Happy 150th, Canada!

Hi everyone!  Sorry for the small update this week, but this weekend is promising to be quite hectic, what with Canada Day and all, family coming over to visit, and me still in the middle of the final revision of my soon-to-be-published book, but hey, something is better than nothing, right?  Besides, most of you who live in Canada will probably be glued to your TVs watching Free Agent Sweepstakes Day.  Who will be this year’s David Clarkson, and clog up one unlucky team’s budget for the next eight years like an accumulation of Big Mac and poutine fat in the arteries?  Only time will tell.

So first off, we have a brand new induction to the Overexposed wing of the Hockey Hall of Shame. This week, we are featuring Vancouver’s Dave Balon in another of O-Pee-Chee’s famed cut-and-paste jobs.  I absolutely love this card, and I absolutely love the 1971-72 set due to the many goofy-looking photos it features. Cards just aren’t this fantastic anymore.  They may have all this fancy gold and silver foil lettering and glossiness, but the cards from the post-expansion era of the late 1960s, 1970s and early 1980s were just wonderful for many reasons.

The other new addition this week is a short article about the rumour the Cleveland Barons were moving to Houston, Texas as part of the merger that was then being discussed by the NHL and WHA.  As you know, the merger did not happen until 1979, a year after the Barons and Aeros both folded.  Interestingly enough, within weeks, the Barons did in fact discuss merging with another club, but it was Minnesota, not Houston.  Who knows how the hockey landscape would have changed had the Barons and Aeros merged leaving the North Stars to hang in the balance.  Perhaps Houston would still have a NHL team to this day, and perhaps it would have been the Minnesota North Stars/Dallas Stars who would have been contracted?

Don’t forget that voting for the Seals Hall of Fame is drawing to a close soon.  So far, there are three clear-cut favorites for induction, but I’m not saying who they are.  You’ll just have to vote for your favourites and hope for the best.  The inductees will be announced the week of the site’s one-year anniversary at the end of July.  Until next time, stay gold, and have a safe and happy Canada Day!

Who is Trying to Assassinate Darcy Rota?

Hi everyone! The expansion draft has come and gone, and of course, I had to sit down to watch it all live.  Have to admit that it made the entire NHL awards show much more interesting than usual. I’m actually pulling for the expansion draft to become an annual event, so much it improved the usually putrid awards ceremony.  Even the lame jokes seemed a little less hokey. I’m a little surprised at the players who were available, like Jonathan Marchessault, but good for Vegas picking him (and Reilly Smith) up, and boo to Florida for obviously not taking any of the proceedings seriously and letting two of their best (and cheapest!) take off for nothing.  I’m glad Montreal only lost Alexei Emelin, but I am a tad confused by what Marc Bergevin’s plans are for the Habs’ defense.  Man, this is going to be one OLD blueline with Jordie Benn, David Schlemko, and Jeff Petry at 30 years old, Shea Weber at almost 32, and Andrei Markov pushing 40.  Who is going to replace these guys when they start getting too many gray hairs in their beards?  Not that Beaulieu and Sergachev were great prospects, but trading them still seems like a risk to me, unless Bergevin has some plan no one is aware of, but I do like the addition of Jonathan Drouin.

Anyway, back to the reason you’re all here this week… one new addition to the site this week is a 1977 article about the night Philadelphia’s Tom Bladon ripped apart the Cleveland Barons’ defense and scored 4 goals and 4 assists en route to an 11-1 shellacking.  You can check it out here.

Also be sure to head on over to the Overexposed wing of the Hockey Hall of Shame to find out why Darcy Rota was once the target of an on-ice assassination attempt.  Sounds like something from a movie, right? Rest assured, it is all too real, and I have the photographic proof right here.

Until next time, stay gold!

How Would You Celebrate Your One Day With the Stanley Cup?

Is it just me, or have you ever seen so much hype around an expansion draft before.  I mean, they are actually going to televise it across North America!  At the original expansion draft, way back in 1967, most of the players didn’t find out they were going to Minnesota or Oakland until they heard about it on the radio the next day.  I don’t know if anyone realizes that there not going to be any superstars playing in Vegas this October unless you count the days when Pittsburgh and Washington come for a visit, so I don’t understand all the hype surrounding this year’s expansion draft.  Should we really get all that excited that Marc Methot may end up playing in the desert, or that Nail Yakupov might get a fourteenth kick at the can?  Still, who am I kidding, I’m actually looking forward to seeing how the Golden Knights are going to look on Day One, knowing full well that whatever real talent they draft, it is probably going to be traded away for prospects and draft picks. That’s because I’m a giant hockey nerd who loves analyzing the mundane details about rosters for the upcoming season.  And I’m going to watch TSN and Sportsnet, and listen to Bob McKenzie, and Nick Kypreos, and Doug McLean, and Bob McCown, and Damian Cox discuss all of the ins and outs of the Vegas roster.  And I’m going to watch the draft on TV as well because there’s always that hope, that teeny tiny little morsel of optimism that something earth-shattering will happen at next week’s draft.

