Hi everyone! Well, we’re getting closer and closer to announcing the nominees for the 2021 Seals Hall of Fame, and since I’m totally in favour of democracy, I thought I would play Devil’s advocate today as I throw out one controversial question… maybe THE MOST CONTROVERSIAL question a Seals fan could ask another: Should Charlie Finley be enshrined in the Seals Hall of Fame?

At first glance, many of you are probably thinking, “Oh Hell NO!” After all, Finley has been blamed by many, including myself, for being at least partly responsible for the Seals falling apart in the early 1970s. Yes, on one hand, he was cheap, controversial, and made a lot of bad decisions. His decision not to sign his players to lucrative new contracts to keep them away from the WHA was a big factor in the Seals falling apart in 1972-73. He was difficult to work with, leading to the departures of Frank Selke Jr. and Bill Torrey, but it was also Finley’s decision to hire Garry Young, the architect of that star-crossed 1971-72 club, that gave the Seals a chance at making the playoffs that same year.

Finley was also, shall we say, “creative”, coming up with the Seals’ green-and-gold skates (and of course the memorable white skates) and green-and-gold uniforms, none of which are any worse than what is seen the professional sports these days. If anything, the Seals’ classic uniforms would be bigger sellers today than they were then. Finley also came up with the team’s most famous moniker, “California Golden Seals”, which may have partly inspired the successful Vegas Golden Knights. He was also the first owner to push for names on the back of sweaters, discouraged the Seals’ unfortunate earlier practice of trading of first-round picks for immediate help, and in a weird sort of way he gave the formerly anonymous forest-green wearing team some much-needed exposure through his blustery behaviour. He was also the Seals’ longest tenured owner, and his paychecks never bounced once. He treated his players well, always flying them first class, and he enjoyed treating his troops to new suits, fancy shoes, steak dinners, and new suitcases and sport jackets, something very few other owners did. He also hired some very competent people behind the scenes, such as Young and famous broadcaster Joe Starkey.

The Hockey Hall of Fame has inducted other controversial builders such as Harold Ballard and Bill Wirtz, so the question that needs to be asked is whether Charles O. Finley deserves induction into our little Hall of Fame. If Mr. Finley succeeds in getting over 50% of the vote, he will be included on the ballot for the 2021 Seals Hall of Fame, so think of this as a sort of referendum. You can cast your vote right over there to the right.

There is also a new, Finley-related article for you to read this week from the February 17, 1974 San Francisco Examiner. It was published shortly after Finley sold the Seals to the NHL, Joey Johnston was named the team’s new captain, Marshall Johnston was appointed the club’s new coach, and Garry Young became the Seals’ new director of player personnel operations. The article is all about Finley’s rocky tenure as owner, but also his personal feelings about the sport of hockey, and the Bay Area’s potential as a hockey hotbed.

Hope to see you back here soon! Until next time, stay gold!

Hi everyone. More sad news to report as the Seals Booster Club lost another member this week. Even though Ricky Ricardo wasn’t technically a member of the Club, as far as I know, his San Leandro (and before that, in Hayward) restaurant, Ricky’s Sports Bar, has been the longtime meeting place of the Boosters. Ricky passed away November 14 at the age of 75 from a stroke and complications from Alzheimer’s Disease. Although I never met Ricky since we lived several time zones apart, I wish to express my condolences to Ricky’s friends and family as I know what an important part he played in the Seals’ history. In case any of you would like to here some comments and stories about Ricky, his restaurant, and the Seals, from Booster Club member Morie Kahane, who appeared on the Papa and Lund Show on KNBR radio, you can click here to hear his interview from November 16th.

Normally, I don’t post articles about pre-season games, but I found an interesting one recently that I felt deserved to be shared. Not only does it include the Seals playing a WHA club (Whaaaat?), but the game resulted in so lopsided a win for the Seals that the players, for maybe the first and only time in the club’s entire NHL history, uttered a whole slew of cocky comments not unlike those other NHL clubs so often uttered when talking about their lopsided wins against the Seals. You can check out this week’s new reading material, as usual, in the articles section here.

Until next time, stay gold!

