This is the section of the site where I sit back and let all of you do the work. Golden Seals Hockey has been online since July 2016, and since then, a number of visitors have kindly written to me about their memories of the Seals, or have sent some nice feedback about the site. I’m going to post some of these comments from time to time, so if you’d like to share your stories about growing up a Seals fan, don’t be shy to write in.
Dear Mr. Currier, I am the daughter of Garry Young and wanted to let you know how much I enjoyed your book. It meant so much to me, on a personal level, to read about my fathers time with the Seals. I know Dad was very proud of the team he put together and felt they would have had a great future if not for the WHA and team ownership. Your portrayal of my father and the respect he had from his players was very gratifying to read and I thank you for quoting his contract and proving that he had every right to sign players without ownership approval. I have given your book to my eldest brother to read and intend to purchase more copies.
Thank you.
Linda Y. (March 20, 2018)
Just saw your recent new post about Gerry Pinder. I do remember Mr. Pinder. ‘71-‘72 season. I think he was one of several players who left the Seals for the WHA during the ‘72 off season. Like I said in a previous e-mail, who knows what the Seals could have been if Mr. Finley re-signed some of those players such as Pinder, Shmyr, Sheehan, Ferguson, etc. I always thought that man-for-man, the Seals had much talent. Too bad they had losing seasons, and poor attendance. They just couldn’t get it together. Maybe some of it was poor luck. Even though they lost a lot, they were entertaining. They always were able to pull a stunning win out of their butts against a powerhouse team, such as Montreal, Boston, NY Rangers….if I remember right, I think one of their only two road victories in ‘73-‘74 was in Montreal! And we will never forget Mr. Meloche’s 2-0 shutout of Boston – IN Boston! What an accomplishment for the young goalie at the time: shutting out the high-scoring ‘71-‘72 Bruins. Well – even though they had poor attendance, they had at least one fan east of the Rockies back then: me. My previous e-mail I said I used to pick up their games on the radio when they played teams from the east. I can still remember some of the radio stations:
KDKA – Penguins
WCAU – Flyers
WJR – Redwings
KMOX – Blues
WBZ – Bruins
WBBM – Blackhawks
Believe it or not, those Midwest stations came in loud and clear on most nights where I live in New York State, especially the late night Seals home games when they played those teams. KMOX out of St. Louis had a very strong signal at night. I couldn’t wait til Friday night when I could stay up for a Seals game. I was a kid. 12,13,14 years old. The players weren’t really that much older than me. I would have preferred if they won or tied, but I didn’t care if they lost. I was just a young fan. One year, I can remember patiently waiting for the 11:00pm hour to arrive in the eastern time zone for the opening game of the season against the Blues, in Oakland. I sneaked my radio into bed with me. My mom never knew I stayed up for that game because it was a school night. Probably was a Wednesday night because the Seals played their home games on Sunday, Wednesday, and Friday nights back then. I can’t remember the year, but I remember the game because Bob Stewart and Garry Unger got into a fight less than a minute into the game. I remember thinking to myself that it was gonna be an exciting season. It had to be game one of either the 72-73 season or the 73-74 season. I’m almost positive that the Seal involved was Bob Stewart. I don’t think John Stewart was with the team then…
Thank you.
Sante D.
Seals fan since 1971
Ravena, NY (March 15, 2018)
Hi Steve,
… I just wanted to say thank you for your website and for bringing the memory of the Seals back to life. It brings back so many good childhood memories for me. My earliest recollection of the Seals was early in the 71-72 season. I remember the debut shutout for Meloche against Boston. I discovered the Seals that season and picked them as my favorite team for one reason: the green and gold uniforms. I was in the 7th grade in 71-72 and my school colors were ( and still are ) green and gold. But I remained a loyal Seals fan after they changed uniforms in ‘74-‘75 and when they went to Cleveland. I can’t remember a specific event when the green and gold caught my eye. I may have seen a color picture back then in a sports magazine. Color pictures were unheard of in the newspapers back then, and we didn’t have cable TV so I didn’t see any games when they played the Rangers. I don’t remember if any Seals games were on American network TV back then. My only exposure to the Seals was listening to games on the AM radio when they played eastern teams. Back then, the Hockey News wasn’t sold at every newsstand in America. But there was a newsstand in Albany, NY, called Coulson’s News Room that sold the Hockey News. I remember that my dad would stop there and buy the paper for me every week. That’s how I would keep up with the Seals. So thinking of the Seals brings back fond memories of my mom and dad, such as my mom letting me stay up at night to listen to Seals home games when I could be able to catch one on my radio. I was thankful that the Seals played a lot of home games on Friday nights, because I didn’t have to get up for school the next morning. Their games started at 11pm on the east coast. Sometimes I would fall asleep and miss part of the games. In my last e-mail to you, I talked about how the Seals should have called up some tough guys to play the Flyers. Don’t get me wrong. I’m not a violent person. And I enjoy today’s hockey that is far less fight oriented then back in the 70’s. But they could have benefited from some extra muscle in the line up. One of my favorite Seals is Joey Johnston. He wasn’t what you would call an enforcer but he could stand up for himself and his teammates. He would get into a fair share of scraps, especially early in his career. I also was a big fan of Bob Stewart. I was recently surfing some hockey websites and I discovered that Mr. Stewart passed away last year. I was saddened to hear of his passing… It’s fun to speculate and imagine what the Seals could have been if Mr. Finley made better decisions. I enjoy thinking about the memories… Thank you again for bringing the Seals back to life.
Sante D.
Ravena, NY (March 10, 2018)
Steve,
… This book was a blessing, a real trip down memory lane, with all its pleasures and debacles.
Sincerely,
Frank (October 20, 2017)
Hi Steve – Just found your site. My interest in the Seals was rekindled after the recent Sharks game 1/7 where they honored the Seals for their entrance into the NHL 50 years ago. I was reading about 2016 Seals HHOF inductee Gilles Meloche. My father was in the Seals Booster Club and I have a photo from the 1974 ceremony where the booster club gave Meloche the award. I actually had Meloche sign the photo at the autograph session prior to the Sharks game….
Mike P. (January 19, 2017)