The word from Sharks Intergalactic Headquarters on Wednesday was not designed to be orbit-warping, and it wasn't.

Everyone on the payroll agreed it was a good year that could have been better, and that any sweeping judgments about September wouldn't begin until July.

But there is one that most folks around the team sense will happen before that, and that is team captain Rob Blake's likely retirement, quite likely for a front-office job, and maybe even in San Jose.

Nobody is saying anything for reasons of protocol. "Rob's still a player, and I haven't talked about anything like that with him," general manager Doug Wilson said, "and I won't have any discussions like that as he long as he's a player because I respect that and him too much."

But Blake has all but said he has seen the road turn without him, and made it even clearer that he plans to (a) stay in the game and (b) would like to see fewer airports.

"I've made up my mind, but I still want to talk some people I know and respect and cherish about it," Blake said. "I don't think they're going to try to talk me out of it, but they'll probably say, 'Good for you, whatever you want.' "

Retirement isn't really retirement if you show up at the same place all the time, and that's the next question.

"I've been married for 12 years," the 40-year-old defenseman said, "and we're a hockey family. I think if I was home all the time, my wife might try to kill me, so I think staying in the game would suit me.

"I don't know that I want to travel as much, but I'd like to learn more about the business, get a real education about the other side of the game."

Well, that seems clear enough on a day when clarity was hard to come by. The only questions to be adjudicated are whether there's a place for Rob Blake in San Jose, and whether San Jose is the place for him. Now that, that will come in time.

Well, in a few weeks, anyway. Blake isn't likely to linger long over his decision either way, and if it is to retire, this is as good a place to make his suited stand as any.

E-mail Ray Ratto at rratto@sfchronicle.com.

This article appeared on page B - 2 of the San Francisco Chronicle