Hi everyone! Another week has come and gone. Can’t say I’m upset about that. I’m thrilled it’s the weekend and I can put work behind me for a couple days. That was one tough week! At least next week is shaping up to be somewhat normal, and my schedule is looking much more relaxed. Besides, we’re supposed to have two nice weekend days, which means heading off to the park (with masks now), coffee in hand, and maybe even wearing short sleeves and sandles. So things are looking up. I even qualify for a Covid vaccine now! For once, it’s actually awesome gettin’ old! Suck on that, all you self-important thirty-somethings! But first, some new Seals stuff…

This week, check out a new article from December 22, 1973, a truly unhappy time for every Seals fan. At 4-20-7, the Seals were already eleven points out of seventh place. Seventh place! Not even Christmas yet, and the playoffs were already twenty points away! Yikes! Most everyone wanted Charlie Finley’s head on a platter. That’s understandable considering he bungled the players’ contract negotiations worse than Ontario’s government botched its handling of this Covid-19 crisis. Some, such as Nelson Cullenward of the San Francisco Examiner had other ideas, such as filling in for the often-overwhelmed Gilles Meloche. Little did anyone know that the Seals were only a few months into their bleakest period, a two-year span in which they won a grand total of 29 games.

The race to the Seals Hall of Fame is starting to heat up once again, with a few front-runners clearly starting to outdistance the rest of the pack. If you haven’t already done so, you can cast your votes by clicking on this link (https://form.jotform.com/210704845040244).

Until next week, stay gold and stay safe!

Hi everyone! It’s great to be back! It’s been a busy few weeks… a few months even. My deadline has come and gone and the new manuscript is now in the hands of McFarland Press. I feel great! If all goes well, book number two will see the light of day sometime in the next 9-12 months. Finally, one big job out of the way, and now I can get back to taking things slow. I feel like watching some TV, maybe a little hockey. It’s about time I caught up on some of my favourites on the small screen. And it’s about time I got caught up here too, so let’s get down to business!

This week, I’ve added a new article from May 24, 1968, the day after Fred Glover was introduced as the Oakland Seals’ new head coach. The media in attendance was very impressed, and it was indeed the dawn of a new era, the Seals’ playoff era. Sure, it didn’t last long, but it was a fun time for any Seals fan. You can read the article right here.

I also would like to direct your attention to a nice six-and-a-half minute clip from 1976-77 of the Cleveland Barons playing the Vancouver Canucks. You can find it here.

If anyone wants to cast some votes for the 2021 Seals Hall of Fame, you can click on this link (https://form.jotform.com/210704845040244). And if you’d like a little background on all the nominees, you can check out their bios here.

Until next time, stay safe and stay gold!

Hi everyone! As you know, I’ve been getting my new manuscript ready before my mid-April deadline, so I’ll be keeping the update short this week. That being said, I think you’ll enjoy knowing that I got my hands on a great hockey history book that spends a lot of time exploring our favorite defunct franchise, the Seals. You can read my review of John Robertson’s new book Hockey’s Wildest Season: the Changing of the Guard in the NHL, 1969-70 right here. This season may have sucked for the Seals, but the book sure doesn’t, so I urge you read my review and then head on over to Amazon to pick up your copy today.

Don’t forget to keep casting your votes for this year’s Seals Hall of Fame inductees. Just slide the scroll bar down slightly to reveal this year’s candidates and get clicking if you’ve got 20 seconds to spare.

https://form.jotform.com/210704845040244

Until next time, stay gold!

Hi everyone! Just a quick update this week, I’m afraid, as I’m knee deep in words and photos involving two other NHL teams, the Washington Capitals and Kansas City Scouts. The new book’s manuscript is due in a little less than a month, so I’ve got lots of work to do. All is well though, thankfully. Photos are rolling in from former players, and I can only hope the publisher thinks they are appropriate. I’ve got a few more interviews lined up for next week too, not to mention some editing to do, so I’ll be pretty busy, but I haven’t forgotten about you.

https://form.jotform.com/210704845040244

If you’re looking for something to do, you can always vote for who you think should be elected to the Seals Hall of Fame. The ballot is right up above, so go nuts!

In the articles section, I’ve added a new piece on the history of the Cleveland Barons. It includes some really nice photos and some interesting quotes as well, so go check it out.

Until next time, stay gold!

