January 5 (1982)

The St. Louis Steamers are the second-highest drawing winter professional sports team on the average in North America. The team averages 17,418 fans after seven home games, 97 percent of the Checkerdome’s capacity. The Steamers are second only to the NHL’s Edmonton Oilers, who have sold out every game at Northlands Coliseum, capacity 17,490. St. Louis native Don Ebert will lead the Steamers during the 1981-82 season with 71 points on 52 goals and 19 assists, and goalkeeper Slobo Ilijevski will lead the league with a 3.85 goals-against average. The Steamers will reach the MISL finals and will lose to the New York Arrows 3 games to 2, including 2 overtime games.