Hi everyone! I hope you’ve all enjoyed a wonderful week, and had yourselves a great Labour Day weekend. And if you have kids under the age of 18, congratulations on shipping them off to school once again. Ah, time to get back to normal! Hockey season is just around the corner, folks. Even started seeing a pre-season schedule on TSN.ca a few days ago, so yes, normalcy is in the cards, so who couldn’t be happy about that.

This week I’m delving a little into what I consider to be one of the Seals’ biggest love-hate relationships. It was no secret that the Boston Bruins often ran roughshod over the Seals, especially in the years when Bobby Orr and Phil Esposito ran the power play. Boston regularly put up 50 or 60 shots on goal in those days, and they often took games by wide margins, which surely angered or frustrated more than a few people associated with the Seals. At the same time, however, Seals management must have loved it when the Bruins were planning a visit to Oakland, because it meant a huge increase in ticket sales. For instance, in 1970-71, the Bruins drew two sell-out crowds and a third crowd of over 10,000, something I can’t recall ever hearing about with any other team, including Montreal and Philadelphia. The Bruins definitely had a large following in the Bay Area. The Bruins were also the victims in some of the Seals’ greatest victories, such as Gilles Meloche’s famous 2-0 debut, and the 6-2 pummelling they suffered two years later which ended goaltender Ross Brooks’s record 14-game winning streak. You never really knew what was going to happen when the Seals and Bruins tangled.

This week’s article from the Oakland Tribune‘s John Porter is a lead-in to the Seals’ second sell-out of 1970-71. Unfortunately, like most other games against Boston that year, this one also did not go well, and the Bruins grabbed an easy two points. The article does feature many quotes from Charlie Finley, in his first year with the club, so it is a great read.

Enjoy the rest of the weekend, and take advantage of those last few days of fun and sun. Until next time, stay gold!