Hi everyone! It’s been one suuuuuuucktacular season in Montreal! 0-5. Oh and freakin’ five!
As I write this entry this Saturday evening, Montreal is currently leading Detroit 5-1 as the 2nd period is winding down, so my hopes are certainly up that the goose egg will be broken before 11pm tonight, but part of me is cringing about the possibility of a Wings comeback. Believe it or not, tonight is the first night I’ve actually witnessed a Montreal goal. Most evenings I don’t actually start watching games until 8:30 or so since I’ve got to put one or both of my kids to bed. So first periods and the majority of second periods don’t exist for me unless the game takes place anywhere West of Chicago. For some reason, every Montreal goal this season, prior to tonight, all FOUR of them, have been scored in the first or second periods. Hopefully, all of these trends are going to bid the team goodbye before long.
On a more positive note, I am deep into Gary Webster’s new book on the Cleveland Barons, The NHL’s Mistake by the Lake, and so far I’m learning a lot about Ohio’s most infamous hockey venture. It is a fascinating read that all of you will enjoy, I promise. If you enjoyed reading the two chapters about the Barons in my book on the Seals, you’ll enjoy Webster’s book, which goes much more into detail and leaps way into the shadows behind the scenes to expose what went on in Cleveland. I’m hoping to post a full review of the book next week, assuming I get the chance to read the rest in the next few days, so stay tuned.
This week’s article promises to make a lot of you think and reflect on the past. It will make you wonder how Seals history might have turned out differently if a certain Charles O. Finley had purchased the team two years earlier than he did. What? You didn’t know that Finley was thinking of buying the Seals as far back as their first year in the NHL? Just think about it. What if Finley had actually bought the Seals in time for Year Two. He probably would have got bored of the team by 1972, perhaps just in time for someone else with deeper pockets to step in and pay players like Paul Shmyr, Bobby Sheehan, Gerry Pinder and others enough money to keep them away from the WHA. Would the awful 1972-73 and 1973-74 season have ever happened? Would the team have been good enough to bring attendance up and perhaps keep the team in Oakland? I’ll leave you with that to think about…
Until next time, stay gold!