Hi everyone! Ah, it’s that time again… time to get our puck on! We’re less than a week into the new NHL season, and I’m totally psyched. There is so much hope and optimism out there in October. Who is going to be the surprise team? What rookies are going to take charge? Who is going to underperform? Sure, my Habs lost their season opener against an incredibly sloppy Maple Leaf squad, but the fact they scored five times gives me a smidgen of hope that the Habs will finally start scoring some goals this year. I also enjoyed watching Connor Bedard when the Habs and Blackhawks met on Saturday night. It was my first chance to see the kid compete, and he certainly looks like the real deal.

This week, we go back to February 1969, a time of great turmoil in Oakland. That is indeed saying something since just about every day of the Seals’ history was filled with not only turmoil, but also stress, anxiety, depression, despair, and uncertainty. Interestingly enough, the Seals were playing fairly decent hockey at this point and were well on their way to their first and only second-place finish. Attendance, however, was horrible, and no one was happy to see all that red ink in the books. Barry van Gerbig was looking to move the Seals to Vancouver, and the Knox brothers, Northrup and Seymour, of Buffalo, New York were interested in buying the Seals and moving them to Buffalo, but the NHL made it quite clear the Seals were not leaving the Bay Area. This week’s article by Jim Coleman, the great Canadian sportswriter, goes deep into what was going on behind closed doors during this time. We all know how things turned out, so it’s interesting to see how sportswriters and league executives thought the whole situation would play out.

I hope you enjoy what’s left of the weekend, and that you manage to get a game or two in before heading back to work on Monday. Until next time, stay gold!