Hi everyone! This week, we’re continuing our trip through the 1975-76 season and putting the spotlight on one of the Seals’ less-heralded players, the late Bob Girard. I really didn’t know what kind of introduction to write for this week’s article, which I had randomly picked out a few days ago from a couple of articles sent to me by Pete Manzolillo. I thought I would just take a gander at HockeyReference.com to see if today had any special significance in Bobby Girard’s life. Lo and behold, it turns out that April 12 (1949) is his birthday, so I was pretty blown away by the coincidence. In fact, I was actually going to post this yesterday, not at all knowing the significance of April 12, but since I got held up with other things I decided to wait until today. Nevertheless, it turns out that my arbitrary choice of article was rather fitting. Girard’s rookie season ranks as one of the best in franchise history, but since he was a less flashy player than Dennis Maruk and Bob Murdoch, and he was known more for his work in the corners, he received little attention from the press, but Joe DeLoach wrote a nice piece on Girard for one of the Seals’ game programs, which you can read right here.

FYI, I will be away next weekend, so there will be no new posting, but I will be back the following week. Happy Easter to all, if you celebrate the holiday, and if you don’t, please enjoy the four-day weekend. Hopefully, spring will be in full force by that time, and snow storms will be a thing of the past.

Until next time, stay gold!

Hi everyone! As most of you regular visitors know, I am a die-hard Montreal Canadiens fan. As much as I love the Seals, they were long gone before I was even born, and growing up just an hour outside of Montreal (and years before the Ottawa Senators were reborn), I became a Habs fan. I’ve seen lots of highs and lots of lows as well. I’m delighted however that this season has certainly seen more highs than lows. Whether they make the playoffs this year or not is irrelevant. What matters most is that the team has improved itself to the point where they are actually playing as a team rather than a collection of individuals. There are four solid lines emerging, some strong goaltending, and a few other surprises (Lane Hutson, anyone?) that have made Montreal games enjoyable again. What I feel has been the biggest difference, however, is that the Habs have finally learned to play half-decent defense. Last year, the team would get outshot 35-16 and 41-22 almost every night. Now, the shot totals are just about even, and when they are not, the gap between shots for and against is small. The defense has shown a remarkable improvement and it has shown in the standings.

Back in 1975-76, the Seals finally started turning that same corner, playing a more competitive style of hockey and reducing the goals against. It resulted in more wins than they had seen since 1969, and a real shot at the playoffs. Sure, the Seals never did reach the post-season, but they gave their fans hope. Games were fun once again, and even the heavyweights like Boston, Montreal, and Philadelphia knew that the Seals were no longer an easy two points. This week, I’ve posted another Ron McGrath article from late January 1976 where he gives the Seals’ unheralded, but hard-working defense crew its due. When people think of the Seals’ last NHL season, the spotlight is always on the 3-M Line, but the defense played a pivotal role in making the Seals competitive once again. You can read the article right here. Thanks to Pete Manzolillo for sending this piece my way.

Take care, and enjoy the rest of the weekend! Until next time, stay gold!

Hi everyone! Over the years, if I’ve learned one thing, it is that making predictions can be a risky endeavour. Speaking your mind, well, you may get some eye rolls, but after everyone at the party has had a few rum and Cokes, no one will remember what you said. On paper though? Well, I’ve learned that this can go one of two ways: either you hit the nail right on the head, and years later you look like a freakin’ genius, or you say something dumb that will come back to haunt you years later when readers of the future have the power of hindsight to shed light on your faux pas. Remember how last summer everyone thought that the Nashville Predators were going to run roughshod over the Western Conference with Steve Stamkos, Jonathan Marchessault, and Brady Skjei? Or how the Philadelphia Flyers were on the cusp of greatness? Sure, I may have agreed with those opinions back then too, but at least I didn’t have the bright idea of writing it down for future generations to gawk at.