Hi everyone! Well, since Opinion Stage won’t stop being a turd and allow me to post surveys like I’ve done every day for the last five years, I’ve decided to switch to Jotform (a FAR superior survey and questionnaire maker, by the way, Opinion Stage). Feel free to cast your votes for this year’s Seals Hall of Fame inductees. You can only vote once per device, but you can vote for more than one candidate when you do. As I mentioned the last few weeks, all of the votes from the previous survey still count, and I’ve kept that tally, so your old votes have not gone to waste.

https://form.jotform.com/210704845040244

This week, as I was perusing the Internet as I so often do now that I have absolutely nowhere to go, I found one hell of a nice video: 30 full minutes of a Cleveland Barons-Pittsburgh Penguins game from October 23, 1977! The video’s quality is quite impressive too, so you’ll want to check it out. It’s the only substantial video of the Barons (with full audio) that I have ever found. In a way though, that’s not a great thing, as Pittsburgh’s play-by-play man, Bob Prince, seemed completely out of his element. It’s a great clip though, and will surely bring back some memories. You can find the YouTube link over in the Video and Audio section of the site.

Anyway, that’s about it for this week. Hope you enjoy the new stuff!

Hi everyone! It’s finally Friday and I couldn’t be happier! What a horrible week! It feels like I spun my wheels for about five days straight, accomplishing nothing except answering email after email, responding to complaint after complaint from clients, and meeting with people wanting me to create them a learning plan. It truly was exhausting! It’s been a busy time at the school where I both teach and act as its academic director. Lots of demand for new contracts in the closing weeks of the fiscal year, but also a lack of teachers to meet said demand. It’s a brutal combination that we deal with almost every year at this time. Today was much better, and I got to accomplish some actual work this afternoon, but it was a hard week to say the least. I sometimes felt like I was getting repeatedly punched in the face. Almost like I was the victim of some hockey PR…

And that’s what this week’s article is all about: how hockey PR – at least hockey PR in the 1960s – was so honest and brutal it felt like getting a fist between the eyes. The article also delves into some developments in the Seals training camp as they geared up for the 1969-70 season, which started off well-enough but quickly turned into a nightmare.

On a more frustrating note, I tried to relaunch the Seals 2021 Hall of Fame survey, and failed, so I’ve decided to look for a new platform that will allow everyone to have a chance to vote. I have kept track of all the votes thus far so they will all count, as promised, and I will re-post the new survey in the coming weeks so the voting can continue right to the end. The good news is that everyone who already voted will be given a chance to vote a second time, so stay tuned for the relaunch!

Until next time, stay gold!

Hi everyone! Let me explain the title. I’m going to be a proud father once again, but my two other children need not feel jealous as this offspring is going to consist of paper, cardboard, and about 140,000 words. OK, so I’m not good at coming up with creative riddles, but it’s my way of announcing that my new book on the first two years of the Washington Capitals and Kansas City Scouts, and their foray into Japan to play for the 1976 Coca-Cola Bottlers’ Cup is finally going to see the light of day. McFarland Press will be publishing my new tome, if all goes well, near the end of the year or early next year (most likely scenario). In case, any of you are excited about what these pages will contain, I have a treat for you in the form of a snippet from the uncut, unrated version, which you can find here. Like I said, this has not yet been published. There are likely a few mistakes here and there, and it may well look completely different when the book comes out, but you get the idea. If you’re a Seals fan, you’re in luck too, as this excerpt, entitled “Uncle Miltie Takes Over” explores one of the Seals’ most infamous moments.

I’ve also added a brand new article from the February 2, 1973 edition of the Hockey News, which was published during a very tumultuous time for the Seals. Garry Young had just been fired, Charlie Finley was pissed off, and the team was losing consistently once again, but there was actually reason for optimism as the club’s young guns were just starting to get it together. You can read this Geoffrey Fisher article right here.

I’ve also just learned that my fellow McFarlandite John Robertson’s new book, Hockey’s Wildest Season: The Changing of the Guard in the NHL, 1969–1970 is available to pre-order from the McFarland website. A little birdie told me that it has substantial material about the Carol Vadnais-Ted Hampson era of Seals history, so you may want to check it out. I’ve already read a few of John’s books and if you like any of my stuff, you’ll love his too, I guarantee!

Next week, I hope to re-post the ballots for the 2021 Seals Hall of Fame induction, so come back if you haven’t already had the chance to vote. Those of you who have voted, rest assured, your votes have not been lost, and they will be counted!

Until next time, stay gold!

