“What Happened to the ‘New’ Seals?” (by Dick O’Connor) – Oct. 12, 1968 – download here

Despite a horrendous first season in the NHL, there was optimism the team was going to perform better in Year Two. After all, they would have a full season with Ted Hampson and Bert Marshall, and newcomers Gary Jarrett, Norm Ferguson, Carol Vadnais, and a few others, showed promise. The 1968-69 season turned out to be a good one for the Seals, but it didn’t start off that way, as you will read in this article from Dick O’Connor of the Redwood City (CA) Tribune.

 

“New Seal Coach Impresses Scribes” – May 24, 1968 – download here

When Fred Glover was named the Seals’ new head coach, media members were immediately impressed. After all, former coach Bert Olmstead was not exactly a people-person. Glover certainly made quite an impression on the Bay Area’s journalists, promising to turn the team around and push a more up-tempo style of play.

“Selke Has a Hope For Better Things” (by Michael Bennett) – Sep. 17, 1968 – download here

The Seals’ first NHL season was indeed a rough one, but new general manager Frank Selke truly felt that great things were in store for the fledgling franchise. He was right to an extent. The Seals did in fact enjoy a much more successful second season, and Selke was a huge part of that. He made plenty of tough decisions, letting go of many players brought in from the expansion draft, and replacing them with unproven minor leaguers and prospects, not to mention hiring a new coach with zero games of NHL experience. Sometimes, when you hit rock bottom, you just have to embrace the situation you are in, take risks, and realize that while things probably can’t get any worse, there is always a chance things get better.

“A Puncheroo After Seals, Kings Draw” (by Spence Conley) – Oct. 14, 1968 –  – download here

This classic contest was one of the most memorable in Seals history. At least it should have been. Had it not taken place in the opening days of the season, it would have been talked about among Seals fans for years. It might have also had something to do with the fact there were only 2,668 fans in attendance, the smallest crowd in team history at that point. There was lots of hitting. There was a huge comeback in the third period. There was a controversial penalty. And there was a behind-the-scenes punch-up between the Kings’ general manager and the game’s referee. Classic!

“Hicke Seals’ Triggerman” (by Spence Conley) – Oct. 31, 1968 – download here

In season one of the Seals’ NHL journey, offense had been tough to come by, which was understandable considering very few scorer had been available in the expansion draft. None of the West teams were particularly potent that year, but the Seals’ 153 goals scored were 20 less than the next most impotent team, the Philadelphia Flyers. When the triumverate of Frank Selke Jr., Bill Torrey and Fred Glover came aboard they made it their mission to bolster the Seals’ pop-gun attack, and one of the key moves was putting Bill Hicke, the team’s lone 20-goal scorer, with Ted Hampson and the newly acquired Gary Jarrett. Together, they became known as the Assembly Line, and as the 1968-69 season got underway, you could see how great a season the three of them would enjoy. This piece is mostly about Hicke, but also about the early days of the Assembly Line.

“Seals in Trouble; Just Can’t Draw (Herb Michelson) – Nov. 1, 1968 – download here

It’s hard to believe that at a time when the Seals were surrounded by so much turmoil and uncertainty, that they were about to embark upon their most successful season ever. Of course, at this point in the season, no one would have expected that since the club was off to a mediocre 2-5-2 start. I like this article from Herb Michelson of the San Rafael Daily Independent Journal because of the style he uses in describing the Seals’ plight, and I think you might too. Enjoy!

“The Forgotten Hockey Player” (by Stan Fischler) – Nov. 9, 1968 – download here

Odrowski scored a grand total of nine goals as a member of the Seals, yet five of them were scored while a teammate was in the penalty box. His five goals place him second all-time in Seals shorthanded goals (two behind Dennis Maruk, yet one ahead of Walt McKechnie, Joey Johnston, and Al MacAdam). In fact, of Odrowski’s 12 career NHL goals, seven of them were scored shorthanded!

“Kings’ Goalie Labels Seals ‘No Contest'” (by Rich Roberts) – Nov. 13, 1968 – download here

I’m sometimes surprised that the Seals and Kings weren’t bigger rivals. Not only did the teams play an intense 7-game playoff series, but earlier in the season L.A. goalie Gerry Desjardins, had some pretty harsh words about the Bay Area sextet. The Seals were not off to a great start this season, and when you stop to think about it, the Seals hadn’t really done much of anything since entering the NHL, so sometimes they were the victim of verbal abuse from other teams. But it’s not like L.A. was on the verge of winning the Stanley Cup. Who were they to start labelling any opponent as mediocre? While the Kings came out ahead 3-1 this time, the Kings struggled to put the Seals away the rest of the season. This article was written by the Long Beach Press-Telegram‘s Rich Roberts.

“Oakland Seals in Crazy Tie” – Nov. 28, 1968 – download here

1968-69 was a crazy ride for the Oakland Seals, what with climbing up from last place to second place, scoring 66 more goals than the previous year, sending three players to the All-Star Game, and taking the L.A. Kings to seven games in the playoffs. The craziest night of the year might have been November 27 when the Seals stormed back from a 3-0 deficit to earn a tie against Minnesota. The tying goal, scored by defenseman Doug Roberts was so strange that the accounts of what actually happened are about as varied as a gaggle of witnesses after a car crash.