This week, we’re going back to 1976, and the Seals are riding high. The future is bright, and records are falling left right and center. In fact, the Seals’ 3-M Line featured possibly the best left wing, right wing, and center combinations they ever had. How couldn’t you feel like the world would soon be the Seals’ for the taking. After all, the team was diamond-studded with talent… at least that’s what some people thought. In one game program, the Seals’ Director of Public Relations, whose job it was to make the team look good, wrote an interesting piece praising the Seals for their skill at drafting and signing young talent. After all, how many other teams could boast owning both the Central League and International League champions? Signs certainly pointed to a bright future for the Bay Area club, except that it wasn’t. In fact, not only did the club not win a NHL championship, they would cease to exist in name a few months later, and would completely vaporize two years later. It almost makes you cringe when you read McGrath wax ecstatic about the Seals and how they were going to be the next great Stanley Cup contender knowing how badly things would turn out soon after. Thanks to Pete Manzolillo for sending me this fun article, which you can read here.

Until next time, stay gold!

Hi everyone! Welcome back! I hope you all had a wonderful week.

Many of you may not be aware (I certainly wasn’t) that former Seal Reggie Leach was honoured this week with a King Charles III Coronation Medal. Reggie is of course known for his standout NHL career, which included both a Stanley Cup, and a Conn Smythe Trophy. He also hit the 50- and 60-goal plateaus during his time with the Philadelphia Flyers. As a member of the Seals, he was one of the few players to score back-to-back 20-goal seasons before being sent to the Flyers for future team captain Al MacAdam. In 934 career games, he scored 381 goals and 666 points, and added another 47 goals in 91 playoff games. Since retiring in 1983, he has worked tirelessly meeting and encouraging Native children to make good choices so that they can avoid making some of the mistakes he made, and that could have derailed his NHL career. Leach has been sober now for close to four decades, and has been an inspirational leader in Native communities in Northern Ontario. I’m very happy to hear that Reggie has been recognized for his work over the last forty years.

As I’ve mentioned a few times on this site, I met Reggie many years ago during the Seals 50th Anniversary Night in Toronto, and got to speak to him a little about his time in the NHL. He was a very humble man, polite, and even bought copies of my book for his kids. I gave him a free copy for himself as a thank you for attending the event along with Joey Johnston, Wayne King, and Marv Edwards. A few years before that, my uncle Pete knew someone who knew Reggie. My uncle told me that if I gave him a copy of my manuscript, he would get it to his friend so Reggie could sign it. I still have the autographed manuscript on my bookshelf today, along with an autographed photo of Reggie, circa 1972, right above my computer in my home office.

You can read all about Reggie’s incredible honour in an article from the Manitoulin Expositor right here. It is a very interesting read, so I hope you take a few minutes to check it out. On a side note, one thing I found interesting in the article is when his wife Carol mentions how Reggie is uncomfortable speaking in front of crowds. I remember Reggie as being incredibly articulate, natural, and comfortable answering questions at the Seals 50th Anniversary Night. Thanks to Pete Manzolillo for sharing the link to this article with me.

Until next time, stay gold!

Hi everyone! It’s March break here in Ontario, and thus we’ve all had a bit more time to indulge in some personal activities, go out on the town for a quick family adventure, and play some extra video games. In my case, I got to spend a bit more time reading, one of my favourite activities, and probably not much of a surprise to any regular visitor to this site.

As I had promised last week, I have added a review of former Seal George Pesut’s new autobiography, The Fourth Period – Between the Ice Sheets: Hockey on Two Continents. Hot off the presses, and available on Amazon, it is a fascinating recollection of the journeyman’s 21-year professional career, which saw him take his talents to such far-reaching North American locales as Oakland, Calgary, and Wichita, and then across the pond to Davos, Switzerland, and just about every major city in West Germany. If you are a bit prudish, be warned, as the tales get a bit X-rated from time to time, but what else would you expect from a career spent mostly in the minor leagues and in some of the most sexually liberated cities in Europe. If you are looking for some new insights into the 1974-76 Golden Seals, who were highlighted in last week’s rare video footage (to which you can find a link here) Pesut’s book will certainly appeal to you, but the main highlight is undoubtedly the stories he weaves about his time playing in Switzerland and Germany. If you aren’t familiar with how European league hockey works, Pesut’s book will certainly enlighten you. You can read my review of the book right here. Let me know what you thought of the book too!

Until next time, stay gold!

