Hi everyone! Whew, it has been a rough day at the Currier residence. I absolutely cannot wait to hit the hay and make up some of yesterday’s lost shuteye. The little one spent most of the night coughing, and about an hour before my alarm was about to go off, I had all sorts of tummy troubles that, coupled with my lack of sleep, made for a very uncomfortable day, but I got through it, and I even feel a little better now. That said, there will be no need to watch any of those parliamentary debates to get me drowsy tonight. all I want tonight is a solid 7 or 8 hours of sleep, but before I head off to Slumberland, I just wanted to take care of this week’s update. I hope you like a little ranting because Fred Glover unleashes a huge can of anger and vitriol in this week’s article from Spence Conley of the Oakland Tribune. You see, the 1968-69 Seals were off to a decent start, but whenever they ran into the Pittsburgh Penguins, the Seals went in the crapper blowing lead after lead. In the end, everything would work itself out as the Seals finished in second place, and the Penguins plummeted all the way down to fifth, and out of the playoffs. But in early December 1968, everyone still had a chance at the playoffs and losing points here and there frustrated Glover to no end. You can read all about Glover’s angry rant right here.

Sorry to keep things short this week, but I’ve got a date with my bed, and I don’t want to keep her waiting any longer. Hope you all enjoy your weekend! Until next time, stay gold!

Hi everyone! I hope everyone had a great Super Bowl Weekend. If you’re reading this, it means you survived whatever grease-and-sugar fest you organized/were invited to. Congrats! It must have been a pretty good evening. Unless you are an Eagles fan. In that case, you probably felt pretty crappy. And maybe a little bloated from the grease-and-sugar fest. Win or lose, the end of a sports season is a bittersweet time for all players and fans. For fans, it means having hours and hours and hours of time to fill with barbecues and reruns of CSI. For players, it means heading home, sometimes thousands of miles away, to see their family and friends, and knowing that not everyone will be back come training camp. It makes me wonder what is more of a relief: winning the championship after enduring the stress of a full regular season and playoffs, overtime games, media pressure, etc., or just finishing off (finally!) the last game of a very, very long losing season, and knowing that you thankfully don’t have to hit the ice again for another six months. I leave that thought with you, but as you think about it, head on over the articles section and read up on the Seals’ last game of the 1972-73 season, a fourth consecutive win for the Green-and-Gold. Spoiler alert: it wasn’t a championship game, but you probably knew that already.

In celebration of those players and fans who have an entire spring and summer to partake in various amusing activities, I invite you to head down memory lane to the time I analyzed the not-so-classic 1994-95 and 1995-96 Upper Deck Be a Player sets. They are a hoot and a holler. And they are also a huge load of crap, as you newbies to the site will soon find out. Enjoy!

Until next time, stay gold!

Hi everyone and Happy Super Bowl Weekend! Yes, it’s that time of year again where we are going to spend an entire Sunday glued to our TVs and eating an obscene amount of greasy, salty, and sugary snacks. I’m not a big football fan myself, but I do enjoy getting together with my friends and cracking open a few beers. I’ve had deep fried Oreos, deep fried Snickers, deep fried McDonald’s cheeseburgers cut into quarters, and lots of other deep friend things, none which even closely resembled a vegetable. There may have been some vegetables on some of the pizza I’ve had over the years, but I can’t quite remember. Tomato sauce is a vegetable, right? Anyway, how ever you choose to celebrate the biggest sporting event of the year, drink responsibly and drive sober, so you can get those grease-and-fat-related stomach cramps all over again next year.

While the Cleveland Barons never got to enjoy the kind of spotlight the Philadelphia Eagles and Kansas City Chiefs are going to enjoy a few days from now, there are plenty of reasons to celebrate the club. One of those reasons is former Barons play-by-play man Larry Hirsch, who took the time to speak to Glenn Dreyfuss of the Society for International Hockey Research and its weekly episode of Hockey Time Machine. On February 2, Hirsch talked about his interesting two-year stint in Cleveland, the time he was hazed by Randy Holt, his relationship with broadcasting partner Harry Howell, and the cavernous Richfield Coliseum. The episode is filled with Barons highlights and photos to keep your eyes entertained as Hirsch spins some great yarns. He also talks about how he became a play-by-play man for the New Jersey Devils and Tampa Bay Lightning during the 90-plus minute conversation, which you can find a link to right over here.

Until next time, stay gold!

