“Orr Lures a Full House” (by John Porter) – Feb. 19, 1971 – download here

The Boston Bruins certainly had a way of attracting a large following wherever they went, and the Oakland Coliseum was no exception. If you can believe it, the Bruins attracted not one, but two sell-out crowds (not to mention another game of over 10,000) this season. During the first sell-out the Seals lost 5-1, and the result was not much better the next time Boston came to town. Chris Worthy was given one of his few starts that year, replacing the injured Gary Smith, but facing Bobby Orr and company was not exactly a gift. In the case, this lump of coal amounted to a 5-0 shellacking.

 

“Finley or Seltzer? – Answer June 29” (by Ed Schoenfeld) – June 17, 1970 – download here

The big story in Seals-land the summer of 1970 was who was going to take over the faltering franchise. The team had made the playoffs two years in a row, and attendance was on the rise, but Trans-National Communications was losing money and wanted out. The problem was they didn’t own the franchise. Or did they? Barry Van Gerbig, the NHL franchise’s original owner claimed he still had the rights to the club, but not everyone agreed. Now that both TNC and Van Gerbig wanted to sell the Seals, who had the right to rake in the dough. It was indeed a complicated, convoluted affair, and you can read about it all in Ed Schoenfeld’s article from the Oakland Tribune.

“COF: I know nothing about hockey” – July 7, 1970 – download here

This article from the Fremont Argus was written the day Finley completely changed the course of Seals history by unleashing not only the brand new “Golden Seals” moniker, but by also introducing the infamous Kelly green and California gold uniforms. On a side note, the cartoon Finley in the photo the real Finley is holding up is wearing white skates.  Everyone should have seen them coming, but everyone was still surprised when a year and a half later, the Seals started wearing them in regular-season games.

“Should Seals Wear Spats” – July 29, 1970 – download here

This piece comes from the July 29, 1970 issue of Newsweek. It describes in vivid detail the summer in which Charlie Finley was negotiating to buy the Oakland Seals, and all the plans he was hoping to put in place come October. Luckily for humanity, most of those ideas, such as the kangaroo-skin skates, and coloured ice, never came to pass, but the Fort Knox gold and Kelly green uniforms became a fixture in the Bay Area. Throughout this article, you get the sense that sports purists were absolutely cringing at the thought Finley was going to infiltrate professional hockey. Oh, yes, there was lots of fear in the air, and all those reasons for shivering turned out to be real. Bay Area hockey would never be the same.

The Transition Era of Seals Hockey (August-October 1970: “Finley Seen Adding Color (Green and Gold) to Hockey” (by Ted Damata), Aug. 14, 1970; “Now Seals ‘Bay Area’,” Sep. 15, 1970; “Finley’s team now ‘Bay Area Seals’,” Oct. 11, 1970. – download here

The early weeks of the Charlie Finley era must have scared the living crap out of players, employees, and fans of the Seals. Finley had all sorts of wild ideas, and anyone who knew him understood that nothing was going to stop him from turning the Seals into the NHL’s version of Barnum and Bailey’s circus. What many people don’t know is that there was a transition period between the Oakland Seals and California Golden Seals eras. It is not officially recognized by the NHL as an era per se, but for a month or so, the team was officially known as the Bay Area Seals…. or were they? Some articles from early in the 1970-71 season still called the team “Oakland” Seals, while others called them “Bay Area”. Finley also had stationery and pennants made with “Bay Area Seals” written on them, so who knows exactly where the truth lies. Here are two short articles which span the “Bay Area” era and another about Finley’s plans to market his new toy. The first article, by Ted Damata, comes from the August 14, 1970 Chicago Tribune. The second one comes from the September 15 edition of the San Francisco Examiner. The third article is from the Boston Globe.

“Finley’s Follies Fail to Amuse NHL Bigwigs” – fall 1970 – download here

If ever you have wanted to walk down memory lane hoping to find that one special photo of the Seals’ one-time mascot, the skating human-filled mule, well you are in luck! Unfortunately, I don’t know the exact date nor the newspaper from which this great article comes from (likely one of the Boston Daily Record, Record American, Herald American or Boston Herald), but Hall-of-Fame journalist Leo Monahan is the writer. Special thanks to Mark Harris for sending me the link to this article, which was found on eBay.

“Finley Snips at Seals’ Red Ink” (by John Porter) – Oct. 2, 1970 – download here

This article from the Oakland Tribune details one of Charlie Finley’s most infamously over-optimistic marketing ploys: Barber Night.  Ah, Barber Night… it was as simple as inviting the Bay Area’s hair and beard manipulators to the Coliseum for an evening of hockey and hobnobbing with the yet-to-be renamed California Golden Seals.  That would come about two weeks later.  In fact, it would be exactly two weeks later…

“Detroit Giggles at Seal Uniforms” (by John Porter) – Oct. 11, 1970 – download here

Oh, this was a strange period for our Bay Area heroes.  Charlie Finley had bought the club over the summer, and he changed the Seals’ uniforms to Kelly green and gold, just like he had done to baseball’s Oakland A’s.  The Seals still carried the “Oakland” moniker at this point, and for the next game as well, they would remain the Oakland Seals, but sometime between games two and three, old Charlie decided to change his team’s name to the “Golden” Seals.  That’s right, he changed the team’s name TWO GAMES INTO THE SEASON!  The Seals responded by going another seven games without a win, and they endured all sorts of ridicule along the way.

