“Seals Beaten, 8-3, in Debut” – Oct. 14, 1961 – download here

The Seals’ WHL life didn’t get off to a very good start, but that would change before long.  That’s not to say the team wouldn’t have struggles in the future, but at least there were a few bright moments to look forward to.  Fun fact: I learned in this San Mateo Times article that “a weak defense was blamed for the loss by most observers”.  That’s why we read books and articles, people! Where else would you learn that giving up eight goals is believed to be caused by crappy defense?  Soon they’ll be telling us that scoring eight goals is a result of good offense!

“Seals Are NOT Bowlegged!” (by Paul Lippman) – Nov. 4, 1961 – download here

The San Francisco Seals’ first season was not going very early on, and the absolute nadir of that first season was October 28, 1961. The Seals were playing their tenth road game in sixteen days, so they were undoubtedly tired. Frustrated as well, I’m sure, as their 1-8 record to that point would suggest. The 11-1 loss to Seattle just before Halloween brought out the accusation from the San Francisco Examiner‘s Prescott Sullivan that the Seals were “bowlegged”. Paul Lippman of the Examiner defends the Seals by focusing his attention on… defense, the Seals defense to be exact.

“Seals Open Home Stand Tonight” – Nov. 17, 1961 – download here

Some of you may not know this, but the old San Francisco Seals, the NHL Seals’ predecessors, opened their first season on an almost unfathomable 14-game road trip.  The Cow Palace was not yet ready to accommodate the new Western Hockey League team, so the Seals had no choice but to pack their suitcases, which must have been incredibly heavy to last a 14-game trip, and live their lives in hotels and greasy spoons.  Not surprisingly, the expansion Seals went a dismal 4-10 during this trip, so they must have been thrilled to be returning home, where they would play 19 or their next 22 games.  How the Seals finished 29-39-2 and qualified for the playoffs is anybody’s guess.

“Seals Lose To Spokane Rally, 5-4” – February 12, 1962 – download here

Don’t let the innocuous article title fool you; this was one strange game to say the least. The alignment of stars on this night will probably never be seen again. There were several bizarre occurrences in this one. Enjoy this short piece from the San Francisco Examiner and see if you can figure out the three weird or unusual elements that were a part of this game.

“Seals Win, 2-1; McNabb Slugs Ref” (by Paul Lippman) – Dec. 1, 1962 – download here

Larry McNabb was one of the toughest customers that ever laced up the skates for the San Francisco Seals, and on this night, he and referee Jerry Olinski got into a scuffle that would cost the WHL’s bad man a cool $500 bucks. This, of course, was the year the Seals ascended to the top of the Western League heap, and you could see even in the early stages of the season how the fans were starting to show their enthusiasm for their local team.

“Record Crowd Sees Seals Do It” (by Hugh McDonald) – May 7, 1963 – download here

San Francisco celebrated its first Western Hockey League title after the Seals defeated the Seattle Totems in overtime of game 7 of a classic series.  This article was published in the San Mateo Times on May 7, 1963.

“Leafs Turn It On To Hammer Seals” (by Wayne Overland) – Sep. 26, 1963 – download here

It was Champ vs Champ: Stanley Cup winners the Toronto Maple Leafs and Lester Patrick Cup winners the San Francisco Seals. Don’t get too excited; the result was not all that surprising. This article comes from the Edmonton Journal.

“Seals Win Patrick Cup Again” (by Spence Conley) – Apr. 18, 1964 – download here

The title of this Oakland Tribune article says it all.  The Seals had struggled mightily throughout the regular season, and finished with a sub .500 record, but once the playoffs started, the team caught fire and steamrolled its way to another championship.

“Seals Lose Wild Brawl, 5-1” (by Paul Lippman) – Dec. 28, 1964 – download here

Many people don’t realize how much of a rivalry existed between the San Francisco Seals and L.A. Blades. The night of December 27, 1964 was particularly crazy. All sorts of penalty records were set during the game. L.A.’s Howie Young even kicked the Seals’ Eddie Panagabko in the stomach at one point. The teams probably didn’t like each other much after the previous year’s Patrick Cup final in which the Seals shocked the league and captured the championship despite a sub-.500 regular season.

