Hi everyone! As I was doing some research for a potential new book, I stumbled upon a delightful, well-written article about the 1971-72 Seals. I found it in the Montreal Star, which was of course the newspaper where the late, great Red Fisher worked. He wrote a nice piece that focuses mostly on new Seals general manager Garry Young, whose team was in town to face the Canadiens the following night (a hard-fought 3-3 tie, by the way). Fisher gives us some new insight into how Garry Young became general manager (Spoiler alert: He wasn’t Finley’s first choice), not to mention how he used his communication skills to make personal connections with his players. In the article, Young also talks about the impact Gilles Meloche had already had on the Seals (even though the young goaltender had been with the club for just five weeks). He also talks about the bright future Bobby Sheehan had ahead of him (although he also hints at the possible reasons for his sharp decline in production just a few weeks later). I highly recommend you read this full-page article from December 18, 1971.

On a sad note, I unfortunately have to mention that former Seal Brian Perry passed away earlier this week at the age of 78. In 95 career games with the Seals, the Aldershot, England-born Perry scored 16 goals and added 29 assists. He was part of the Seals’ best-ever team, the 1968-69 version that finished second in the West Division. That year, he scored 10 goals and 21 assists, and was an important secondary scorer for the team. He played another 34 games for Oakland the following year, and then was selected by Buffalo in the 1970 expansion draft. He played just one game for Buffalo before finding his way to the World Hockey Association, where he spent the last two years of his big-league career. R.I.P. Brian.

Until next time, stay gold!