“Finley Adds More Color” (by Steve Tadevich) – Oct. 16, 1970 – download here

…and that’s what this Fremont Argus article is about: the moment old Charlie announced to the world that the name Oakland Seals was just too plain for his liking.  Please welcome your California Golden Seals.  The new home uniforms, brightly coloured in California gold, and the visitors uniforms, mostly Kelly green, would become two of the images most associated with the Finley era of Seals history.  The white skates were still seen as a bit of a wild idea, so Charlie settled on green and gold skates for the 1970-71 season, because that decision made just so much more sense.  I think…

“Seals’ First Win” (by John Porter) – Oct. 31, 1970 – download here

It took the Seals nine games to do it, but once they finally won a game, they made a statement beating the expansion Buffalo Sabres, 6-1. The old guard was sharp all night too. Carol Vadnais, Ted Hampson, Bill Hicke and Earl Ingarfield all had big nights, making fans think that maybe the team was still capable of turning things around, but that never really happened.

“Seals Burn Toronto, 8-4” (by John Porter) – Nov. 7, 1970 – download here

This was truly Tony Featherstone and Dennis Hextall’s night, although just about everyone got on the scoresheet. Featherstone never quite managed to keep up his scoring pace over the rest of his professional career, while Hextall was showing everyone just how good he was going to be. The Seals equalled their (then) all-time record for goals in a game.

“Goal That Wasn’t a Goal Fires Bruins a Little Too Late” (by Francis Rosa) – Nov. 16, 1970 – download here

They weren’t all gems that year, but if the Seals had played all season like they did against Boston November 15, the Seals would have been shining like the Crown Jewels. The Seals may have caught the Bruins on an off night, but a win was a win. The Bruins would get their revenge several times before the season was over, reeling off wins of 7-4, 5-0, 7-0, and 8-1. Sometimes, it really is best to just play dead.

“Confusion Now Running Seals / Seals Just Not Thinking, Says Glover” (by Hugh McDonald) – Nov. 26, 1970 – download here

Both of these articles appeared in the November 26 edition of the San Mateo Times and were written by Hugh McDonald. As bad as things were on the ice during the month of November 1970, the front office was enduring even more chaos. General manager Frank Selke quit after refusing to sign a new contract for Charlie Finley, then it was executive vice president Bill Torrey’s turn to walk out on Finley for pretty much the same reason. The Seals fell to a dismal 5-14-2 after a disappointing 3-1 loss to equally moribund Los Angeles, but the loss actually served as a bit of a wake-up call. Well, maybe not a full-blown wake-up call, but rather a gentle nudge in the ribs telling you to stop snoring. The Seals started to play better after that, putting together a respectable 6-5 record, and the ship seemed righted. Finally. And then they started snoring again and right through to the end of the season.

“Finley’s Bid For Hull Fails” – Dec. 9, 1970 – download here

Did you know that Charlie Finley, in his attempt to make the Seals successful, tried to pry Bobby Hull away from the Chicago Black Hawks? Not even a $1 million offer could get Chicago to budge, but can you blame them? That said, maybe taking Finley’s offer wouldn’t have been that dumb considering Hull would be playing in the WHA just two years later.

“Unfamiliar Mirth in Oakland” (by Nelson Cullenward) – Dec. 10, 1970 – download here

When one looks at the Seals’ final record for 1970-71 (20 wins, 53 losses, 5 ties), one would think the entire season was just doom and gloom. Surprisingly, the Seals didn’t look all that bad leading up to Christmas. In fact, they had enjoyed two four-game winning streaks (setting the club record) and had an 11-19-2 record. Of course, things went to hell in a handbasket afterwards, but in December 1970, life was good in Oakland. On the 10th, the Seals picked up a lopsided 6-1 win over Vancouver in front of Charlie Finley himself, and the old man couldn’t have been happier.

“Canucks Bring Food for Seals’ Picnic”/”Selke’s Iron in the Fire” (by Hal Sigurdson) – Dec. 10, 1970 – download here

The Seals were just on the verge of a mini-upswing when the Vancouver Canucks came to town December 9, 1970. The Seals were last in the West Division as a result of a sorry 6-17-2 record, but the Canucks were soundly defeated that night. The Seals would win four of their next six games to provide fans with a glimmer of hope that they were going to rise up from the ashes, but that little stretch of positivity was pretty much all she wrote for the Seals as the team would win just nine more games the rest of the way. What is interesting about this piece from Hal Sigurdson of the Vancouver Sun is the way in which Vancouver coach Hal Laycoe described playing the Seals: “Those uniforms and those colored skates make you think you are playing a team from Disneyland. I don’t know why exactly, but every time I look at them I think of teddy bears.” Uh-huh… As an added bonus, you can also read a second article from Sigurdson about former Seals general manager Frank Selke Jr. and his post-resignation plans.

