Hi everyone! Lots of new stuff on the site this week to help you get over the Canadian Olympic hockey teams’ disastrous tournaments. First, I’ve added a link to a new interview I did with Tony Basilio. In his Book Corner segment, which you can access here.

I’ve also added a new review of Tim Ryan’s autobiography, On Someone’s Else’s Nickel: a Life in Television, Sports, and Travel. As some of you may know, Ryan was the public relations director for the Seals during their first NHL campaign, and he also called several Seals games over the radio. Like many other Seals employees, he went on to bigger and better things, and you can read all about his interesting life in his new book.

Finally, a brand new induction to the Hockey Hall of Shame. This week, we delve into one of the greatest Hockeywood Disasterpieces of all-time, the absolutely putrid   Slap Shot 3: The Junior League! Don’t say I didn’t warn you…

Don’t forget to vote for your candidates for the Seals Hall of Fame. You can cast your vote on the right-hand side of the screen, and you can vote for up to three people.

If you like the stuff posted this week, keep coming back for more surprises, articles, and goodies related to your favourite defunct franchise and hockey’s past. Until next time, stay gold!

Hi everyone! This week, I’m launching the final round of the Seals/Barons Uniform Playoff. The five bracket winners, which were selected by you guys, are…

1966-67 California Seals away

1969-70 Oakland Seals away

1971-74 California Golden Seals home

1974-76 California Golden Seals away

1976-77 Cleveland Barons home

You can vote for the uniform you like best by clicking on the Surveys tab at the top of the page.  The winning uniform will be announced in a few weeks.

In the Overexposed wing of the Hockey Hall of Shame, we present the 1975-76 WHA Goaltender Extravaganza, featuring four of the weirdest goaltender cards from the rebel league.

That’s it for this week. Come back again soon for more Seals articles, photos, and other goodies. In the meantime, enjoy Olympic hockey and cross your fingers your country wins the gold. Until next time, stay, well… you know… gold. Hmm, that’s actually quite a fitting closing this week.

 

Hi everyone! This week, I’ve added a classic Hockey News article about the big trade that sent Carol Vadnais to Boston for Reggie Leach, Bobby Stewart, and Rick Smith. General manager Garry Young had many reasons to feel optimistic as this trade turned out to be a very good one for the Seals. Leach, Stewart, and Smith all had long NHL careers, and Leach was an ultra-talented goal-scorer destined for greatness. Unfortunately, before the start of the next season, most of the Seals’ nucleus had bolted for the new World Hockey Association, and despite some strong play from the Seals’ new trio, the team had become a shell, and that optimism quickly disappeared. You can read the article here.

Many years later, the New York Rangers had themselves a trio of young players destined they expected to lead them back to glory. Doug Weight, Tony Amonte, and Steven Rice were highly-touted prospects, and two of them had excellent careers, but they wouldn’t be around to see the Rangers complete their turnaround and capture the 1994 Stanley Cup. That being said, 1991-92 was a wild time for these three young bucks, as you will see in this week’s cardboard atrocity. I must warn you, however, if you have a weak stomach that tends to react at the sight of goofy boy bands, you may want to stay away.

As always, I want to remind all of you, if you haven’t done so already, to vote for your picks for the 2018 Seals Hall of Fame. You can find the candidates on the right-hand side of the screen, and you can vote up to three times! The top three vote-getters

Also, if you’ve had the chance to finish my book, The California Golden Seals: a Tale of White Skates, Red Ink, and One of the NHL’s Most Outlandish Teams, and if you haven’t had the chance yet, please share your feedback with the many visitors of the Interweb. Honest feedback is always appreciated. You’ve got lots of options to do so as well. You can visit Amazon.com or Amazon.ca, or you can head on over to Goodreads.com.

Until next time, stay gold!

Hi everyone! As you know, I finally bought myself a new printer/scanner recently, so I’ve been scanning a lot of my personal collection of Seals autographs and Seals-related Hockey News articles, and I’ll be adding those to the site in the coming weeks and months. This week, I’ve added a few of the autographed cards I’ve accumulated over the years, as well as a personal note from 1968-69 Sporting News West Division Rookie of the Year, Norm Ferguson, and you check them all out in the photos section.

In addition to all of the new photos, I’ve also added a new card to the Overexposed wing of the Hockey Hall of Shame, our second entry from the 1997-98 Upper Deck Collector’s Choice “National Heroes” series, this time featuring long-time NHLer Dan Cleary. This is one is almost too bizarre to believe so go check it out here.

As usual, I’d like to remind everyone to vote for the new inductees to the Seals Hall of Fame, which will add three new members this coming July at the time of this site’s second anniversary.

There is also a new conversation from the “Downtown with Rich Kimball” show where he and Bruce Pratt talk about the history of the Seals, not to mention a couple of quick blurbs about my book, so check it out here. It’s less than 11 minutes long, so you can easily take a listen during your morning coffee break.

Finally, some sad news to report… Just a few days ago, the Seals Booster Club informed me that former Seal Bob Girard, who played with the team from 1975 to 1977 passed away November 5, 2017 at the age of 68. In a little over two seasons with the Seals and Barons he scored 27 goals and 40 assists in 173 games before being traded to Washington on December 9, 1977.

Until next time, stay gold!