Hi everyone! Did you ever have one of those days where you felt the whole world was conspiring against you? My last 24 hours have been just that, and I ain’t talking about no election fraud either. You see, today is November 13, and I’ve had this day circled on my calendar for about six weeks now, because it is the day the new AC/DC album, PWR/UP has been released. I don’t know if I’ve ever told you this before, but I am a HUGE AC/DC fan. Have been since the early 1990s when everyone in my eighth grade class was listening to “Thunderstruck”. Unfortunately, AC/DC has not been the most prolific band since then, only releasing a new album every five or six years, sometimes more, but every time they do, I go absolutely ape$h!t. I stop whatever I’m doing, I head on over to whatever place sells CDs and I pick up a copy without even looking at the price. I crank it up in the car, and then I crank it up at home, and I have my AC/DC Rock ‘n’ Roll Fun Time. It’s a special moment for me as it only happens about once a decade. The last time I was able to enjoy this moment, we never actually thought a cranky, billionaire sore loser lunatic would ever live in a White House completely surrounded by disease and conspiracy except perhaps in a movie. That was 2014, and oh those were good times, weren’t they?

This time though, I’ve found the world conspiring against me from heading on over to the local CD place. For one thing, I was planning on having a relaxing afternoon working on a few small administrative tasks, and when my wife was heading out to pick up our son from work, I was going to make the basement foundation crumble with some AC/DC magic. Then my son got a cough, and that meant a COVID test. Which meant no going to school until he got a negative result. Which meant none of us were leaving the house until he got a negative result. Which meant no new AC/DC album. Boo-urns! I also got tasked with doing some training with new employees at work, so goodbye AC/DC Rock ‘n’ Roll Fun Time… NOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!

Thankfully, my son’s result came back negative, which was expected since one of his friends had had a cold a few days ago and tested negative too. We got the COVID test result at 3:35pm, exactly eight minutes after I finished my training session, so off I went to the CD store like an excited school girl heading to a Shawn Mendes concert. I finally have my CD, and now that the kids have gone to bed, it’s time to rock out, and I am so looking forward to this. I’ve got my beer, and I’ve got my headphones, and I’m totally psyched. So as I’m listening to my beloved Aussies, I will update this site, as is customary every Friday evening.

First, we’ve got a nice, long article from the November 27, 1975 San Francisco Examiner about a young lad who showed a bit of promise in the early weeks of that season. I’m talking of course about one Dennis Maruk, and this article from Wells Twombly is a great feature on the budding superstar.

In the Overexposed wing, we are featuring NHL legend Denis Savard, who is just trying to get himself dressed and out the door after a tough game. Or maybe he just likes walking around with his shirt off and pretending he doesn’t like it, what do I know. In either case, if you want to see Denis looking all flustered and annoyed, you can head on over to the Overexposed wing of the Hockey Hall of Shame.

So this has been one long entry! I’ll end it here by telling you once again to come back again next week, and until then, to stay gold!

I have just learned today that former Seals and Barons defenseman Jim Neilson passed away November 5 at the age of 79. He will be terribly missed by everyone who ever had the privilege of knowing with him. Our condolences go out to his entire family, who have been trying for several years to get Jim inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame. In 16 NHL seasons, Neilson played 1,024 games, scored 69 goals and added 299 assists. During his 12 seasons as a New York Ranger, the stay-at-home Neilson was often paired with a young Brad Park, but in 1969-70 Neilson put together his best-ever offensive season: 10 goals, 34 assists. The year before, he scored 6 goals and 29 assists and was named a Second Team All-Star at the end of the season. As a member of the Seals and Barons, he played 213 games over four seasons, scoring 9 goals and 61 assists. He was one of the main reasons for the Seals’ resurgence in 1974-75 and 1975-76 as he provided a steady presence for the club’s young and inexperienced blue line. He was inducted into the Seals Hall of Fame in 2019, and you can read his induction biography here.

R.I.P. Jim

Hi everyone! So… anything interesting happen this week?

No?

Ok, I guess onto this week’s new Seals stuff. This time, we’re going back to 1973. The Seals were dead last in the West, and Montreal was in town to lay down their usual beating, but that wasn’t the real story. It was February 4, and the fans may have been a little upset that the Seals were miles out of the playoff race after coming so close the year before. A couple of fans got into a bit of a skirmish behind the Seals bench, necessitating the intervention of the police. The whole kerfuffle is detailed here in this article from the Oakland Tribune‘s John Porter.

After spending the last week gasping at the Hockey Hall of Shame’s latest addition, we trudge down the Overexposed wing to wince at the chaos of the New York Islanders’ goal crease, circa 1981-82. Which of the Islanders’ many Hall-of-Famers are we going to expose? You’ll just have to head on over to this week’s induction to find out.

Anyway, assuming the country is still standing next week (Hey, now I remember what happened this week… my daughter has been learning to stand on her two feet!), we’ll be back for more on-and-off ice action. Until next time, stay gold!

