Hi everyone! It’s mid-May, and the NHL is down to its final four playoff teams, so you know what that means: Happy Leafs Elimination Day! That’s right, it’s that time once again, the happiest of happy days that the NHL and its fans see but once a year. Actually, to be fair, Leafs Elimination Day was last week, but since we were mourning the passing of former Seals coach Vic Stasiuk, I felt it would be inappropriate to be in a celebratory mood, and I wanted to show Stasiuk the proper respect.

Hockey is all about tradition. Perhaps the only other sport that embraces its past as much as hockey is baseball. Hockey’s past, however, still holds a bit of mystery due to the fact it was never covered as closely as the great American pastime. So it just that much more important that we, as hockey fans, continue to celebrate the game, and not let traditions fade away. If any of that makes any sense to you, then congratulations for following along. I think I may have gotten lost somewhere along the way myself.

Today we’re celebratin’ in style because it is time to party like it’s 1968! Ah, Leafs Elimination Day… it’s a lot like Easter only instead of sacrificing eating meat for forty days or so before the big day, Leafs Elimination Day comes first followed by the Leafs sacrificing about forty days worth of playoff games! Thank you folks, I’ll be here all week!

Alright, so now that we got that little bit of business out of the way, let’s get back to how the Seals can help us celebrate the big day. Today we’re going back to January 23, 1970. The Seals and the Leafs are both fighting tooth and nail in their respective divisions to grab hold of a playoff spot, and things ain’t looking so good for either team. Earl Ingarfield, who was enjoying a marvellous season up to that point, recorded his second hat trick of the season in helping the Seals score a 6-3 victory. You can find Spence Conley’s write-up of this very spirited game right here.

That’s about it for this week. I hope you all enjoy the rest of the playoffs. From what we all saw in game one of the Eastern Conference final, it is shaping up to be an interesting final few weeks of the season. Until next time, stay gold!