Hi everyone! We’re back after a one-week hiatus. What a week this has been too! The week started with the little one completing a stretch of 16 straight nights without waking up wanting milk, a clean diaper, or comfort, so the wife and I, for the first time in a long, long time, literally slept like a baby… our baby. If you’ve ever been at my house any night the last 18 months, you know that “sleeping like a baby” is not something you strive for as it usually involves multiple trips to the kitchen or bathroom to get something or other that will soothe the little one. Things were going remarkably well and then something or someone broke my baby and she found herself unable to resist waking up several times per night, including the ungodly 4-5 a.m. time slot. What that means is that when baby finally does go back down, you have a magical 20-25 minutes of deep, deep sleep that gets ruined when your alarm rips you right back out of bed so you can get ready to go to work. Awesome times, I tells ya! How my five-year-old manages to sleep through all this crying every single night is a mystery that ranks right up there with how the pyramids were erected without the use of any mechanical tools. Anyway, I’m pretty exhausted right now. I thought going to bed an hour earlier yesterday would help in the likely event my daughter woke up mid-night once again, but wouldn’t you know it, the little one decided to start her late-night partying approximately 10 minutes after my head hit the pillow, and she kept partying ’til about 3 a.m. So much for going to bed early to catch up on sleep. Went to bed an hour early, yet didn’t actually fall asleep until hours after I normally go dodo.

Anyway, I’m back now. I needed to take one week off from the site to deal with some last-minute manuscript problems for my new book on the Washington Capitals, Kansas City Scouts, and the Coca-Cola Bottlers’ Cup tournament. Nothing major, but important issues to deal with nonetheless. McFarland is still working on an official title, which should be coming pretty soon, so I’m looking forward to sharing that with all of you. I’m really stoked about the new book. It has a similar style to the first book, but some new twists I decided to try out. It also has some incredibly awesome rare photos which former players Ron Lalonde and Robin Burns shared with me. Some truly phenomenal stuff. Amazing behind-the-scene shots of the players sitting on the bench, pics of players fighting, rare program covers, posters, party photos, action shots, and ceremonial photos taken before and after the games of the Coca-Cola Cup series. Lots of stuff no one has ever seen. These photos truly tell the story of the quirky, long-forgotten NHL Japan series, which I think is one of the most fascinating events in NHL history even though almost no one has heard of it. I just can’t wait for this new book to be released, and I’ll be keeping you all updated as it publication date draws nearer.

In the meantime, I recommend you head on over to the articles section where I’ve added a new piece on former Golden Seal and Kansas City Scout Gary Croteau, a nominee for the 2021 Seals Hall of Fame. You can find the article right here.

If you want to vote for Gary Croteau, or any other of the eight candidates for this year’s Hall of Fame induction, I invite you to click on the link here which will take you to the survey. You can vote up to three times per device, so get clicking!

Until next time, stay gold, stay safe, and for God’s sake get some sleep so maybe some of it magically rubs off on me somehow!