Hi everyone! I promised everyone 2017 was going to be a big year at Golden Seals Hockey, and I always keep my promises.  First, we had the release of Mark Greczmiel’s excellent documentary, The California Golden Seals Story, which can be purchased from iTunes. Now, the Seals are returning in paper form.  I’m very excited to announce the publication of my first book: The California Golden Seals: a Tale of White Skates and Red Ink, and One of the NHL’s Most Outlandish Teams.  The book, which will cover the franchise’s entire history, from its championship years in San Francisco, to its relocation across the Bay to Oakland, to its death in Cleveland, will be released this year by the University of Nebraska Press.  Be sure to check out the Steve’s New Seals Book! section of the site for more information about the book, as well as a chapter-by-chapter synopsis.

Not to toot my own horn or anything, but if you are a Seals fan, you will love this book more than (to paraphrase 50 Cent) a fat kid loves cake.  To say this book took a long time to see the light of day is an understatement equivalent to saying “Donald Trump sometimes takes criticism to heart.”  I’ve been working on this tome for literally twenty-five years, and most of the people I interviewed for it were probably wondering what the hell I’ve been doing in the meantime.  I started so long ago, Kim Kardashian was simply known as the spoiled offspring of the dude who once defended O.J. Simpson, and North West was better known as a wind direction.  So long ago, the Hartford Whalers and Quebec Nordiques were still around, the Atlanta Thrashers were not even a glint in Gary Bettman’s eye, and the Montreal Canadiens had just won Canada’s last Stanley Cup.  Yes, it took a long time, but what can you expect when you start doing research at twelve years old, and there was no such thing as the Internet, let alone Newspapers.com, but it was worth the wait, because the book is exactly the way I’ve always wanted it to be.

Several people associated with the Seals, including Lyle Carter, Ted Hampson, Joey Johnston, Marshall Johnston, Wayne King, Larry Lund, Dennis Maruk, Howie Menard, Morris Mott, Larry Patey, Tim Ryan, the late Frank Selke Jr., Len Shapiro, Gary Simmons, Joe Starkey, and Tom Thurlby, took the time out of their day to speak to me about their experiences.  Other NHL players of the era, notably Bryan Campbell, Ron Lalonde, and Jack Lynch also provided me with some great quotes, and several members of the Seals Booster Club, including John Bonasera, Greg Lamont, Larry Leal, Sandi and Dick Pantages, Scott Ruffell, Larry Schmidt, and Cathy White shared some great memories from a fan’s point of view.  With the help of hundreds of newspaper articles from the era, I was able to unearth some fantastic long-forgotten stories and quotes, and I was able to shed some light on several Seals tales that have been skewed over the years, including the identity of the famous 1974 streaker, and the person responsible for trading away the draft pick that would have brought Guy Lafleur to Oakland.

So that’s the big news this week.  I’ve also added an awesomely awful new card, featuring the surliest-looking hockey player since Tom Barrasso, to the Overexposed wing of the Hockey Hall of Shame.  Also, in (dis)honour of the 45th anniversary of the Seals’ infamous 1972 debacle against Boston, where the Bruins overcame a 6-1 deficit to win 8-6, I have added an article detailing every horrific moment of that evening to the Articles section of the site.

If you like what you see on the site, don’t forget to sign up for regular updates.  I swear I won’t inundate your inbox with photos of me enjoying baloney sandwiches and hot fudge sundaes, and there won’t be any annoying pics of my little boy playing in the snow, playing with Tupperware and chasing our cats around the house (although he really is just the most adorable and photogenic kid!).  And if you have any sort of passion for the Seals (which I believe you must if you’re reading this right now), you can cast your vote for the player you believe most deserves to be inducted in the Seals Hall of Fame.

If you haven’t fallen asleep from this very, very long entry, I wish you all a great weekend!  Stay gold!