Hi everyone! As I was looking around for a new Seals article to post, it dawned on me that one thing we don’t often read about is the relationships between players on opposing teams. Actually, we do read about that sometimes these days in the Hockey News, but not so much back in the day. I think coaches and general managers still didn’t like the idea of their players fraternizing with anyone wearing a different uniform. Nowadays, players intermingle all the time on world championship teams and all-star teams, not to mention various NHLPA meetings. Players have come together three times in the last thirty years to vote in favour of not playing at all. But back in the 1970s it didn’t happen too often that we would learn a lot about friendships between players on different teams. So this week we’re going back to January 6, 1972. The Seals have just beaten their state rivals from Los Angeles, and Carol Vadnais has had the game of his life scoring two goals and two assists against his good friend Rogie Vachon. This has come one night after Vachon put the Seals on ice in a 4-1 Kings victory. Vadnais and Vachon had been friends for years going back to their time with the Montreal Canadiens, and you can see in this article from the Oakland Tribune‘s John Porter that Vachon and Vadnais liked needling each other after a Kings-Seals battle. You can read all about the V-Men’s (patent pending!) playful rivalry, and the Seals’ big win right here.

Have a great Labour Day weekend! Enjoy whatever nice weather you can get wherever you are. Until next time, stay gold!