Hi everyone! So… small problem with the Seals Hall of Fame voting. You may have noticed that for the last few days, no one has been able to cast their votes. For some reason, my free Opinion Stage account has put a limit on how many votes can be cast per month, so I have to shut the voting down until March 1. But rest assured, the votes that have already been cast still count. It’s just that no else can vote for two more weeks or so. I could spend $29 a month to have the poll open for another four or five months, but I’m way too cheap for that. So here we are!
Anyway, now that we’re past that embarrassment, on to the new stuff. First, there is a new article and a related photos from the Seals’ September 19, 1972 pre-season game vs. Pittsburgh. Thanks to Larry Paquette of the Original Hockey Hall of Fame for sending me the photo my way!
I also stumbled upon an interesting website called NHLBackups.com where you can find out about NHL goaltenders who dressed for teams you never thought had signed them in the first place. Here is a link to Ray Martynuik’s bio and a brief story of how he almost became the Seals’ opening-day starter in October 1971. As you may know, Martynuik was a highly-touted junior prospect, drafted in the first round by the Montreal Canadiens, but traded to California for Seals first-rounder Tony Featherstone. When Gerry Desjardins showed up to training camp with a broken arm, it left the Seals with nothing but rookies to play goal, and it was a toss-up between Martynuik and Gary Kurt who would play vs. Los Angeles October 8, 1971. Lyle Carter had not yet arrived to take up one of the Seals’ goaltending spots, so it was up to Kurt and Martynuik to duke it out. It makes one wonder if Martynuik had actually played that night, perhaps he would have won, and would have remained with the Seals. Unfortunately, he never played that night, Carter arrived in time to back-up Kurt the following game, and Martynuik was sent back down never to return. You can read all about Martynuik’s brief NHL stay here.
Thanks for visiting, folks! Hope to see you back again next week. Until next time, stay gold!
Why do you think Gerry Desjardins was ever a Seal?? Pls provide documentation. I find none for this belief.
Hi Frank,
Gerry Desjardins was originally acquired from Chicago (with Gerry Pinder) in a trade for Gary Smith, but when Desjardins showed up to training camp with a broken arm suffered the previous year, the Hawks were forced to take him back. Instead, they send the Seals Gilles Meloche and Paul Shmyr. You can find a mention of this “take back” trade in the Feb. 8, 1974 article (on the site right now) called “Meloche Became Goaltender by Volunteering”. Also, it is in Brad Kurtzberg’s book, p. 221-2. Steve
There are pictures of Desjardins wearing a Seals jersey. One of them was used for his 1972-73 Topps card. While he never played in a regular season game, he was once considered a part of the Seals roster.