With an expansion draft just around the corner, that means another season has come and gone, and a new (familiar?) Stanley Cup champion has been crowned.  The Pittsburgh Penguins certainly were not anyone’s favourite to win another Cup, considering no one else had gone back-to-back in twenty years, and the Penguins had more injuries than a World War I infirmary, but lo and behold, the Pens are champs once again.  To celebrate the occasion, we have a very special addition to the Overexposed wing of the Hockey Hall of Shame, that being a shot of L.A.’s Alex Martinez showing us what he did when he got to spend his day with the big mug.  Or should I say, the big cereal bowl.

That’s about it for this week, I’m afraid, as I’m currently elbow deep in reading my Seals manuscript for the thirty-seventh time, but this time it is to go over the typeset proofs, check for any last typos, and put together an index, which will probably mean reading the book over for a thirty-eighth time.  Then it will be out of my hands, and up to everyone else to do their part and read it (hopefully).  That being said, you can head on over to Amazon right now, if you want to pre-order it before the November 1 release date.

Don’t forget to vote for the player you feel should be inducted into the Seals Hall of Fame.  The voting will close July 14, and the inductees will be announced shortly afterwards.

Until next time, stay gold!

Happy 50th Anniversary to Expansion and the NHL Seals!

Hi everyone!  June 6, marks the 50th anniversary of the first modern-day NHL expansion draft, hence, the day the major-league California Seals were born.  On that day, the Seals drafted what many experts believed was the best of the six new NHL franchises, and, at the time, it would be difficult to argue with that opinion.  After all, the Seals began the draft by selecting former two-time Vezina Trophy winner Charlie Hodge to tend goal.  The Seals concentrated on defense during the first few rounds of the draft, picking up solid veterans Bobby Baun, Larry Cahan, and Kent Douglas.  That was a pretty good top three.  On offense, choices were more limited, but with Billy Harris and Bill Hicke leading the way, there was potential for a couple of twenty-goal seasons.  Other than that, big names were few and far between among California’s draft choices, but Wally Boyer ended up scoring 13 goals and 33 points, Tracy Pratt would enjoy a 580-game NHL career, Mike Laughton would score 20 goals as a rookie the following year, and Bryan Hextall would finish his career with 549 games under his belt, so give Bert Olmstead, Bob Wilson, and Rudy Pilous credit for identifying players who would at least remain in the big leagues long after expansion.  J.P. Parise proved to be the best of the little-known players drafted.  He would end up with 594 in a successful 894-game career that included two all-star games and an appearance in the 1972 Summit Series.  Unfortunately, Bert Olmstead insulted his French-Canadian heritage during one pre-season game, and Parise told him off.  It was the Seals’ loss, but eventually (after a short detour in Toronto) Minnesota’s gain  Whatever the reason, the Seals never quite gelled that first year, and by season two, only a handful of players from the expansion draft remained.

Today, we celebrate one of the most significant moments in NHL history by featuring not one, not two, but three new additions to the Overexposed wing of the Hockey Hall of Shame.  All cards this week come from the 1968-69 O-Pee-Chee set, featuring players who played on the West Division’s brand new clubs.  The first card features the Seals’ Bill Hicke.  The second card is of Hall-of-Famer Allan Stanley as a member of the Philadelphia Flyers.  The final induction this week is of the St. Louis Blues’ Ab McDonald in one of the stupidest excuses for a hockey card.

Also be sure to check out a few new articles from the Seals’ inaugural NHL season.  These articles are about the Seals’ little-known Helmet Line, which consisted of Charlie Burns, and rookies George Swarbrick and Mike Laughton.  On the night of November 7, 1967, Laughton scored his first NHL goal, and Swarbrick was in the midst of a mini hot streak.  You’ll also find out what the term “El Foldo” apparently means.  Care to take a guess?  Head on over to the Articles section to read these rare gems!

There’s only one month left until the 2017 Seals Hall-of-Fame survey ends, so cast your vote before it’s too late!  The survey can be found on the right-hand side of the page.  The new inductees will be announced at the time of Golden Seals Hockey’s one-year anniversary.

Until next time, stay gold!