Hi everyone! I received a little clarification from Len Shapiro about last week’s topic, the Bay Area Seals, which may interest some of you, so I’m posting Len’s e-mail to me: “Pins, Pennants and programs were issued with the Bay Area Seals name. Finley never got authorization from the NHL to use the Bay Area Seals name. Therefore, two games into the season, the team reverted back to the California Golden Seals.” I went back and looked through some of the photos I’ve found online over the years, and I found several things that mentioned the Bay Area Seals, including a letter (green lettering on bright yellow paper!) from Charlie Finley to prospective ticket buyers. Can’t believe that slipped under my radar when I had it sitting right there all along.

This week, I’ve added a new article from December 21, 1974 about the Seals’ 5-2 win over the expansion Washington Capitals. It’s a great piece since it not only includes “McDonald’s Ice Chips”, which were often featured in teh San Mateo Times, but it also includes a bonus artifact, a one-page news release that was made available before the game (Thanks to Pete Manzolillo, once again!). You can find the article at the top of the Seals/Barons Articles page.

I’ve also added part 3 of our “Awful Uniforms” trilogy, and this week it has a modern-day twist. By “modern day”, I mean October 2020. That’s right, I’m inducting something so new it hasn’t technically seen the light of day, but trust me when I say this is one sight that will give you a greater Halloween fright than pondering the possibility of an extension to the Trump presidency.

Anyhow, hopefully the United States is still standing next week when I post my next update, but if not, it’s been a blast, and thanks for all your support! Until next time (I hope)… stay gold (Just not like a certain desert-based hockey team… check out this week’s induction to solve the riddle…).

Hi everyone! I learned something this week. I think. I may have learned something this week. I’m not sure. I may be more confused now than ever. I am now openly questioning a part of the Seals history that may or may not have slid under my radar. I’m talking about the fabled “Bay Area Seals” era, that I briefly mentioned in my book. I really thought it was all a figment of Charlie Finley’s imagination, but I’m starting to think it actually was a reality. Sort of. I don’t know anymore…

A little back story… I was listening to the latest episode 185 of Tim Hanlon’s Good Seats Still Available featuring Chris Creamer and Todd Radom, who were promoting their interesting new book, Fabric of the Game: The Stories Behind the NHL’s Names, Logos and Uniforms , which I am giddily waiting to be released November 3. They were talking about the bizarre transition from Oakland Seals to California Golden Seals and how Finley actually changed the team’s name to Bay Area Seals. I had heard about this, but never thought it was an official name change, but apparently it was. In fact, many newspaper articles talk about the Bay Area Seals, and Finley had stationery and pennants made with Bay Area Seals written across them. They even explained that Finley planned on calling the team the San Francisco Golden Seals, but he backtracked on that and settled on California Golden Seals.

What confuses me is when the Bay Area Seals went the way of the dodo. Creamer and Radom claim the team actually played the first two games under that name, and some newspapers claim this too, but other newspapers still called the team “Oakland”. I don’t know what to believe anymore. I guess this will forever remain a mystery much like the weird Overexposed cards I put up on this site week after week.

Anyway, I encourage you to read the trio of articles I’ve selected to represent the bizarre Bay Area Seals era, and you can find them right here.

Until next time, stay gold!

Hi everyone! Welcome back to Golden Seals Hockey. Free agency is now upon us, finally, and the entry draft has come and gone, but everything feels kind of empty, doesn’t it? It just doesn’t feel right to be talking about free agency and drafts in October. Maybe we need to get back into the way-back machine and look at when many members of the Seals were looking to negotiate new contracts, which was not always easy during the Finley era. This week, you can read all about the struggles faced by the Seals’ impending free agents in this Hockey News article from March 9, 1973.

In keeping with this week’s theme, our latest Overexposed card features Jeff Petry, once of the Edmonton Oilers, but now (still) with the Montreal Canadiens after having re-upped for another four years for $25 million. You’ll find however, that he is definitely not the centre of attention on his own card, which is probably a good thing, as any of you who read these inductions understand that when a player is the main focus of one this site’s cards, it is for all the wrong reasons. And if you really want to know why we’re diving deep into the fibres this week, well look no further than this week’s induction.

Anyway, that’s about it for this week. Just want to say thanks to all those of you who have picked up the new paperback version of my book now available on Amazon.com and Amazon.ca. Stay safe and enjoy the off-season! Until next time, stay gold!