Hi everyone! You’ve certainly picked a good day to come visit this site! Thanks to subscriber Pete Manzolillo, who came through in the clutch once again with some exciting new material that needed to be shared with all of you. An organization called Northeast Historic Film has been restoring and making available all sorts of rare 8mm film, and many of these films include some great 1970s NHL action. You should pay them a visit at www.oldfilm.org to check out their wonderful archive of found footage, including several old hockey clips from Boston Garden.

This week, I urge you to check out a fantastic 20-minute highlight reel from the first two periods of the Seals-Bruins game from March 14, 1976. The footage is beautifully restored, and includes only crowd noise, making it feel like you truly are at the Boston Garden watching the game unfold. You can check out this found footage for yourself over in the Video and Audio section.

And I have even more good news! In the coming weeks, I’ll be posting some new video clips as well as a book review for George Pesut’s new tome (I still have about 100 pages left to read), so be sure to check back later this month.

For those of you in and around Ottawa, I will be at the Capital Trade Show selling copies of my books and a wide array of hockey cards as well. The event takes place on Sunday, March 9 from 10-3 at the Nepean Sportsplex on Woodroffe Avenue, so if you’ve got a hankering to shop for old (or new) hockey cards and memorabilia, why don’t you stop in!

Until next time, stay gold!

Hi everyone! Boy, am I glad it is the weekend. What a week! I finally got over the cold that had bothered me early in the week, and now it is time to relax for a couple of days. As promised, this week we’re going right back to January 26, 1974, and the big grudge match between California and Philadelphia! The Flyers were ready to push their weight around, as usual. The Seals were preparing for whatever hell Bobby Clarke and company were ready to unleash. It was going to be an orgy of fists, flying sticks, thundering body checks, and broken bones. The fans in the stands had no idea what was going to happen, and I mean that literally. You see, all of the violence that night took place in the stands, while the players stood around staring at the mayhem going on all around them. The only beating the Seals took that night was on the scoreboard, much like the previous time the two teams had met. Some things don’t go as planned, but other things happen exactly as you would expect. If you want to read about the famous Seals-Flyers rematch, you can find this week’s article, from the San Francisco Examiner‘s Glenn Schwarz, right here.

In closing this week, I will be at the Sports Card and Comic Book Show at the Nepean Sportsplex. I will be selling copies of my books as well as a multitude of hockey cards next Sunday, March 9, from 10am-3pm, so if you’re in the area, stop in and do some shopping. It is the biggest sports card show in Ottawa, so if you’re into that sort of thing, you won’t be disappointed!

Until next time, stay gold!

Hi everyone! I think this week’s title says it all. You know what I’m talking about, and I don’t need to go into details. No need to ignite any more fires than there already are out there, but I also can’t ignore the elephant in the room, the most tense sorta All-Star event in history. All I’ll say is that it certainly made for some riveting television, and will likely be the catalyst for a few much-needed changes in the NHL, if not in professional sports.

The 4 Nations Face Off was a surprisingly bitter tournament. It’s also not the first time (and it certainly won’t be the last) where some sort of bitter conflict took place on (or off) the ice leading to the inevitable grudge match to determine which team would reign supreme for a little while. Anyone who has visited this site over the years, or who has read my book, or who has read any hockey history book about the 1970s, knows that the Seals and Philadelphia Flyers did not get along. It seems weird that the mighty Flyers could have had a serious beef with the lowly Seals, but yes they did, and for good reason. The spark that ignited the blood feud occurred December 2, 1973 at the Philadelphia Spectrum when rookie defenseman Barry Cummins hit Flyers’ captain Bobby Clarke in the head, leading to a wild period dominated by fisticuffs. It wouldn’t be the last bitter conflict between the clubs.

This week, we’re going back to January 26, 1974, the first game between the clubs since the Cummins-Clarke incident. The papers were expecting a violent affair, and it truly was (just not in the way everyone thought… I will get into that next week when I post an article on that game, so stay tuned). This week’s article is more about the lead-up to that return match-up, and how Barry Cummins was handling the pressure of being public enemy number one. Head on over to the articles section to read this interesting piece.

