Welcome back to Golden Seals Hockey, the only place on the World Wide Web where you can celebrate the complete history of the California Seals and Cleveland Barons!

We have some great new additions for you this week.  The first is a brand new section where I invite you to give your opinion on all matters concerning the Seals and Barons.  In this week’s survey, I am posting the first two brackets of our new Seals/Barons Uniform Playoff, where I intend to find out which of the franchise’s uniforms was the best.  Even though the team only existed for seventeen years, there were a TON of different uniforms designed over that span, some of which were fantastic, while others were… well, let’s just say we probably won’t be seeing them at any heritage nights in the near future due to the fact using certain bright colours nowadays is probably considered some sort of pollution that even Donald Trump would be willing to spend money eradicating.

The other new addition is a wonderfully stupid card from the 1990-91 Score set, featuring the 1990 Memorial Cup Champion Oshawa Generals and their very special, usually-unseen, uh… teammate? Road-trip distraction? Paper weight? I think you’ll have to check out the silliness for yourself to figure it out.

Until next time, stay gold!

Welcome back everyone!  These posts are really starting to get difficult to write.  Man, is summer ever boring if you’re a hockey fan.  Hell, if you’re a SPORTS fan, it’s pretty damn boring.  Even if you like baseball, chances are your team is already out of the running for a playoff spot already.  If you’re a Blue Jays fan like me, that means you’ve been on neutral since about April.  There’s just nothing to talk about during the summer.  All they talk about on sports radio is tennis and golf, and I really couldn’t care less about either.  The UFC has gone down the toilet since GSP retired and Anderson Silva’s leg turned to Jell-O (if you saw “that” fight, you know what I mean).  Belts change hands every two weeks now, but just a few years ago, those things were practically welded to the waists of guys like them.  At least Jon Jones is back to bring back some form of legitimacy to the titles, and Cris Cyborg looks dominant too.  Anyway, I digress… Once NHL free agency season passes by, and the entry draft is nothing but a memory, the summer just drags on until about mid-September when we start hearing about training camps again.  And then October hits and we get the World Series, a new NBA season, and a new hockey season, and Sportscentre becomes must-see TV again.

Hey, how about that, I actually wrote a whole eight lines about how I had nothing to talk about.  Stay tuned for the exciting sequel to my lament next week!

This week, however, we present to you an interesting piece from February 1975, where Seals fans expressed their opinions on everything from what the Seals meant to them, how they felt about Marshall Johnston’s dismissal, how much Clarence Campbell didn’t give a damn about the Bay Area, and how bright the future seemed in Oakland. This week’s article is really an editorial from the Hayward Daily Review, and it will give you the opportunity to see the full scale of emotions that permeated among Seals fans during their “orphan” season when the NHL had possession of the team, and had really no idea what to do with it except wish for it to die.  Luckily, along came Mel Swig, and all was well, at least for another year or so.

The other new addition this week is a bizarre hockey card featuring Hall-of-Famer Denis Savard, during his not-so-memorable tenure with the Montreal Canadiens.  Luckily, Denis had his horses to pick him up when he was feeling down.

Until next time, stay gold!

Hi everyone!  It’s now been one year since Golden Seals Hockey was launched, and to celebrate this momentous event, we have added many new goodies, the most important of which is the official induction of Gary Smith, Reggie Leach, and Bob Stewart to the franchise’s Hall of Fame.  Head on over to the Hall of Fame section to read up on the three newest inductees.

Another fun new addition is the Ultimate Seals Quiz, which is sure to challenge even the team’s most devout fans: 25 questions that cover the franchise’s entire history, from its very first years in San Francisco, to the Charlie Finley era, all the way to the Cleveland Barons years.  Find out if you are a quiz all-star or a quiz chump by clicking the link here.

Finally, a new card has also been added to the Overexposed wing of the Hockey Hall of Shame, and it is a fitting one because it is of the Seals’ all-time greatest player, Gilles Meloche.

Now that my book, and its index are finally, FINALLY and officially finished and submitted for printing, I will have more time to dedicate to this site, and there are a couple of really cool things that will be added in the next few weeks: new photos, personal correspondences with former players, new inductions to the Hockey Hall of Shame, as well as the usual articles and hockey card tragedies you’ve all become accustomed to seeing here, so I don’t need to tell you that you need to come back again!

Until next time, stay gold!

