Congratulations also to the 2019 Stanley Cup champions, the St. Louis Blues! Definitely didn’t see that one coming. With the Blues’ huge game seven win, it means that every team from the 1967 expansion, with the exception of the California Seals, has won the NHL’s championship.

Congratulations as well to the Toronto Raptors for their impressive regular season, stunning playoff and well-earned championship. Who would have thought that the 2019 NBA Finals would have a connection to the Seals? With the Toronto Raptors huge win in Game Six, an era came to end. The Golden State Warriors played their very last game at Oracle Arena, which you Seals fans probably know better as the Oakland-Alameda County Coliseum, which for a decade was the home of the California Seals/Oakland Seals/California Golden Seals. In the articles section, I have posted a piece on the very first game played at the arena, a 6-5 Seals win over the San Diego Gulls on November 9, 1966.

Finally, you should head over to the Overexposed wing of the Hockey Hall of Shame for a bizarre card from a series of cards commemorating Team Canada’s legendary victory in the eight-game 1972 Summit Series. There has been a lot of talk about how wild the Toronto Raptors fans were throughout these playoffs, and while that may be true, in my opinion they got nuthin’ on the fans of Team U.S.S.R. What, you don’t believe me? Well, you have plenty of reasons to be skeptical, my friend. After all, this was the Soviet Union, but really, isn’t there a part of you that just wants to believe there’s a picture somewhere of a bunch of wild and crazy Russians from the Cold War era just whooping it up. Maybe you can find it just by clicking on the link below? Well… sorry, you ain’t gonna find that here, you’re right, but head on over to this week’s Overexposed section anyway to view a truly bizarre piece of cardboard.

Until next time, folks, stay gold!

Hi everyone! Lots to cover this week, so let’s get to it, folks!

The Society for International Hockey Research is reporting that “SIHR member Eric Weltner is pleased to announce that “International Incidents”, his documentary film, is slated to premiere in the autumn of 2019. The film chronicles Columbus’ three original professional hockey teams that called the city home between 1966 and 1977. The Checkers, Golden Seals and Owls of the International Hockey League blazed the trail for professional hockey in Columbus and deserve to have their history preserved.” You can check out the trailer here. I’m so looking forward to this documentary! As you may know, Columbus was home to the Seals’ farm team from 1971 to 1973. Unfortunately, the Seals’ cupboard was pretty bare since all of its best talent, including young draft picks, were up in the NHL for various reasons (to find out said reasons, which are too complicated to explain in a paragraph, I suggest picking up my book; you can click a link on the right to read a preview of it), leaving the IHL Seals pretty barren. In those two years, the IHL Seals went 25-117-4, if you can believe it.

Seals fan Pete Manzolillo e-mailed me this week and sent me a scan of a great article from the November 25, 1980 Cleveland Press. It’s all about the Cleveland Barons Booster Club, and as you read it, you may find many similarities to the legendary Seals Booster Club. You can find the piece over in the articles section.

You can also head on over to the Overexposed wing of the Hockey Hall of Shame to read all about the potential movie career a young Edmonton Oiler named Dennis Bonvie once dreamed about. Sadly, he was beaten out by a fourth-rate comedian, and as they say, the rest is history.

Finally, a quick reminder that time is running out to vote for your picks for the 2019 Seals Hall of Fame induction. Voting will close July 5, so get crackin’ if you haven’t done so already!

Until next time, stay gold!

Hi everyone! What a crazy week this has been. My wife and I took our son to tour his new school (after hours), and he had a great time playing with all sorts of toys he had never seen before. I think he thinks the class room is going to be all his and not shared with 25 other kids. He might be in for a rude awakening come September. Work was also crazy busy this week after about a month of relative quiet. On another note, I had a great interview with Denis Herron, former goaltender for the Kansas City Scouts. As you may know, I’m writing a new book on the first few years of the Scouts and Washington Capitals, and I’m now in the process of scoring a few interviews with players. I’m looking forward to hearing some great stories and unearthing some real gems for the book. I also connected with John Robertson, the author of Too Many Men on the Ice, a book that details the 1978-79 Boston Bruins. I’ve only read about 30 pages or so, but it’s a great read so far. John’s in the middle of writing a new book on the 1969-70 season and is going to include a section on the Seals, so be sure to check that one out when it gets published (likely in 2020).