Now that the surprisingly tense 4 Nations Face Off is over, its back to the grind we call the stretch drive to the playoffs, and my favorite time of the year, trade deadline day! Now that my Habs have crashed back down to Earth, I can now relax knowing that their fate has finally been decided, and that all there is left to determine is who stays and who goes. Don’t worry, I’m getting used to this sort of thing; I’m starting to feel what it was like to be a Seals fan back in the 70s. Hopefully, either Ottawa or Edmonton will go on a run and give me a reason to get excited about the playoffs, and that they will be inspired by Canada’s recent efforts to bring the Stanley Cup back home.

Until next time, stay gold!

Hi everyone! I’m not sure about you, but I sure am glad it is the weekend! What a week! Have you ever had one of those weeks where it seems as though every loony-toon, crackpot, and whack-job came crawling out of the woodwork just to make your life a living hell? Well, that’s the week I had. Stressed out clients, crying clients, clients who didn’t know what they wanted or why they were there… Am I sure glad that’s all over, and since it’s a holiday on Monday, that means a three-day weekend! One of the things I enjoy doing when I’m feeling a little stressed is grabbing my cell phone and doing the rounds of the New York Times puzzle games. Have you ever done these? They’re great. I love doing Wordle, Strands, and the Mini Crossword, but my favourite might be Connections, and more recently, the recently added sports-themed Connections.

If you’ve never done Connections before, the premise is pretty simple: of the 16 words and expressions on the screen, you must group them into four equal groups, and each group’s words must be connected by a common theme. So the connection could be four expressions with “up”, four palindromes, four modal verbs, or four objects cherished by characters on The Simpsons (yes, that one actually stumped me). When I sat down after supper one day this week to do the latest sports Connections, I was surprised to see this:

Notice the expression on the bottom left? Yup… never thought the Seals would get their due in Connections, but here were are. See if you can figure out the four connections. I’m happy to say I got it without making any mistakes, but I’m not that lucky every time. Will you be? Remember, all four connections are sports-related…

So, that was fun, and to continue with that theme, I’ve added a new Lee Susman cartoon, which you can check out right here.

Hope you all get the chance to take in the 4 Nations Face-Off the next two weeks. It’s off to a great start, and, as you would expect, I’m rooting for Canada to take the title. Now that my Habs have crashed back down to reality and burrowed their way to the Earth’s core, it might be the closest I get to a meaningful series of games this season. Go Canada! Stay gold!

Hi everyone! Wow! Big news from the Seals universe! That’s right, former Seals defenseman George Pesut has written a book, The Fourth Period: Between the Ice Sheets. The book was released this past December, but I was not made aware of it until I received a link to this:

That’s right folks, as an added bonus, we have George talking about his book in the latest edition of Hockey Time Machine, which you can watch by clicking on the YouTube logo above. The episode was dropped yesterday and I haven’t even had a chance to listen to it yet, so I can’t give you any details. I also can’t give you many details about the book, since my copy just arrived yesterday morning, and I’m only about 20 pages in. So far, I’m very impressed with his narrative style, and I look forward to page 91, when he starts talking about his time in the Bay Area. Rest assured, however, that once I finish the book I will be posting a review on the site, so stay tuned for that. In the meantime, go pick up your own copy over at Amazon. Here’s a link to the American site and another to the Canadian site to make it even easier for you.

As I mentioned last week, I received two very nice gifts in the mail from Kristie Kitchens. A few years ago, she had found an old Seals beer stein that had once belonged to her father, and she sent it to me, which has been sitting on my desk ever since. It’s one of my favourite pieces of memorabilia, and something I had never seen before. This time, Kristie sent me a vintage Sparky the Seal t-shirt, which I’m proud to say, is probably the only one in all of Ottawa.

Please ignore my crappy photography skills (note the scotch tape holding up the shirt on what is an overturned IKEA kitchen table); it’s the best I could do. Of course, I have no intention of leaving it like that; it deserves better. I hope to have it framed one day along with my autographed Seals hockey cards.

The next photo, of a vintage Annalee hockey mouse (Tony Esposito stick in hand) is something I had never seen before, but apparently they were pretty popular back in the 70s.

Thanks so much, Kristie!

Until next time, stay gold!