25 42 277 — — — — —
NCAA totals 142 48 71 119 121 — — — — —

Awards and honors[]

Award Year
All-Atlantic Hockey First Team 2018–19 [6]
AHCA East Second Team All-American 2018–19 [1]
Atlantic Hockey All-Tournament Team 2019 [7]
All-Atlantic Hockey First Team 2019–20 [8]

References[]

  1. ^ a b "Men's Ice Hockey Award Winners" (PDF). NCAA.org. Retrieved June 11, 2013.
  2. ^ "Men's Ice Hockey Year-By-Year Results". American International Yellow Jackets. Retrieved 2018-08-17.
  3. ^ "Blake Christensen". American International Yellow Jackets. Retrieved January 17, 2022.
  4. ^ "Remainder of 2020 Atlantic Hockey Tournament Cancelled". atlantichockeyonline.com. March 12, 2020. Retrieved March 12, 2020.
  5. ^ "Thunderbirds Sign F Blake Christensen". Springfield Thunderbirds. August 21, 2021. Retrieved January 17, 2022.
  6. ^ "All-Conference Teams Announced". atlantichockeyonline.com. March 14, 2019. Retrieved March 19, 2019.
  7. ^ "AIC Wins First Atlantic Hockey Championship as Reinhardt Nets OT Winner". Atlantic Hockey. March 24, 2019. Retrieved March 25, 2019.
  8. ^ "Atlantic Hockey All-Conference Teams Announced". atlantichockeyonline.com. March 12, 2020. Retrieved March 12, 2020.

External links[]

Awards and achievements
Preceded by
 Atlantic Hockey Scoring Trophy
2018–19 		Succeeded by
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