Before you make the all-important decision of choosing which people should be inducted into the Seals Hall of Fame, I ask you to consider each profile carefully.  Really, it’s not that much work, since I’m the one who actually wrote everything out; all you gotta do is read a little bit, and then click on the link at the bottom of the page, which will take you to the Hall of Fame ballot. As usual, you can vote up to three times per device!  The three nominees with the most votes will be inducted into the Seals Hall of Fame in July 2022 when we celebrate the site’s six-year anniversary.

Here are your nominees, in no particular order…

Charlie Burns

WHL Seals career regular-season stats: 230 GP, 92 G, 145 A, 237 PTS, 101 PIM

WHL Seals career playoff stats: 24 GP, 2 G, 8 A, 10 PTS, 17 PIM

NHL Seals career stats: 73 GP, 9 G, 26 A, 35 PTS, 20 PIM

The helmeted Charlie Burns was a standout performer for the San Francisco Seals for four years, including the club’s 1963-64 championship season, and one more year with the Oakland Seals of the NHL. He had been an outstanding penalty-killer with Boston and Detroit before landing in San Francisco, but with the Seals he was given free rein to rush up the ice and score goals. He was a highly respected, hard-working player with the Seals, becoming the team’s alternate captain in 1963-64, and co-captain in 1965-66.  Burns also became the Seals’ second-ever player-coach, replacing Bud Poile behind the bench. In 1966-67, Burns not only became the Seals sole captain, but also spent two more stints behind the Seals’ bench, accumulating a 22-13-3 record.

Burns holds the WHL Seals’ all-time record for goals by a center (92).  He also holds the single-season records for assists-per-game average (.875 in 1965-66) and goals by a center (33 in 1963-64).

He won the Coleman E. Hall Trophy as the Seals’ leading scorer (69 points) in 1963-64, and he won the Booster Club Trophy in 1964 and 1965 as the team’s most popular player. Despite pulling off double duty as coach and player, Burns led the Seals in assists (38) in 1966-67.

In the NHL, Burns assisted on the Seals’ first-ever regular-season goal (scored by Kent Douglas, Oct. 11, 1967 vs Philadelphia). By season’s end, he was the team leader in assists (26). He was claimed by Pittsburgh in the Intra-league draft during the off-season, and he would continue playing in the NHL until 1973.

Len Haley

WHL Seals career regular-season stats: 242 GP, 108 G, 123 A, 231 PTS, 340 PIM

WHL Seals career playoff stats: 30 GP, 12 G, 16 A, 28 PTS, 39 PIM

Len Haley flew under the radar most of his time in San Francisco, but he was one of the most quietly consistent players on the roster.  Over the course of his four seasons with the Seals, he set team records for goals (108), assists (123), and points (231) by a right wing. He is one of only three players to record more than one 30-goal season (1962-63 and 1963-64).

It seemed as though every year, Haley was near the top of the Seals scoring list.  In 1962-63, he finished second in goals (36). The next year, he led the team in red lights (35) while finishing second in points (68).  In 1964-65, he again finished second in points, even though he scored a personal-best 72.

Haley played a big role in the Seals’ two championships, scoring 28 points in 28 games in the 1963 and 1964 playoffs.  In the former season he led the team in goals with eight.

Haley won the team’s Golden Gate Trophy as most popular player in both 1964 and 1965.

Tom Thurlby

WHL Seals career regular-season stats: 414 GP, 57 G, 106 A, 163 PTS, 175 PIM

WHL Seals career playoff stats: 43 GP, 8 G, 12 A, 20 PTS, 22 PIM

NHL Seals career stats: 20 GP, 1 G, 1 A, 2 PTS, 4 PIM

Tom Thurlby was one of the underrated players of the San Francisco era of Seals hockey. He was often overshadowed by flashier defensemen such as Moe Mantha, but Thurlby is in fact the all-time leader in games played by a member of the WHL Seals, and he is also the all-time leader in goals, assists, and points by a defenseman. Thurlby was a member of the Seals’ 1963 and 1964 Patrick Cup championship teams. He is also one of just two players (the other being Ray Cyr) to suit up for the Seals in all six of their minor-league seasons, and one of just a handful of players to make the jump to the NHL when the Seals joined the NHL in 1967. Thurlby was a hard, but clean hitter during his career, and a reliable, hard-working defenseman who kept the opposition honest. In 1965, he was named the San Francisco Seals Most Unrecognized Defenseman.

