It’s the End of the World as We Know it, But at Least We Have Hockey

Well, in case this is my final post before President Trump declares war on North Korea and makes the entire Western hemisphere nothing more than a memory (much like the California Golden Seals), I’d just like to declare that since my beloved Habs are still undefeated in regulation, and sitting in first place overall, I believe they should be given the world’s final Stanley Cup championship.  That’s what we call taking the lemons life gives you (in this case President Trump… uh, I can’t believe I’m typing that and NOT quoting The Simpsons) and turning it into lemonade, which is something that I believe is (surprisingly) missing in this week’s new Overexposed induction.  Today, we delve deep into the archives of Upper Deck and dissect the legendary Mike Grier “pizza couch” card.

For all you Seals and Barons fans out there, go check out this site’s new section: Seals Literature.  Here, I’ve listed all of the books I can think of that mention interesting blurbs about the Seals or Barons.  Obviously, this is not a complete list, but I’ll be adding more titles as I become aware of them.  Of course, if anyone knows of any books with interesting Seals/Barons facts in them, please let me know, and I’ll add them to the list.  There are a few titles I would recommend you check out first: Brad Kurtzberg’s Shorthanded is the gold standard, and probably the easiest book to find on the list.  Bobby Baun’s autobiography, Lowering the Boom has a full chapter on the Seals, so does Wayne Gretzky’s new book, 99: Stories of the Game, Alan Bass’s The Great Expansion, and Stephen Laroche’s Changing the Game.  Reggie Leach has an autobiography out as well titled The Riverton Rifle, which has a few pages describing the Seals portion of his career.  Then there are some oldies like Gene Kiczek’s High Sticks and Hat-Tricks, Gerald Eskenazi’s Hockey and the excellent Hockey! The Story of the World’s Fastest Sport by Richard Beddoes, Stan Fischler, and Ira Gitler, but good luck finding those cheap on Amazon!  If you’re more of a Charlie Finley fan, I can’t recommend more highly Michael G. Green, and Roger D. Launius’s Charlie Finley: The Outrageous Story of Baseball’s Super Showman.  I found my copy used on Amazon, so it’s pretty easy to find, and well worth the read.

Until next time, stay gold!

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