Hi everyone! This week is the 42nd anniversary of the Seals’ official announcement that they would be moving to Cleveland for the 1976-77 season. To commemorate this moment every year, we always do a little something extra here on the site, and we also induct new members to Seals Hall of Fame. Thanks to everyone who voted over the last few months, and also to those who voted a second time to help break the four-way tie for the final spot in this year’s group of inductees. As you may remember from last week, Bert Marshall and Rick Hampton were both inducted on the first ballot, and I’m happy to announce that Walt McKechnie will be joining the two defensemen in the Hall. You can read all about their careers with the Seals and Barons right here.
New to the site this week, we have a new article from the Oakland Tribune about the Seals’ one-season wonder Dennis Hextall. He really came into his own in 1970-71, scoring a team-leading 52 points, but that would be small potatoes compared to the numbers he would put up in Minnesota after the Seals traded him there for Joey Johnston and Walt McKechnie. All in all, that wasn’t a bad trade for either team. Hextall was definitely no choir boy, as you probably know, and in his one-season with California, he was a one-man wrecking crew taking on all comers.
There is also a new induction to the Hockey Hall of Shame’s Overexposed wing. This time, it is an absorbing, sensitive, black-and-white exposé of… ah, who are we kidding here; it’s just a really goofy, unnecessary photo of Glen Murray that never should have seen the light of day, and you can find it right here.
To complete the trifecta of new material, I’m also including a link to a brand new article about the history of the Cleveland Barons’ draft picks. Actually a pretty short history, because, as you may or may not know, the Barons only participated in one amateur draft, that being the 1977 edition. The year prior, the team was still known as the Golden Seals, and the year after, the Barons merged with the Minnesota North Stars. Check out Nathaniel Oliver’s article at the Hockey Writers web site: https://thehockeywriters.com/cleveland-barons-nhl-draft-history/.
Until next time, stay gold!