“Seal ‘Voice’ Still Strong” (by Ed Levitt) – March 8, 1965 – download part one here      download part two here

Because of the work done by legendary Seals broadcaster Joe Starkey, the name Roy Storey might not be familiar to everyone, but it should be. He was the play-by-play man for the San Francisco Seals, but also worked games for the Oakland Seals and California Golden Seals. He was the voice behind the mic when the Seals won their two Patrick Cup championships in the Western Hockey League. He was a legendary Bay Area broadcaster himself with a great passion for hockey, but what many people may have forgotten about him was his determination. The man endured more serious health scares than any person I can think of, and yet he not only survived them all, but lived to the age of 85. This wonderful piece, written by the Oakland Tribune‘s Ed Levitt is well worth the read to find out more about a very brave, determined man.

“Seals Get S.F. Freeze” (by Ed Levitt) – Mar. 7, 1966 – download here

Ed Levitt wrote many interesting editorials during his time at the Oakland Tribune, many of which were about the Seals. He wrote many of those pieces during the San Francisco-California Seals WHL days, providing some unique insight into the team. For instance, in this piece he writes about the Seals’ attendance issues during the 1965-66 season, the year before the team moved to Oakland for its last WHL season. The good patrons of San Francisco apparently did not take well to the news the team would be heading across the Bay, but the Seals owners were more than confident they would eventually find their way to the beautiful new Oakland Coliseum. We all know how that turned out, don’t we?

“Charlie’s Choices Opened the Gates For Sizzling Leafs” (by Doug Peden) – April 27, 1966 – download here

The 1966 WHL semi-final series between San Francisco and Victoria was a strange one to say the least. The teams battled it out for seven games with Victoria leading the way offensively most nights, but the Seals hung in there despite getting outplayed most of the time, which was incredible when you realize they had no number one goaltender to speak of, or even a number two. The Seals went through three goaltenders in the series, all of which were found at the last minute and through painstaking measures, and they each had their ups and downs as you’ll find out in this article from the Victoria Times Colonist describing the bizarre and anticlimactic Game 7.

“Seals Founder Discovers Hunch Pays Big Dividends” (by Spence Conley) – Oct. 23, 1966 – download here

Ever wonder how the Seals were founded? This is a wonderful article from the Oakland Tribune that digs deep into the Seals’ then-recent past to recount how Coleman “Coley” Hall got the team started.  There is also a lot of information on the Seals’ sometimes-convoluted ownership history. There were definitely a lot of fingers in the pie, as you will find out in this great piece from Spence Conley.

“Seals Win Thrilling Debut, 6-5” (by Spence Conley) and “Seals vs. Russians” (by Ed Levitt) – Nov. 10, 1966 – download here

With the closure of Oracle Arena, which was once known as the Oakland-Alameda County Coliseum, here is an article about the very first game played at the arena. Believe it or not, the arena was not even ready to go as players were in the dressing room getting ready for the puck to drop. The Seals, playing in their last WHL season, beat the expansion San Diego Gulls 6-5. The second article (missing the last part, unfortunately) is more of a bonus. Like the first article, it also comes from the Oakland Tribune. In it, Ed Levitt writes about how one day the California Seals would likely play the Russians, and while that never happened per se, several other NHL and WHA teams would play against the Soviet Union’s very best, not to mention the big Summit Series in 1972 and 1974, and a lot of Canada Cups and Olympic tournaments.

“Will Seals Be an NHL Contender” (by Hugh McDonald) – Feb. 2, 1967 – download here

General manager Rudy Pilous had a lot of work ahead of him in the early weeks of 1967. His California Seals were barely hanging on to a playoff spot in the WHL standings, and he also had to look forward to the June expansion draft which would officially welcome the Seals to the NHL. He also had a certain Jacques Plante on his radar, but whether or not he would become a member of the expansion team was anyone’s guess.

“Gulls Plain Rude to Seals, 11-2” – Apr. 3, 1967 –  download here

In this, the Seals last-ever regular-season Western Hockey League game, parimutuel clerk Tommy Green strapped on the pads to relieve a resting Jack McCartan, and the result was awful, awful, awful.