Hi everyone! Yes, as you can see from this week’s title, the countdown is definitely on. It’s been a very interesting week as I’ve been gearing up for the Canadian release of Mucking in the Corners. I’ve got my first ever book signing set up for Halloween afternoon, and I’m greatly looking forward to it and getting to see my book on actual book shelves. Last Friday, I was interviewed for the hockey history podcast Hockey Time Machine, and just this past Tuesday, I had a conversation with Tim Hanlon of Good Seats Still Available. Both interviews went well, and even though it has been about four years since I last sat down for an interview, I was able to shake off the rust quickly. The Hockey Time Machine episode will be dropping the first week of November and the Good Seats episode will hit the web 2-3 weeks later, right around the time of the book’s U.S. release, but I will of course let you all know in advance so you can be the first on your block to check them out!

With that out of the way, let’s get back to the subject of this here website. This week, we’re going back to the end of the 1970-71 season for a recap and commentary of the big trade between California and Minnesota. The Seals sent then-all-time leading scorer Ted Hampson and defenseman Wayne Muloin to the Stars for Tommy Williams and Dick Redmond. The Seals managed to get a bit younger in the trade, which is almost always a good thing when you’ve just endured your worst-ever season and were led by a large number of players over 32 years of age. It was really just a first step (OK, second after Harry Howell was dealt to L.A. 18 days earlier), but a necessary one as everyone would find out the following year when other greybeards Bill Hicke, Earl Ingarfield, and Gerry Ehman were also discarded in favour of younger talent like Walt McKechnie, Joey Johnston, Stan Gilbertson, and others. It hurts to let veterans go sometimes, but the only way a team can survive is by bringing in talent that will thrive for many years. Thanks to Bob Marceau for sending me this article, which you can read right here.

That’s about all for this week. I hope to be back next week with a new update, but since I will be getting ready for my book signing on Saturday, I can’t make any promises. Stay tuned, however, for updates regarding interviews I’ve done and that will be posted online shortly.

Until next time, stay gold!