“A Host of New Fans for The Golden Seals” (by Nelson Cullenward) – Dec. 23, 1970 – download here

There weren’t many nights like this one in Seals history, but on December 22, 1970, the Seals played what can be described as a perfect game. Well, nearly perfect. After all, they gave up two goals, but they also scored five against the West Division leaders from Chicago. They also pulled off the feat in front of a raucous Coliseum crowd of 8,692, half of whom were children brandishing souvenir sticks. As a result of the Seals’ impressive showing, the San Francisco Examiner‘s Nelson Cullenward mused that we could “bet” that these kids would be begging Dad to take them to the Seals next home game; there were exactly 3,467 fans attendance that night.

“Hickes Help to Ignite Seals” (by John Porter) – Dec. 24, 1970 – download here

If players are joking around with each other, you know things are probably going very well on the ice. Everyone is loosey-goosey, friendly wagers are made between linemates, and there’s friendly banter a-plenty, even in front of the media. So when you read this article from December 24, 1970, the Seals may have just been in the Christmas spirit, but their witty back-and-forth jabs was likely caused by their impressive 5-2 win over Chicago, the Seals’ fourth win in a row. For the first time since 1968-69, the Seals were on a real roll, but just like all of the club’s previous good times, this latest one was fleeting.

“Seals Play Aceless Foe” (by Hugh McDonald) Jan. 16, 1971 – download here

Gary Smith was always known to handle the puck quite well, and he even tried to score a goal on a number of occasions. This article details one such attempt, although it was not his first in a Seals uniform. There was at least one other moment against Toronto the year before when he skated up to the blue line before shooting the puck towards the goal, but it seems unlikely he was trying to score, especially since the Leafs’ net was not even empty. On January 15, 1971, however, the Seals were ahead in the dying minutes when the Rangers pulled their goalie, so Smith tried his luck once again.

“Elusive Lady and the Seal” (by John Porter) – Jan. 26, 1971 – download here

For one season, Dennis Hextall was not only the Seals’ best offensive player, but also their resident wolverine. He basically lost his shot at the Lady Byng Trophy – given out to the player who best exemplifies gentlemanly qualities on the ice combined with superior talent – on his first shift in the NHL.

“Blood On The Ice” (by Ed Levitt) – Feb. 4, 1971 – download here

The Seals’ 1970-71 season was one of the toughest the team ever endured. The last half of the season in particular was quite rough. Injuries mounted like the players were participating in a Civil War battle and as a result, games were often lopsided messes that usually went against the Seals. This article, an interesting piece from the Oakland Tribune‘s Ed Levitt is a testament to the toughness of the average hockey player.

“Seals Good For Laughs” (by Nelson Cullenward) – Feb. 25, 1971 – download here

The Seals good for laughs? If you weren’t involved with the 1970-71 version of the team, that statement would be pretty accurate. For anyone even remotely involved with Oakland’s NHL entry that year, that was not at all the case, and the night of February 24, 1971, as the Seals took on the Montreal Canadiens, no one wearing yellow that night was laughing.

“A Cold Season” (by Ed Levitt) – Mar. 16, 1971 – download here

1970-71 was not exactly a banner year for the California Golden Seals. They had qualified for the playoffs each of the last two seasons, and their roster looked relatively solid, but around the mid-way point of the season, the bottom fell out and reality hit: the organization was getting old, and slow, and there was no one ready to carry the torch the next few years. The Seals would have no choice but to slog through the last half of the season and hope for a better future in October. This Oakland Tribune article from Ed Levitt talks about the frustration everyone, including ownership, coaches, and fans were feeling as the season dragged on to its conclusion.

“Young Seal’s Rough Road” (by John Porter) – Mar. 28, 1971 – download here

Ron Stackhouse was one of the Golden Seals’ brightest young stars, and he enjoyed himself a very good rookie season in Oakland, putting up 8 goals and 24 assists. This is a fun article that sums up some of the more interesting moments of the young defenseman’s rookie season.

“Canucks at 50: When the expansion hosts ‘Sealed’ victory with goals galore” – November 14, 2019 (originally published March 29, 1971, written by Hal Sigurdson) – download here

Thanks to Pete Manzolillo for sending me this great article from the Vancouver Sun. 1970-71 was one of the worst in Seals history, and their play down the stretch was among the most putrid ever. Every game it seemed the Seals would give up six or seven goals… but eleven? Even the most pessimistic fan would never have imagined the Seals would give up eleven goals to the expansion Canucks.

“Seals Trip Stars” – Apr. 1, 1971 – download here

The Seals were in an unfamiliar position late in the 1970-71 season: hopelessly out of the playoffs. Of course, you have to remember that the Seals had made the playoffs the two previous seasons, so to be sitting dead last and playing the role of spoiler was somewhat weird. The Minnesota North Stars, however, were well on their way to the playoffs, but the question was where they would finish in the West, and who their first-round opponent would be. This article from the Minneapolis Tribune details the Seals’ impressive 4-1 win, their 20th, and last, of the season.