Hi everyone! Hey, how about the Lightning winning the Cup in 6? Just like I called it! Good job, Steve!

To celebrate this most minor of victories, I spent a little time on eBay looking for some classic cards. After all, with this pandemic pretty much ensuring I will never be heading to the mall ever again, I’ve got some extra coin burning a hole in my pocket. I decided I would look into completing the 1977-78 O-Pee-Chee set, one of my absolute favorites. I started collecting cards from this set back in the early 1990s when I knew absolutely nothing about cards. All I knew was I liked this set. It wasn’t all that expensive (there are no major rookies cards in it), there were lots of great action shots and weird uniforms a-plenty. It’s also where my love of old cards started.

I remember one day finding in my basement among a bunch of old Esso album stickers a package of 17 team logo cards from that set (I was missing Vancouver for some reason). The funny thing was I remembered seeing those cards before, but I don’t know how they got into my house. Back in the fifth grade, we had done some sort of project and one of my classmates brought in a bunch of old cards, including these with logos I didn’t recognize at all. The Colorado Rockies? Who the hell were they? And what was up with the “stick-in-a-box” Canucks logo? Where was the “spaghetti skate” thing? Anyway, I think we ended up taking these cards and taping them onto a bristol board. The thought of desecrating cards from that era still makes me cringe. I’m assuming the girl who brought those cards in to class took them back home after (not sure if her Dad ever okayed her to bring them in and use them like we did). Then a few years later I found the same cards with tape marks all over them in my basement.

See the tape at the bottom of, and the tape mark at the top of the Colorado Rockies’ card? Your guess is as good as mine how it got there. And by the way, the backgrounds of those cards are supposed to be white, much like the white on the background of this webpage.

Now, I’ve never stolen anything in my life, and I never would have stolen these cards, but I have a strange feeling that these are the same cards we used for our project. I’m really not sure, though. They may have been accidentally put in that box of Esso stickers by my uncle who gave them to us, but when I asked if they were his he said no. Where those cards came from, I’ll never know, but they were my entry into the 1977-78 set, and I’ve decided to make a concerted effort to complete it. I consider the cards I receive in the mail every few days to be a sort of “pandemic present” to me.

Anyway, on to more important business, namely the “Biggest Seals Fan” contest. Thanks so much to all those who sent in entries vying for the coveted title, but there can only be one winner. Here is the winning entry from Pete Manzolillo:

“I’m the biggest Seals fan as I was rooting for them from 3,000 miles away on Long Island where it was difficult to get any news about them. I listened to every game I could on the east coast teams’ radio stations, staying up until 1 a.m. on a school night huddled with the radio next to my bed for games from Oakland. I heard some great upsets over Philly and Boston but also the Capitals’ first road win. I also painted my skates gold and green and my goalie mask teal with the wordmark across the front.”

For his great story, Pete will receive an autographed copy of my book (new paperback version, now available on Amazon.ca and Amazon.com!). Congratulations, Pete!

Note: a few days after announcing Pete’s win, he sent me this photo pretty much proving he wasn’t lying about his Seals obsession:

There is also a new photo for you to check out, a March 1973 cover of Hockey Digest, which I also picked up on eBay, and also a new cardboard catastrophe featuring former Boston Bruins star Jozef Stumpel in the Overexposed wing of the Hockey Hall of Shame. Enjoy!

Whew! That was one long post! Hope you made it all the way through. Until next time, stay gold!

Hi everyone and welcome back! This week, we’re featuring to of the baddest men to ever play professional hockey. On the Seals’ side of things, we’ve got Larry McNabb, once known as the unofficial heavyweight champion of the WHL, according to Don Cherry. You can read a classic San Francisco Examiner article all about the night McNabb and a referee got into a bit of a scuffle right here.

In the Overexposed wing of the Hockey Hall of Shame, we feature the NHL’s all-time penalty minute leader, Dave “Tiger” Williams, showing us how to stab a person through the ribs with a hockey stick. You’ll have to check out Tiger’s not-so-classic 1976-77 O-Pee-Chee card right here to find out what I mean.

Don’t forget that you still have one week left to submit your entries to win a free copy of the new paperback version of my book, The California Golden Seals: a Tale of White Skates, Red Ink, and One of the NHL’s Most Outlandish Teams. All you have to do is send me an e-mail (stevecurrier@goldensealshockey.com) or a message on the Contact Steve page explaining in 100 words or less why you are the biggest California Seals fan alive. The winner of the contest will be named next Friday, October 9, so get writing, folks!

Until next time, stay gold!