Nick Mickoski

WHL Seals career regular-season stats: 266 GP, 105 G, 172 A, 277 PTS, 96 PIM

WHL Seals career playoff stats: 30 GP, 8 G, 22 A, 30 PTS, 10 PIM

Nick Mickoski was a superstar for the San Francisco Seals from 1961 to 1965, and when coach Bud Poile decided to step down and concentrate on just his general manager duties, Mickoski became the Seals’ first player-coach.  With Mickoski behind the bench, the Seals went 9-5-1 to close out the season, and 8-3 during the 1964 playoffs on route to their second consecutive championship.

As a player, Mickoski’s name is littered throughout the WHL Seals’ record book. He won the Coleman E. Hall Trophy as the team’s leading scorer in 1962-63, and he also won the team’s Player-of-the-Year award.  The WHL recognized him as the league’s all-star left winger as well, the first time a Seals player was named to the post-season all-star team.

Mickoski holds the WHL Seals’ all-time record for assists by a left wing (172), most goals by a left wing in one season (41 in 1962-63), most points in one season (95 in 1962-63), and highest points per game average in one season (1.40 in 1962-63).  However, 1962-63 wasn’t his only great season.  He also led the Seals in goals (31) in 1961-62 and finished second in points (79) that same year.  Mickoski is one of only three players to record more than one 30-goal season with the Seals (1961-62 and 1962-63), and one of only two players to record a 40-goal season.

Bob Murdoch

NHL Seals career regular-season stats: 206 GP, 59 G, 72 A, 131 PTS, 110 PIM

Bob Murdoch was always overshadowed by his 3-M Line cohorts Dennis Maruk and Al MacAdam, but that didn’t mean the talented Murdoch didn’t leave a lasting impression of his own.  He scored an impressive 22 goals and 49 points during his rookie season of 1975-76.  That same year, he set a franchise record for longest goal-scoring streak (7 games) and he also enjoyed an 8-game point streak.  Murdoch led the Seals in power-play goals (9) in 1975-76, and tied for the team lead in game-winning goals (3) in 1976-77 and (4) in 1977-78.  In 1976-77, he also led the team in shooting percentage (16.3).  That same season, Murdoch recorded 23 goals and 42 points, but had he not missed 23 games due to injury he likely would have set career-highs in all offensive categories.

He also scored the Cleveland Barons’ only hat-trick of 1976-77, against Detroit, December 15, 1976.

Al Nicholson

WHL Seals career regular-season stats: 349 GP, 127 G, 158 A, 285 PTS, 103 PIM

WHL Seals career playoff stats: 37 GP, 13 G, 18 A, 31 PTS, 10 PIM

Al Nicholson was a key member of the San Francisco Seals from 1961 to 1966 (349 games).  He is the WHL Seals’ all-time leader in goals and points.  His middle name should have been “Consistency” because you could count on Al to deliver the goods every year.  He is the only player in WHL franchise history to record five 20-goal seasons.  He also holds the Seals’ all-time record for playoff goals (13), and he is tied for the all-time franchise lead in playoff points (31).  He also helped the Seals capture the Lester Patrick Cup in 1963 and 1964.

Fred Glover

NHL Seals career coaching record: 356 games, 96 W, 207 L, 53 T

Fred Glover was there behind the Seals bench during the best of times and the worst of times. The worst of times would be, of course, the Charlie Finley years from 1970 to 1974. The best of times would be the 1968-69 and 1969-70 seasons when the Seals qualified for the playoffs. The 1968-69 Seals were, of course, the best team in franchise history setting a team-record 69 points, but also finishing in second place in the West Division. Before that season started, Glover was instrumental in helping Frank Selke and Bill Torrey rejuvenate a team that had finished dead last the year before. Glover put in a good word for Norm Ferguson, who was coming off a 42-goal scorer with the Cleveland Barons, the team for whom Glover had been a player-coach.

Glover had some interesting coaching tactics, notably his penchant for joining in team scrimmages, possibly in the hope of resurrecting his playing career. Whether this practice actually managed to inspire his players or not is anybody’s guess, but Glover was successful in getting his players to believe in themselves his first year behind the bench. The Jack Adams award did not exist at the time, but Glover did win 1969 Coach-of-the-Year honours from The Hockey News. The following year was not as successful, but the Seals still qualified for the playoffs as the West Division’s last entrant.