“Seals Skid to a 4-4 Tie” (by Spence Conley) – Dec. 2, 1968 – download here

Question: what was California’s most successful giveaway program of 1968? Give up? It was the Oakland Seals, who according to coach Fred Glover, were coughing up pucks at an alarming rate, and costing them several valuable points against Pittsburgh. Oh, Glover was plenty peeved on this night after the Seals blew 2-0 and 4-3 leads to the inferior Penguins. This Oakland Tribune article is worth its weight in gold just for the scathing comments from the Seals’ fiery coach!

“Seals Fly into Second Place” – Dec 23, 1968 – download here

There’s a headline that wasn’t seen often in Seals’ history! It was a landmark moment when the Seals vaulted into second place with still half a season to play, and they did it in style scoring a then-team record for fastest opening goal (0:29). They also did it in front of one of the smallest crowds in team history, a paltry 1,829 at the Cow Palace (their third game of the season in San Francisco).

“Seals Are at Fault” (by George Ross) – Jan. 10, 1969 – download here

Even though the 1968-69 Oakland Seals set numerous club records for success, attendance was still a major issue, and the team was still rumoured to be skipping town. Who was to blame for the Seals’ lack of success at the turnstiles? The Oakland Tribune’s George Ross placed the blame squarely on the shoulders of one Barend Van Gerbig.

“NHL Chief Hits Seals’ Ownership” (by Rich Gohlke) – Jan. 30, 1969 – download here

The Oakland Seals may have been sailing along nicely in Year Two of the NHL’s great expansion project, but things could not have been worse behind the scenes. The Seals were losing money at an alarming rate, attendance was shockingly low, and rumours persisted that the team was heading out of town at any minute. NHL president Clarence Campbell loved the idea of having a team in the Bay Area, but loathed the fact he had awarded the franchise to the wrong ownership group. For years afterwards, the Seals’ owners would cause Campbell nothing but headaches. Surprisingly, the Seals franchise, later renamed the Cleveland Barons in 1976, would actually outlast Campbell, who retired as president in 1977, one year before the Barons closed up shop.

“Hicke Bad Medicine for NHL Foes” (by Chuck Garrity) – Feb. 1, 1969 – download here

It was no secret that Bill Hicke had a lot of health problems, most of them related to the asthma that plagued him for much of his professional career. In this L.A. Times article, Hicke, who was in the midst of his best-ever NHL season, gets the spotlight. He explains what used to get his asthma jumping, but also how a little medallion served as a good-luck charm during that magical 1968-69 season.

“Vancouver Out Until ’72” (by Jim Coleman) – Feb. 19, 1969 – download here

It’s rather hard to believe, but the most stable period in Seals history, ownership-wise, was the nearly four-year train wreck known as the Charlie Finley era. The years that preceded and followed the Finley era saw a dizzying number of owners (and potential owners for that matter) come through Oakland. This article, from the Ottawa Citizen, is all about that crazy period during the Seals’ best season when the Knox brothers of Buffalo, New York were hoping to buy the Seals and move them to Vancouver. The problem was that the NHL really wanted to expand to Vancouver instead, and wanted the Seals to stay put in Oakland… and hilarity ensued!

“McDonald’s Ice Chips” (by Hugh McDonald) – February 22, 1969 – download here

These short articles, without much structure or theme, were always a great read in my opinion. This is where, in researching the Seals, I was able to find these great obscure quotes, small details about then-recent games, and other tidbits that had been lost to time. In this edition of “McDonald’s Ice Chips” from the San Mateo Times, we learn a bit about the “trans-Bay” rivalry between Oakland and San Francisco, what it was like to play at the Cow Palace, Carol Vadnais’ feelings about fighting, and the Seals’ one-time losing streak against West Division champions the St. Louis Blues.

“Smith Seal Goat” (by Spence Conley) – Mar. 3, 1969 – download here

March 2, 1969, the Seals played one of their most disappointing games of the season. The team was up by three goals, and a victory should have been assured, but bad breaks and soft goals doomed the Seals on this night, and poor Gary Smith was the scapegoat.

“Seals’ Fred Glover – a Stranger in Town” (by Joe Sargis) – March 10, 1969 – download here

The San Mateo Times did a feature on the Seals’ Fred Glover near the end of the 1968-69 season, which would become the Seals’ most successful.  Glover rode that success all the way to the league’s Coach-of-the-Year title.  Unfortunately for the Seals, and unfortunately for Glover, times would never be so good again, but one brief moment, all was well in Oakland.

“Abscessed Tooth May Be Seal Key” (by Mike Watson) – April 4, 1969 – download here

The Seals were the favorites in their first-round series against Los Angeles back in Year Two of the expansion era, but the Seals found themselves down 1-0 after a disheartening 5-4 overtime loss in which the Kings scored the game-winner just 0:19 into the extra frame. Oakland rebounded in game two with a 4-2 win, but as we all know by now, that success was fleeting.

“It’s All Over For Seals” (by Spence Conley) – Apr. 14, 1969 – download here

The series was tied at three games apiece between the Oakland Seals and the Los Angeles Kings. The Seals had had every opportunity to end the series and move on to face the St. Louis Blues in the West Division final, but the inspired Kings found a way to take down the Seals in a pivotal Game Six. The Seals’ Gerry Ehman narrowed the Kings’ lead to 4-3 with about ten minutes to go in the game, but when Howie Menard scored at 18:26, the season was all but over for the second-place Seals.