 

Hi everyone!  After a one-week hiatus, we’re back!  I’ve finally had the chance to finish the final edit and index for my upcoming book, and while it feels like another chapter of my life has just ended, I’m also glad it’s over.  Creating an index has to be the worst part of writing a book, and it’s the very last thing you will remember adding to your project, which makes it even worse, because indexing is mind-numbing, and creating a book should be fun and interesting.  Creating an index is tedious, meticulous, soul-crushing paperwork.  Writing down the name of every single person who appears in the book, and writing down every single page something interesting is mentioned about that person is God-awfully boring, and every time you think to yourself, “Oh, I think I can get through this many pages today”, you always end up doing far less, and it gets depressing and stressful.  Thank God it’s all over and done with, aside from the inevitable last review which I’ll probably end up doing in a few weeks.  Tonight, I can take a night off and watch some Mystery Science Theater 3000, have a beer, and eat some nachos.  But before I do that, there’s important business to take care of… the Seals Hall of Fame inductions!

Without further ado, the three newest members of the Seals Hall of Fame, as voted by you, are Gary Smith, Reggie Leach, and Bob Stewart!  Thanks to everyone who voted.  In the coming months, there will be a new survey to choose the inductees for 2018.  Next week will be the one-year anniversary of the site so there will be a few fun new additions to the site, as well as the usual additions you’ve become accustomed to seeing around here.

New this week, I present you an article from February 1973 describing what must have been a very typical post-game situation for Fred Glover: considering whether or not he would off himself or simply medicate himself to the point where he wouldn’t feel anymore pain.  I’m serious.  Take a look over in the articles section to find out for yourself.

This week’s other new addition is a Brad Park card from the legendary 1971-72 O-Pee-Chee set, where he attempts to take the worst slap shot in visually-recorded memory,  Or maybe he’s practicing his putts.  Whatever he’s doing, it’s weird.

Until next time, stay gold!

Hi everyone! Welcome back once again for another installment of hockey insanity courtesy of Golden Seals Hockey.

In the articles section this week, a brand new piece about the Seals’ last NHL game in which hotshot rookie Dennis Maruk scored two goals to dust off the L.A. Kings.  Speaking of Dennis Maruk, he has written a new book about his life with the help of Rogers Sportsnet’s Ken Reid.  You can check out some of the details over at Amazon.  Ken wrote one of the blurbs for my own book (also available on Amazon, by the way), and he was nice enough to write two of them, so I could choose which one I liked best.  His first book, Hockey Card Stories is a must-read for anyone who not only enjoys Overexposed, but who also likes actual research to go along with the card analysis.  As I’m writing this I’m about half-way through Ken’s latest book, One Night Only, which is about some of the players who only got to play in one career NHL game.  It’s a very interesting read full of stories and anecdotes you have never heard of from little-known players who have led truly fascinating lives and rubbed elbows with hockey’s elite.  As for Dennis Maruk, I have a personal connection with him as well.  He was one of the first players to agree to be interviewed for my book, way back in 2009 (yeah, it took me that long to finish this thing) and he was by far the biggest star player I got to speak to, so that was a big boost to my confidence as a first-time writer when he took the time to write me back.

Also new this week, the Overexposed wing of the Hockey Hall of Shame features a bizarre entry from the wonderfully weird 1991-92 Ultimate Draft set.  Minor-league tough guy Kerry Toporowski gets the treatment this week, not that this card is at all his fault, as is usually the case when it comes to these cardboard crap-a-thons.

Until next time, stay gold!

 

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!

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!

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!

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!

 

 

Hi everyone!  Well, it’s that time of year again where once again we Canadians have no representatives in the Stanley Cup Finals, but at least our Ottawa Senators made a valiant effort to break that unfortunate routine, losing an excruciatingly close series to last year’s Cup champs from Pittsburgh.  Had the Sens pulled it out in game seven, it would have made for an interesting Cinderella vs. Cinderella final series, but alas, it was not meant to be.  There’s always next year, I guess.  And there’s always the upcoming expansion draft to look forward too, which, coincidentally enough, is taking place in this, the 50th anniversary of the NHL’s first expansion endeavor, the one that gave birth (sort of) to the California Seals.  June 6, 2017, will represent, to the day, the 50th anniversary of modern-day NHL expansion, so we’ll be paying extra attention to that here at Golden Seals Hockey.

As for this week, we’ve added a brand new induction to the Hockey Hall of Fame: the sad story of Colin Chaulk’s jersey retirement, which took place just a few months ago.  For the most part, HHOS inductions are things that happened a while back, and have gained some notoriety of the years, but this week’s induction was so bad, I had to induct it right away.

As usual, there is also a brand new addition to the Overexposed wing of the HHOS.  This time, our cardboard crap fest features Don Luce in what appears to be some sort of Toronto Maple Leafs uniform, but I honestly cannot confirm this.  Since Hockey-reference.com claims he played about a half-season with the Leafs, I figure this must be true, but check out the card for yourself, and you’ll see why I have serious doubts.

Anyway, good luck to Pittsburgh and Nashville in the Stanley Cup Finals.  I’m sure they are going to put on a great show, as both have already done thus far in these playoffs.  We’ll have some special Stanley Cup-themed additions to the site very soon, so come on back and check them out.  Until next time, stay gold!