Family business: Seniors Quinn Emerson, Jack Blake continue hockey legacies at BGSU

The chance to play for BGSU was a lifelong dream for the two southern California natives

By Nick Piotrowicz

Born just months apart to two Bowling Green State University hockey legends, Quinn Emerson and Jack Blake grew up more like family members than friends.

From the time they were in diapers, the pair, along with Quinn’s twin brother, Blake, did just about everything together growing up just outside of Los Angeles. Their fathers, Rob Blake and Nelson Emerson, are both BGSU Athletics Hall of Famers who played together with the Falcons before going on to multiple levels of success in pro hockey.

After Nelson joined the L.A. Kings, who drafted Rob a decade earlier, their children grew up side-by-side in southern California.

They lived and breathed hockey. They went to the same school. They carpooled to school and to the rink. They played mini sticks in each other’s houses. They watched together as the Kings, with whom both of their fathers became executives, won multiple Stanley Cups.

And, as their dads had before them, they dreamed of being Falcons.

So when Quinn and Jack became accomplished youth players in their own right, the chance to play Division I college hockey at their fathers’ alma mater became a reality on the same day.

Jack, who received his scholarship offer in a Minnesota hotel room, said he knew immediately where he was going to college.

“I was overwhelmed with emotion. I was so excited,” he said. “I remember my dad saying to take the night to think about it, but on the spot, I said, ‘I want to go here. There’s nowhere else I want to go.’ I was waiting for that my whole life.”

Now in their final season as Falcons, Quinn and Jack are writing their own chapters with BGSU.

At 16-8-6, the Falcons are enjoying a resurgent season under second-year coach Dennis Williams. Ranked 19th in NPI and again contending in the Central Collegiate Hockey Association, BGSU will attempt to secure home ice in the first round of the Mason Cup Playoffs during their final four regular-season games.

For Quinn and Jack, the chance to bring winning ways back to BGSU Hockey was personal from their first visit as teenagers.

“When I came to campus, everybody was like, ‘I watched your dad play.’ That was the first thing everybody said to me – how good he was,” Quinn said. “Coming here, you realize how good a player he really was.”

Nelson Emerson set a still-standing BGSU record with 294 points in four years and became a two-time All-American before playing a dozen years in the NHL and winning a World Championship with Canada.

Rob Blake scored 23 goals in his final year at BGSU en route to becoming one of the best defensemen of his era, a gold medalist and World Champion with Team Canada and a Stanley Cup champion with the Colorado Avalanche.

Both were inducted into the BGSU Athletics Hall of Fame.

It wasn’t until the boys grew older – and saw some statistical backing – to understand that their fathers were among the very best to ever wear a Falcons jersey.

“That’s the best part: Growing up, my dad said he was terrible in college, and I just believed him,” Jack said, laughing. “I was probably 16 or 17 when I went on Elite Prospects and looked at his stats, and I’m like, ‘What do you mean, you’re terrible? You had 20-something goals one year!’ You look at all the records and it’s him and Nelson.”

Like many second and third-generation BGSU students, Quinn and Jack shared a commonality with their parents: they had an unbeatable experience during their time at the University.

From the time they played their first home game at Slater Family Ice Arena, Quinn said the experience on the ice was different than other college hockey venues.

“Before we came out, I just remember the guys saying how loud it was, and it was like nothing you’ve ever played in before,” he said. “Even now, going out there and hearing the crowd, it’s just crazy. Even opponents are always asking, ‘Is it always like this?’

“Yeah, it is. It’s the Madhouse on Mercer, for sure.”

As they enter the final stage of their college careers, both said they’re grateful for the chance to play at Bowling Green.

“I’ve met so many great people, and obviously, hockey around here is so important,” Quinn said. "The whole community really supports you, and I’m so glad I chose to come here.”

A decade after they saw the campus for the first time on a visit to Slater Family Ice Arena and quietly hoped their turns would arrive one day, the names Emerson and Blake will once again be called on Senior Night on Saturday against Minnesota State.

For two teammates who grew up hoping for a chance to play where their fathers had before them, the experience has been a dream come true.

“I knew this was exactly where I wanted to be,” Jack said. “It was just a matter of putting the work in to be able to get here.”