Now that the news is out of the way, be sure to check out the newest addition to the Overexposed wing of the Hockey Hall of Shame. Since the Boston Bruins are currently in the Stanley Cup Final, I thought it was fitting to feature a card of one of Boston’s sadly mostly forgotten goaltenders, “Dandy” Doug Keans. OK, that wasn’t really his nickname, but it could have been, as you’ll see.

And if you like the rough stuff, there is a great new article from December 28, 1964 that describes the wild brawl that took place between the Seals and L.A. Blades. All sorts of records were set, skate blades went flying and feelings were hurt. You can read all about the game in the articles section.

Until next time, stay gold!

Hi everyone! Well, we’re finally here… the Stanley Cup Final, and I think it’s safe to say that in January no one would have expected a rematch of the 1970 championship series between St. Louis and Boston. Boston isn’t much of a surprise, but St. Louis? Never expected that, especially considering they were dead last in the league around the mid-way point of the season. I’m glad to see the Blues overcame the awful refereeing they had to endure in their semi-final series against San Jose. It’s almost as though they got so peeved by that hand pass that they told themselves they weren’t going to let their season end because of it.

In doing some quick research hoping to find the attendance figures for the Seals’ WHL years, I came across an interesting article that details the Seals’ ownership history from their founding in 1961 all the way to the franchise being sold to Barry van Gerbig. I wish I had found this article before I finished writing my book because it would have made researching those early years so much easier. You can check it out in the articles section

You also have to check out the latest addition to the Overexposed wing of the Hockey Hall of Shame. This week, we’re featuring a classic card from the 1998-99 Upper Deck Choice set. Hall-of-Famer Dino Ciccarelli is the man of the hour, but he isn’t one to hog the spotlight, however, as you will see. You can check out his contribution to our hallowed Hall right here.

Just to finish up this week, our weekly reminder to go and vote for your pick for the 2019 Seals Hall of Fame. Voting will be closed in early July as we get ready to announce the inductions at the site’s anniversary in mid-July.

Also, if you haven’t done so already, please spread the word about my book, The California Golden Seals: a Tale of Whites Skates, Red Ink, and One of the NHL’s Most Outlandish Teams either by leaving some feedback on Amazon.ca or Amazon.com or on some other site where hockey fans are found. Heck, even YouTube is a great place to place some comments, if you have an account there.

Until next time, stay gold!

Hi everyone! Hope you are all enjoying these playoffs. If you are, you’re likely blind and deaf because you obviously were not aware that the refereeing this year has been beyond atrocious. All I can say is WOW! I mean… WOW! You would think that with double the number of referees from back in the Seals’ day at least one of them would be able to detect a hand passe, cheap shot or blatant foul, but nope. To say the least, the referees have been shoddy and sleepy out there. Reminds me of a game the Seals once played…

This week, we’ve added a brand new article from late in the 1975-76 season. It is a classic John Porter article about the Seals’ March 7 game versus St. Louis in which the teams ended up in a 7-7 draw, which prompted almost everyone in attendance to proclaim it as one of the sloppiest games ever played. While that may not be quite true, it was definitely one of the more interesting games the Seals played that season because of the fact there were fourteen goals scored yet no one actually won. You can check it out over in the articles section.

Over in the Overexposed wing of the Hockey Hall of Shame, a truly shameful piece of glossy cardboard from the 1992-93 Topps Stadium Club and featuring Mike Ricci of the Philadelphia Flyers. If you have any interest in golf, boy are you gonna love this hockey/golf crossover!

Thanks to everyone who has cast a vote for the 2019 Seals Hall of Fame. We’ve already surpassed last year’s vote total and there are still two more months to go before the induction is made official.