Hi everyone! As an educator of twenty years experience, I have taught people of all ages in two different countries. I’ve prided myself on imparting a little wisdom on those I have taught. And so today I want to share something with all of you. First, “renege” is a really hard word to spell. Seriously, when you hear someone say “renege”, is that how you picture the word is spelled? Oh, and don’t renege on a deal, folks. That’s really important to remember, as the entire California Golden Seals franchise found out in the early weeks of 1972-73. As you may or may not know, Dick Redmond signed a rich new deal with general manager Garry Young during that tumultuous summer of ’72 when players were jumping ship right, left, and center, and the entire ocean surrounding said ship was filled with World Hockey Association-manned boats carrying life-preservers. Anyway, when Finley found out what Redmond was making, the Seals owner immediately said “Nuh-uh” and started paying Redmond at a discount. You may be shocked to find out that Redmond was not thrilled about seeing half his money just go up in smoke. Before long, Young was fired, Redmond was sent to Chicago, and the Seals had lost their best defenseman. You can read all about it in this week’s article from the San Francisco Examiner.

As a added bonus this week, a funny, short Seals reference in this piece about a Somerset, Massachusetts coach named Bob Souza, who passed away recently after a long illness. Many players on the California Golden Seals were not big fans of Charlie Finley’s infamous white skates, and apparently neither was Bob Souza. Thanks to Pete Manzolillo for sending this article my way!

Until next time, stay gold!

Hi everyone! As I was doing some research for a potential new book, I stumbled upon a delightful, well-written article about the 1971-72 Seals. I found it in the Montreal Star, which was of course the newspaper where the late, great Red Fisher worked. He wrote a nice piece that focuses mostly on new Seals general manager Garry Young, whose team was in town to face the Canadiens the following night (a hard-fought 3-3 tie, by the way). Fisher gives us some new insight into how Garry Young became general manager (Spoiler alert: He wasn’t Finley’s first choice), not to mention how he used his communication skills to make personal connections with his players. In the article, Young also talks about the impact Gilles Meloche had already had on the Seals (even though the young goaltender had been with the club for just five weeks). He also talks about the bright future Bobby Sheehan had ahead of him (although he also hints at the possible reasons for his sharp decline in production just a few weeks later). I highly recommend you read this full-page article from December 18, 1971.

On a sad note, I unfortunately have to mention that former Seal Brian Perry passed away earlier this week at the age of 78. In 95 career games with the Seals, the Aldershot, England-born Perry scored 16 goals and added 29 assists. He was part of the Seals’ best-ever team, the 1968-69 version that finished second in the West Division. That year, he scored 10 goals and 21 assists, and was an important secondary scorer for the team. He played another 34 games for Oakland the following year, and then was selected by Buffalo in the 1970 expansion draft. He played just one game for Buffalo before finding his way to the World Hockey Association, where he spent the last two years of his big-league career. R.I.P. Brian.

Until next time, stay gold!

Hi everyone!

I’ve got a great trivia question for all of you today, so put your thinking caps on….

Ok, ready? Here goes…

Who was the first member of the Seals to be caught with an illegal stick? Take your time, it’s a tough one…

I won’t spoil it for you, and I won’t reveal the season in which the incident occurred, but if you want to find the answer you will just have to read the new article I’ve posted here. I will, however, give you a brief rundown of this Hugh McDonald piece from the San Mateo Times. The Seals were up against the Pittsburgh Penguins, who were fighting for their playoff lives, and our heroes were up by a couple of goals, but blew the lead in the dying minutes of the contest. The illegal, overly curved stick wasn’t the actual culprit in the debacle, but it did prevent the Seals from perhaps scoring a last-minute goal to retake the lead. That’s all I’m revealing, so if you want the answer to this really hard trivia question, you will have to go read the article.

As my Montreal Canadiens slowly sink to the bottom of the standings, and their Stanley Cup dreams have all but evaporated, it got me thinking of Marty McSorley’s infamous curved stick that cost the Kings game two of the Final, all but pushing the door wide open for the Habs to storm back and take the series. So, personally, I’m not all that bummed when a player gets nabbed with an illegal stick. A rule is a rule, right? Yeah, it might be chintzy, but you do what you gotta do to win. Anyway, just in case anyone was wondering what my feelings were on the matter, knowing that an illegal stick remains one of the most important pieces of equipment in the history of my favourite (still-existing) team, there ya go.

On that note, I hope you all have a great weekend, and until next time, stay gold!

Hi everyone! After supper this evening, my wife was watching an old video of our son dancing like a crazy person at a Super Bowl party. We then realized that this was the 2020 Super Bowl party, which occurred about a month before the Covid-19 pandemic started. We then realized that this was the last actual party we’ve been to. I do miss going to parties. I wonder if this year my group of friends will be starting up the old Super Bowl tradition again. Even though we’ve been going back to restaurants for the last year or so, it just isn’t the same as being in a small room with a large group of people. It is especially heartwarming when the people organizing the party actually show up.

