Hi everyone! How are you all doing this fine week? I’ve been doing some reading about the Seals this week, but in an unintentional way. You see, I’ve been reading Troy Treasure’s Icing on the Plains, which is a great book detailing the history of the Kansas City Scouts. I was surprised to learn that the Scouts enjoyed one single solitary sell-out in their two-year history, and it wasn’t against Montreal, Boston, or Philly. No, the Scouts’ one sell-out was against California. Yup, March 20, 1976, 16,219 fans crammed into Kansas City’s Kemper Arena to watch two teams that, within a few months, would both be relocated. Of course, there is an asterisk attached to that sell-out: it was Media Appreciation Night and tickets were all $2 apiece, but a sell-out, even a fake one, was still a sell-out. It was the Scouts’ third-last home game ever. The 2-2 tie was also the Scouts second-last point earned in the NHL. When you think about it, maybe they should have thought of the promotion a little earlier. It’s not like they were making much more money drawing 6,000-7,000 fans to the other games.

I’ve been busy trying to drum up some publicity for my book this week, not to mention I’m also putting together a brand new article about the Seals with the help of a fellow fan. I hope to have it completed and posted by next week, so just a small update this week, but I think you’ll like the article I’ve added, an interview with the then recently traded Gary Simmons. As you may or may not know, Gilles Meloche had asked Cleveland general manager Harry Howell for a trade, but instead of trading Meloche, Howell traded Simmons and Jim Moxey to L.A. for goaltender Gary Edwards and one-time big scorer Juha Widing. What I like about this article is all the little tidbits of information about Simmons, including why and where he got his tattoos, his feelings about Newfoundland, and his dislike of pizza despite owning a pizza parlour. Head on over to the articles section to find out more about “Cobra”.

Weekly reminder time… don’t forget to cast your votes for the 2019 Seals Hall of Fame. The competition is starting to get interesting, and a few front-runners are starting to emerge, but there is still lots of time left before the voting closes.

Also, keep those e-mails coming and the stories flowing. I love hearing about how much the Seals meant to you. Until next time, stay gold!