Garry Young replaced Glover with Vic Stasiuk after the first three games of 1971-72, but Glover was brought back into the fold the following year by Charlie Finley, who then named Glover general manager once Young was dismissed. Glover held the two positions until his resignation in February 1974.

Glover holds just about every coaching record in franchise history, including most games behind the bench (356), most career wins (96), most playoff appearances (2), most wins in one season (29), and most points in one season (69).

Wayne Connelly

WHL Seals career regular-season stats: 175 GP, 93 G, 95 A, 188 PTS, 75 PIM

WHL Seals career playoff stats: 18 GP, 6 G, 5 A, 11 PTS, 10 PIM

Wayne Connelly’s stay in San Francisco was relatively short, but that was only because he was so good at scoring goals. After averaging a goal every two games in his two-and-a-half year stint with the Seals, it was only a matter of time before the Boston Bruins recalled him, which they did in 1966, and he remained in the world’s top league for the next six years before signing on with the World Hockey Association, where he played the last five seasons of his career.

When Connelly arrived in the Bay Area, he took the WHL by storm almost immediately. The Bruins sent him down to the farm mid-way through the 1963-64 season, and in his 33 games with the Seals, Connelly scored 12 goals and 18 assists on route to the franchise’s second straight Patrick Cup championship. The next two seasons Connelly remained in San Francisco, but he served notice that he was not going to remain there long. In 1964-65, he scored 36 goals and 36 assists, and the following season, arguably his best ever as a professional, he scored a team-record 45 goals. Both years he led the Seals in scoring and was named the league’s Second Team All-Star right wing. In the latter season, he was also named the winner of the Seals’ Larriburu Brothers Trophy as team MVP. Of all players to ever suit up for the San Francisco Seals, Connelly is one of the most decorated.

Doug Roberts

NHL Seals career regular-season stats: 230 GP, 11 G, 57 A, 68 PTS, 280 PIM

NHL Seals career playoff stats: 11 GP, 0 G, 3 A, 3 PTS, 40 PIM

Carol Vadnais got most of the attention during the Seals salad years from 1968 to 1970, but the quiet, unassuming, and cerebral Doug Roberts was a crucial member of the Seals’ blue line as well, and the only other Seals defenseman to ever appear at the NHL All-Star game. The Michigan State graduate was also one of the few American-born and raised players in the NHL at the time. Surprisingly enough, Roberts had played most of his career as a forward, but when he arrived in Oakland in the 1968 Bobby Baun trade, Roberts was told he was going to suit up as a defenseman, but he thrived in his new position. In his first season in Oakland, 1968-69, Roberts scored an impressive 20 points in 76 games, and the next year he upped that mark to 31 points, which led all Seals defensemen (Vadnais had been converted to forward for most of the year). The following year, Vadnais was injured just before the All-Star game, so Roberts was asked to go in his place. Roberts was sold to Boston before the 1971-72 season, and he had his best year ever with the Bruins before moving on to Detroit, and then to the WHA for his last two years as a professional.

Krazy George Henderson

Of everyone who has been associated with the California Golden Seals, none have had a greater influence on sports than Krazy George Henderson. You need a cheerleader, call Krazy George! His list of past employers is as long as a telephone book, and he has dabbled in just about every professional and amateur sport in North America, including hockey, baseball, football, and soccer. He is also an accomplished martial artist.

He is of course best known as the Seals’ one-man cheer-leading squad, a job he secured by accident, but one that would lead to widespread fame. The Seals enjoyed his antics in the stands, so they hired him to rouse the Oakland Coliseum crowd, a job which he held until the Seals moved to Cleveland in 1976. George used to love calling opposing players “turkeys” and other such family-friendly slurs, but he was most known for banging his drum while running up and down the stairs at the arena.

Among his greatest accomplishments is the invention of the wave, which occurred October 15, 1981 at the Oakland-Alameda County Coliseum. In 2017, Krazy George published his memoir, Still Krazy After All These Cheers, adding “author” to his long list of personal accomplishments. While he only spent a brief period of his career cheering on the Seals, Krazy George is still most associated with the NHL’s most maligned franchise.

Well, that’s it, folks! Now it’s time to get voting, which you can do by clicking on this link right here.