That said, this week we are heading back to Ohio to see what the Cleveland Barons were up to in the early days of the 1977-78 season. Needless to say, it did not start very well…

Before the season even began, the Barons had the brilliant idea of hosting a luncheon for some 600 of their fans. Not a bad plan in itself. The only problem was that when everyone sat down to eat their appetizers, the Barons were nowhere to be found. Awkward… When everyone started consuming their main course, still no Barons. And when desserts came around, the Barons were still conspicuously absent. Had they forgotten about their lunch date? Had a UFO flown over Cleveland and abducted the team? No, it was because the Barons had hired the wrong man to drive them to the luncheon. Head on over to the articles section to read this short, funny piece about the bus driver who also happens to be an inductee into the Hockey Hall of Shame.

About two weeks after the Barons were given an unwanted and unexpected tour of Cleveland, the Los Angeles Kings made their way to the Coliseum, and with a 2-0-1 record to start the season (not to mention a 2-0 opening night win over the Barons), they were feeling pretty good about themselves, but the Barons had some surprises in store for the purple-and-gold-clad Kings. You can read this article over here.

That’s about it for this week. Until next time, stay gold!

Hi everyone! Glad to have you back again for another Golden Seals Hockey update. As I write this my annual Christmas holiday is coming to an end very shortly. Only one day left before I head back to work, which, much like last year at this time, will continue to be from the comfort of my basement. While the pandemic has waned, for the most part, other things have remained the same. I can’t complain though. I’ve grown accustomed to not having to drive half-way across town through snow and freezing rain just to get to the office. It was nice though to have some time to get out of the basement and do some shopping, get some chores off my to-do list, and finding new material to add to this site every week.

I was going through my archives this week, and came across an interesting piece about the Seals and Penguins 4-4 tie on February 11, 1976. The Seals absolutely needed to win this one just to remain close to the Toronto Maple Leafs, who were sitting in third place in the Adams Division. Much like the current edition of the Montreal Canadiens entering their game tonight on a 7-game winless streak, the 1975-76 Seals had also gone seven straight without a win, so the club’s psyche was probably a little fragile. After all, losing begets losing. In the back of your mind, you believe it is just a matter of time before something will go wrong and ruin what looks to be a positive result. While the Habs held on to a one-goal lead to beat St. Louis tonight and finally end their miserable streak, the Seals, who were also up by a goal with seconds remaining, blew their opportunity, and they were once again well on their way to missing the playoffs. You can read all about this disappointing night right here.

Until next time, stay gold!

Hi everyone! Well, it’s been one helluva roller-coaster ride this year, hasn’t it? As we gleefully push 2022 off the edge of the proverbial cliff and greet 2023 like a white knight coming to save us from a smoking dragon’s fiery breath, let us take the time to celebrate! Subscriber Chuck Nan sent me a request to add a mention of some of the celebratory moments in Seals history, which sounded like a good idea to me. He wrote three short pieces about four moments when the hockey world celebrated the Seals, and I have posted them to the site. You can read Chuck’s pieces here. Thanks so much, Chuck!

I hope all of you had yourselves a very Happy Holiday, and that you were able to spend some quality time with family and friends. Happy New Year to you as well! Be sure to celebrate and drink responsibly. And if you are like me and your significant other is working an evening shift, and you are responsible for giving your offspring a bath and putting them to bed on New Year’s Eve, and celebrating the New Year is almost completely out of the question, I hope you enjoy a little hockey, whether it be NHL style or the World Junior level. Either way, you really can’t go wrong. Just make sure to set the PVR so you don’t miss anything. Little tip from one Dad to all the other parents of young children out there.

Until next time, stay gold!

Hi everyone! I’m sure that by now you have all seen the NHL’s new batch of reverse retro jerseys. As you all know well, I’m generally not a fan of third jerseys, mainly because they are a cash grab, and that teams really don’t need to change uniforms every six weeks. Case in point, most of the league’s Original Six teams are still wearing essentially the same uniforms they wore some fifty, sixty, seventy years ago, with just a few tweaks here and there. I dare you to find someone who thinks the Detroit Red Wings logo needs to be rearranged, or that the New York Rangers should trade in the red, white, and blue for a little black, grey, and road-cone orange.

It’s also kind of annoying that the New York Islanders brought back the old Captain Highliner logo for their reverse retros, which everyone absolutely despised back in the day, and now, somehow, like magic, it has come back from the dead, and people suddenly like it. Huh?

That said, a couple of teams really hit the ball out of the park with their reverse retros. The L.A. Kings’ return to purple and yellow is lovely.

So is the Minnesota Wild’s homage to the Minnesota North Stars. Very classy look indeed.

But what about these beauties? You just knew these were coming up…

Yowza! You can probably imagine how delighted I was to find out the San Jose Sharks were turning back the clock to 1974-75 and bringing back the last uniforms worn by the California Golden Seals. These really pop on an HD TV. The Sharks could bring these out every night from here on in, and I will wholeheartedly support that initiative.

Anyhoo, what do you guys think of the the Sharks’ new Seals-inspired jerseys? Drop me a message in the “Contact Steve” section, and let me know, and I’ll post some of your responses on the site.

Until next time, stay gold!