Hi everyone! Welcome back! I hope you all had a wonderful week.

Many of you may not be aware (I certainly wasn’t) that former Seal Reggie Leach was honoured this week with a King Charles III Coronation Medal. Reggie is of course known for his standout NHL career, which included both a Stanley Cup, and a Conn Smythe Trophy. He also hit the 50- and 60-goal plateaus during his time with the Philadelphia Flyers. As a member of the Seals, he was one of the few players to score back-to-back 20-goal seasons before being sent to the Flyers for future team captain Al MacAdam. In 934 career games, he scored 381 goals and 666 points, and added another 47 goals in 91 playoff games. Since retiring in 1983, he has worked tirelessly meeting and encouraging Native children to make good choices so that they can avoid making some of the mistakes he made, and that could have derailed his NHL career. Leach has been sober now for close to four decades, and has been an inspirational leader in Native communities in Northern Ontario. I’m very happy to hear that Reggie has been recognized for his work over the last forty years.

As I’ve mentioned a few times on this site, I met Reggie many years ago during the Seals 50th Anniversary Night in Toronto, and got to speak to him a little about his time in the NHL. He was a very humble man, polite, and even bought copies of my book for his kids. I gave him a free copy for himself as a thank you for attending the event along with Joey Johnston, Wayne King, and Marv Edwards. A few years before that, my uncle Pete knew someone who knew Reggie. My uncle told me that if I gave him a copy of my manuscript, he would get it to his friend so Reggie could sign it. I still have the autographed manuscript on my bookshelf today, along with an autographed photo of Reggie, circa 1972, right above my computer in my home office.

You can read all about Reggie’s incredible honour in an article from the Manitoulin Expositor right here. It is a very interesting read, so I hope you take a few minutes to check it out. On a side note, one thing I found interesting in the article is when his wife Carol mentions how Reggie is uncomfortable speaking in front of crowds. I remember Reggie as being incredibly articulate, natural, and comfortable answering questions at the Seals 50th Anniversary Night. Thanks to Pete Manzolillo for sharing the link to this article with me.

Until next time, stay gold!