Until next time, stay gold!

Hi everyone! This week, in honour of the craziness that is this year’s playoffs, what with all the suspensions and idiotic over-the-top physical play, we present you with an article about the Seals’ exhibition game versus Buffalo on October 5, 1969. I know, I know, you’re probably thinking, “Hey Steve, you screwed up big this time; Buffalo didn’t even have a NHL team in 1969!”, and to that I say, “You are absolutely right… but the AHL did“, and that is the team the Seals took on that night. This game, while only a pre-season contest, was special because it featured a huge brawl that involved some 200 people, stitches, and lots of bad blood. On a interesting note, one of the Seals’ goalies that night was one Marcel Paille, who never actually played a regular-season game with Oakland or California. This was also the Seals’ second loss to a minor-league team that pre-season, foreshadowing the difficult 1969-70 season the Seals were about to endure after their successful second-place finish the previous year. You can check out the article over here.

In keeping with the combative spirit of this week’s post, you’re going to love the card posted in the Overexposed wing of the Hockey Hall of Shame. It features none other than the nephew of former Seal Dennis Hextall: the great Ron Hextall! And he looks pissed… at one of his own teammates. Is he going to snap? Is he going to skate away? You’ll have to check out this card and find out for yourself.

And that’s about it for this week. Don’t forget to cast your votes for who you believe should be inducted into the 2019 Seals Hall of Fame, which you can do by clicking on the name of the person you like over there on the right-hand side of the page. Keep those e-mails coming as well. Always great to hear from fans of the Seals and hockey history. Until next time, stay gold!

Hi everyone! In keeping with the playoff theme we’ve had the last few weeks, there is a new article about Game Two of the 1969 all-California West Division semi-final series between Oakland and Los Angeles. You can read about this pivotal game here in the articles section.

And for all you Westworld fans out there, do we have a treat for you! It seems as though a former NHL superstar has some acting aspirations, and in my humble opinion, he would be perfect in the HBO hit series. Of course, I’m sure he’d happy to start out as an extra, but I think you’ll agree that this guy has leading man potential. It even says so on his 1992-93 Pinnacle card, and who understands Hollywood better than a second-rate card company? Who is this week’s mystery induction, you’ll have to head on over to the Overexposed wing of the Hockey Hall of Shame to find out.

Thanks again to everyone who has cast their votes for the 2019 Seals Hall of Fame. A couple of front-runners are emerging and leaving the rest of the pack behind, but there is still lots of time. The new inductees will be announced in July on the site’s anniversary. And thanks also to anyone who has just discovered the site and has picked up my book. Keep spreading the word, folks! Until next time, stay gold!

Hi everyone! Well, what a first playoff round that was! I’ve never seen so many surprises and upsets in the span of a week. I still can’t believe Tampa, Washington, Pittsburgh and Winnipeg all fell like dominos. Up was down, left was right, black was white, and the Leafs lost again… to Boston… in Game 7… in an embarrassing fashion… Hmm, I guess things weren’t as upside down and topsy-turvy as I thought.

I was doing a little research in some old Bay Area newspapers when I stumbled across a great article about Game 7 of the 1966 semi-final series between the San Francisco Seals and Victoria Maple Leafs. And since the game took place 53 years ago tomorrow, what better time than now to present you with this great new article. You may remember the article I wrote a while back on the bizarre circumstances that took place throughout the series. The Seals went through a virtual goaltender carousel during those seven games, and the Leafs outshot the Seals by a wide margin night after night. It was a miracle the series was as close as it was. If you’ve got the time, head on over to the articles section to read about the series’ concluding contest.

Thanks to the Easter long weekend, I’ve had a chance to catch up a little bit and write some new material for the site including some new Overexposed entries. I found one hell of a great-looking disaster of a card that I just had to post. This one is almost inexplicable, so you’ll have to check it out for yourself right here. If you’re a Jeremy Roenick fan, or have been to Sunnyvale Trailer Park in Nova Scotia, you’re gonna love it.

