Walt McKechnie

Walt McKechnie is one of the rare players to have played for the Seals/Barons franchise on two separate occasions. He came to Oakland in the deal that sent Dennis Hextall to Minnesota.  His future line-mate Joey Johnston also came aboard in the same trade.  A superb playmaker, he quickly became one of the Seals’ best players, and came into his own in 1972-73 when he led the team in assists (38) and points (54).  The following year, he became one of the few players in franchise history to record back-to-back 50-point seasons.  In the latter season, he became one of the Seals’ alternate captains.  During the latter two seasons of his first stint, he enjoyed great success playing on the Seals’ top line with Joey Johnston and Craig Patrick (then Reggie Leach).  After three solid seasons in Oakland, McKechnie was claimed by the New York Rangers in the Intra-league draft, then traded to the Boston Bruins for Derek Sanderson.  He enjoyed a career year with Detroit in 1975-76, scoring 82 points, but after a lacklustre 59-point season in 1976-77, he was traded to Washington.  After just 16 games, the Capitals traded McKechnie to the Cleveland Barons, where he found he scoring touch again, picking up 34 points in 53 games.  He finished his Seals/Barons career as the franchise’s sixth all-time leading scorer with 171 points in 250 games.

 

Bert Marshall

Bert Marshall was one of the Seals’ most underrated defensemen, mostly because he played a simple game and let his teammates grab the glory.  In 313 career games with the Seals, Marshall scored just eight goals, but his value was not measured by the points he put up on the score sheet.  Marshall is fourth on the Seals’ all-time games played list behind Bob Stewart, Gilles Meloche, and Al MacAdam, but second all-time among defensemen.  His 395 penalty minutes are third on the franchise’s all-time list.  A strong leader on and off the ice, Marshall became team captain in February 1972 when Carol Vadnais was traded, and he remained in this role until his own trade in March 1973.  He was also an alternate captain from 1968 to 1972.

 

Rick Hampton

“Crow” was selected with the 3rd-overall pick in the 1974 amateur draft, and was immediately saddled with the expectation that he would rescue the Seals from oblivion.  While that never happened, Hampton became arguably the Seals best defenseman, setting numerous club records.  When the Cleveland Barons merged with the Minnesota North Stars, Hampton was second all-time in power-play goals, and third all-time in games played (285) by a defenseman.  His 96 career assists and 152 career points lead all Seals defensemen.  He also led the Seals in assists (37) in 1975-76, and led all Seals defensemen with 51 points, a record that remained unbroken until the franchise’s end.  For his efforts, he won the Seals’ Most Popular Player Award in 1975-76.