Hi everyone! Yes, like this week’s subject line indicates, I’ve included a massive new stats update to the site. As you may remember, the NHL published game summaries for every game in league history going all the way back to 1917-18. It was a bit of a mixed blessing for me personally. You see, I spent literally years putting together summaries for every Seals/Barons game, including shots on goal, attendance, minutes played by each goaltender, and more. I knew these statistics were never going to be perfect due to the fact all I had to go on was newspaper summaries, which in many cases, are rather spotty. Some newspapers were not well-scanned so numbers were difficult, if not impossible to read, other newspapers contradicted sources I had found, so it was a difficult task triangulating the right numbers. So while I was happy to find out that all game summaries were available in great detail on NHL.com, I was disheartened to find out these became available AFTER my book was published, which means there are a few stats which are unfortunately not correct in my book. I can take solace in knowing that pretty much every other hockey stats book that has ever been published is also riddled with mistakes. Some I was able to pick up myself, like the fact goaltender Bob Sneddon played seven career games, and not five like all NHL records had previously shown. Now the NHL has officially corrected that statistic on its website, not to mention several others, especially those relating to goaltenders. While other stats in my spreadsheet, like shots on goal, were, for the most part correct there were five or ten games in each season where I had to make a few updates. That being said, I am proud to present to you the new and improved Seals/Barons All-Time Game-by-Game Summary. Feel free to download it. After all, it really isn’t all my work. For the most part I had the stats down correctly in the first place, but the league helped a great deal at getting the Seals’ record straight. The next step is going to be updating the Seals and Barons goaltender register as well as the team record book, but that will be a project for another time.

I’d like to thank Bob Marceau for allowing me to use his outstanding Seals attendance spreadsheet. I was able to confirm many of my attendance stats from 1967 to 1976 thanks to his diligent work. In cases where there was a discrepancy between my findings and his, I indicated on the right of my attendance figures what Bob found. Hopefully, someday, we’ll be able to truly confirm all of the attendance figures much like the NHL has done with shots on goal, minutes played, and other game statistics. For the time being, however, I hope these updated stats answer a few of your questions and help you along with your own research.

This past Sunday, I was at the Capital Trade Show in Ottawa selling and autographing copies of my book, and it was a great experience. I sold a few copies, met some nice people, and made a few connections. Before the show even started, I was approached by a film crew from the local community access TV station, and they asked if they could interview me about the book. Of course I said yes, and I’m looking forward to seeing the finished product. When it becomes available on YouTube, I will be sure to post the clip.

Well, that was one long update! Next week, I hope to have another stats package ready to go, so I’ll start working on that soon. In the meantime, don’t forget to keep spreading the word about the book. Ask your local library if they carry it, and if not, tell them to get off their butt and buy it. And if you’ve already read the book, please leave feedback anywhere you can on the Internet. You guys have been great at spreading the word, so keep it up! Until next time, stay gold!