Hi everyone! As we enter July, hockey season really descends into quite the lull. The Stanley Cup has been awarded, the Entry Draft is behind us, and all the best free agents have signed new contracts. Once in a while, there is a trade that gets our attention, but for all intents and purposes, hockey season is finished, and we start focusing on other things. I, for one, have actually taken great pleasure in watching Canada at the World Cup of soccer, something I wouldn’t have thought possible since I’ve always found soccer to be quite boring, but since my son has been playing more competitively, and since Canada actually had a team in the tournament, I’ve learned to appreciate soccer a bit more. It was difficult to watch Canada lose to Morocco today, but the country is incredibly proud of the fact they made it this far, and their overall efforts will certainly help increase the exposure of soccer in this country.

What a strange week this has been. I’ve taken an interest in soccer, Ottawa was almost washed away in a Canada Day storm, and it was so hot I thought my underwear was going to melt. Most shockingly of all, I’ve also started taking an active role in keeping my social media presence updated. Yes, believe it or not, I’ve actually make a concerted effort to add a few posts to my Instagram account, and I’ve actually learned what a hashtag is! At least, I think I have… anyway, I encourage you to check out my Instagram page to read a few interesting tidbits related to the stories in my new book, Mucking in the Corners, which will be released October 27 in Canada and November 24 in the U.S., and available for pre-order from Amazon.ca and Amazon.com. The link to my Instagram page can be found on the right, below the free previews of my Seals book. I also think this link will take you there, but I honestly don’t know if I’ve done this thing right, so feel free to give it a shot. It’s a little like using one of those tennis racket shaped bug zappers in a room full of protruding metal objects. Will you get a shock that will make you wet your pants, or will nothing happen at all? Who knows? I honestly had that thought this week as I was thinking about knocking off a few daddy-longlegs in my basement, but I held back my urges when I realized there was lots of metal around. I prefer to just stay in the dark on this one until someone advises me otherwise. But I digress… All I do know is that I will be updating my page regularly as MITC’s publication date nears, so be sure to check it out!

This week, I’ve added a new article from the very last game of the 1970-71 season, which was, not surprisingly, another Seals loss. In this case, however, the loss had a bit more significance in that it was number 53 on the year, which broke the previous record for defeats in one season, held by the Los Angeles Kings. Wouldn’t you know it, those same Kings were the Seals’ opponent that night, and despite the Seals’ best efforts, the Kings were not to be denied. Thanks to Bob Marceau for sending me this article, which you can read right here.

Anyhoo, that’s it for this week. Now that things are starting to settle down a bit, I should be updating this site more regularly, so stay tuned! Until next time, stay gold!