Hi everyone! Full disclosure, I’m not a Leafs fan. Never have been. Think of my hatred of the Leafs as being similar to how you would feel if a hockey team of Ted Cruz’s skipped out on a game you bought a ticket for because they had to escort their kids to Mexico. You know, because they’re just being a “good Dad”. Think Michael Jordan sitting in the same cab as Isaiah Thomas, or Bret Hart vs. Stone Cold Steve Austin circa 1997. In fact, if the Leafs made it to the Stanley Cup Final and had a chance at becoming the first Canadian team in 28 years to bring the silver chalice home to the Great White North where it belongs, I still wouldn’t cheer for them. Not a chance. I would dig through my box of childhood memories, find my old rosary beads which I was given somewhere around grade one, and start praying the looming Apocalypse away. FYI… I’m not religious. At. All. But I’d willing to be if it meant keeping the Stanley Cup out of Toronto for one more year. My friends think I’m nuts not wanting to jump on the bandwagon and cheer on Canada’s team whenever they are up against the Boston Bruins. Nope. Not gonna do it. So, long story short, am I biased against Canada’s second greatest hockey team? Ab-so-freakin-lutely! Have I developed an irrational hatred for this obviously evil Blue Man Group knock-off. Oh Hell Yeah! Am I putting my hard-earned reputation as a credible, objective hockey writer at risk? Oh, come on, if you’ve ever read anything in the Hockey Hall of Shame, you know as well as I do that that ship has long since sailed.

That being said, I’ll give the Leafs some credit for putting together an exciting young hockey club these last few years. It certainly took long enough for them to draft all these hot-shot youngsters considering the almost unparalleled mountain of losses the team has accumulated the last 50 years. You would almost expect them to win a couple of double-digit games here and there, but those things are actually pretty rare these days. And they were rare back in 1972 as well, although not as rare as a unicorn sighting. Case in point, the Seals were involved in two double-digit games that season: the famous 11-3 thrashing they heaped onto the Vancouver Canucks in January 1973, and this week’s article subject, the somewhat less famous 11-0 drubbing at the hands of the Toronto Maple Leafs. In fact, the eleven-goal margin of defeat was the worst in Seals/Barons history, and you can read all about it here.

Anyway, that’s about it for this week. Just a small update, I’m afraid. Took me a while to come up with that intro this time. Until next time, stay gold!

Hi everyone! So… small problem with the Seals Hall of Fame voting. You may have noticed that for the last few days, no one has been able to cast their votes. For some reason, my free Opinion Stage account has put a limit on how many votes can be cast per month, so I have to shut the voting down until March 1. But rest assured, the votes that have already been cast still count. It’s just that no else can vote for two more weeks or so. I could spend $29 a month to have the poll open for another four or five months, but I’m way too cheap for that. So here we are!

Anyway, now that we’re past that embarrassment, on to the new stuff. First, there is a new article and a related photos from the Seals’ September 19, 1972 pre-season game vs. Pittsburgh. Thanks to Larry Paquette of the Original Hockey Hall of Fame for sending me the photo my way!

I also stumbled upon an interesting website called NHLBackups.com where you can find out about NHL goaltenders who dressed for teams you never thought had signed them in the first place. Here is a link to Ray Martynuik’s bio and a brief story of how he almost became the Seals’ opening-day starter in October 1971. As you may know, Martynuik was a highly-touted junior prospect, drafted in the first round by the Montreal Canadiens, but traded to California for Seals first-rounder Tony Featherstone. When Gerry Desjardins showed up to training camp with a broken arm, it left the Seals with nothing but rookies to play goal, and it was a toss-up between Martynuik and Gary Kurt who would play vs. Los Angeles October 8, 1971. Lyle Carter had not yet arrived to take up one of the Seals’ goaltending spots, so it was up to Kurt and Martynuik to duke it out. It makes one wonder if Martynuik had actually played that night, perhaps he would have won, and would have remained with the Seals. Unfortunately, he never played that night, Carter arrived in time to back-up Kurt the following game, and Martynuik was sent back down never to return. You can read all about Martynuik’s brief NHL stay here.

Thanks for visiting, folks! Hope to see you back again next week. Until next time, stay gold!

Hi everyone! Well, it’s that time of year again. It’s time to cast your votes for the people you feel are worthy of induction into the Seals Hall of Fame. This year’s candidates are quite diverse, and all are worthy of induction, but only three can make the cut. There are front office people, stay-at-home defensemen, Western League stars, corner-men, and coaches. You’ll find this year’s eight candidates over on the right side of the screen, if you scroll down just a little bit. As in years past, you can vote up to three times per device, and the voting will remain open until July when the new inductees will be celebrated.

Without further ado, I give you the 2021 Seals Hall of Fame nominees, in random order:

Tom Thurlby

Charlie Burns

Doug Roberts

Gary Croteau

Norm Ferguson

Joe Starkey

Fred Glover

Garry Young

You can find the inductees’ bios right here, if you need some help making your decision.

Finally, for your entertainment, an enlightening interview with former Seals star Hilliard Graves. Thanks to Sante Debacco for telling me about this very interesting video, which you can find over on You Tube. Enjoy!

That’s about it for this week. Enjoy the return of the NHL and remember to stay safe this Super Bowl weekend! Until next time, stay gold!