Have a great weekend, and enjoy what hopefully is a couple of days of nice, warm spring weather! Until next time, stay gold!

I have just found out through the Society for International Hockey Research’s quarterly newsletter that Dr. Eugene Willis passed away at the end of January. I wanted to mention this to everyone because Gene was a long-time Seals fan who played a large role in getting my book off the ground.

Gene was a big Seals fan, and he wanted to do something to commemorate the team’s 50th anniversary, so around April or May 2017, Gene contacted me and asked if I wanted to participate in a Seals 50th Anniversary Night in Toronto that would be held in October, about two weeks before my book’s release. I was a little hesitant at first since I had never been to Toronto on my own, and I definitely was not going to drive out there since I was not at all familiar with the city. So it was up to me to get a hotel room, and a train ticket, and try to figure out how to get from point A to point B without screwing anything up. I’m not a terribly organized person, so all of this was hinging on me not doing anything Steve-like. What can I say, he was very convincing, and the idea of meeting several former players and getting some autographs, not to mention selling a bunch of books started sounding like good ideas. We spoke over the phone and communicated by e-mail for several weeks, often expressing concern about players who said they would come to the event but changed their minds at the last minute, not to mention waiting for my publisher to send advanced copies to Gene in Toronto. Gene also took it upon himself to not only accept delivery of the 25 books I had sent over from the University of Nebraska Press, but he carted them over to the event as well, which saved me a lot of trouble and effort.

In the end, everything worked out perfectly. Gene took charge of organizing the whole event at St. Michael’s College, and he even ordered pizza for everyone who arrived early. He spoke to the crowd about the Seals’ history, and he brought out all of his old Seals and Barons jerseys, as well as his personal collection of hockey cards, memorabilia, and a few photo boards which he lovingly put together.

We had a big crowd, I sold lots of books, got some autographs, shook hands with four former NHL players, had my first-ever interview (with fellow writer Greg Oliver), and made some great personal connections with players and fans.

At the end of the event, Gene also gave all of the players, and myself, a binder of custom cards he had made of the entire 1967-68 team, which I still have on the bookshelf in my office. He also gave me a few extra cards featuring the players at the event so I could get a couple extra autographs. It was a wonderful evening which will probably never happen again due to logistics, but if it does happen again we’ll have a great template for how to do it.

R.I.P. Gene and thanks for your support.

All photos courtesy of Greg Oliver.

Hi everyone! I can’t believe this, but I have never posted an article on one of the most famous moments in Sealdom: the night the streaker skated on to the Coliseum ice and into hockey history. What an oversight! Usually, I’m much more alert than that, but hey we all make mistakes; that gets rectified today! The incident in question, which many of you have already read about, happened during the last game of the 1973-74 season, April 5 to be exact. You can read all about the streaker and find out her identity right here, or, if you haven’t done so already (You’ve got some nerve, mister!) you can go one better and pick up a copy of my book, which goes into great detail about the night in question.

In keeping with this week’s “blue” theme, might I interest you in this week’s Overexposed card. As you probably already know, the Washington Capitals are beginning the defense of their 2018 Stanley Cup championship this week, and to commemorate what is the hardest thing to accomplish in hockey – winning back-to-back titles – we go back in time to when the Capitals employed another goaltender, who is now toiling for the up-and-coming Colorado Avalanche. This week, we present an awesome error card featuring Semyon Varlamov, and before you ask, yes, that is how you spell his name. What, you don’t believe me? (Again… some nerve, mister!) Go check out his card for yourself.

That’s about it for this week. Come back soon for more hockey-related history and insanity, and don’t forget to check out some of the less-known corners of the site, including the Ultimate Seals Quiz, the Seals-related Book Reviews, and the Frequently Asked Questions. You can also vote for the person or people you feel should be inducted into the Seals Hall of Fame in 2019. You can vote up to three times per device, and the winners will be revealed in July when Golden Seals Hockey celebrates its fourth anniversary. Until next time, stay gold!