Hi everybody! It’s only been three days since the last update, but since I also went a good two weeks plus without an update before this, I figured here’s a little something to get the weekend started. We’ve had a few new subscribers to the site as well, possibly as a result of the 2020 Seals Hall of Fame induction, so I wanted to keep the ball rolling with a few more goodies.

This week, we have a special extra-long article for your enjoyment. The game it describes was nothing special, just a late-season 3-1 loss to the pitiful ’74-’75 Minnesota North Stars, but the extras that go along with the article are top-notch… more press notes courtesy of Pete Manzolillo. I’ve always found these to be great reading material for history and stats geeks like me, so hopefully you’ll get the same enjoyment out of them too. You can read the article and the bonus pieces over here in the articles section.

Before you go, be sure to check out the last survey I posted. It’s all about the greatest line in team history. Who do you think the best forward trio in Seals/Barons history is? Check out the surveys section and let everyone know.

So, like title overhead says, the countdown is on to July 14, 2021 when new faces are added to the Seals Hall of Fame. I’d like to throw it out there before the voting officially gets underway in a few months: Who do you feel should be among the nominees? I’m not saying your choice is going to make the cut, but I’d like some ideas as to who should have a crack at the Hall next year. You can e-mail me your ideas to stevecurrier@goldensealshockey.com.

Until next time, stay gold!

Hi everyone! It’s that time of year again when we welcome a few more Seals legends into the franchise’s Hall of Fame, and this year’s inductees could not be more deserving. Thank you to everyone who participated in this year’s vote, and congratulations to this year’s inductees: Mike Christie, Gerry Ehman and Bill Hicke. I’m also happy to announce this year’s induction into the Builder’s category, which we began last year when Charles Schultz was inducted. This year’s addition to the Builder category is none other than Leonard Shapiro. Thanks to Gary “Cobra” Simmons for his thoughtful suggestion to induct Len into the Hall. After all, has anyone done more to promote the NHL’s most beloved defunct franchise these last 46 years?

Here are the final results of the 2020 vote:

Fred Glover – 10.8%
Jack Evans – 10.8%
Ray Cyr – 1.5%
Mike Christie – 16.9%
Gerry Ehman – 15.4%
Norman “Bud” Poile – 7.7%
Wayne Connelly – 6.2%
Bill Hicke – 20.0%
Other – 10.8%

If you want to read up on this year’s inductees, you can head on over in the Hall of Fame section.

It’s now been 44 years since the Seals left the Bay Area for the proverbial greener pastures when all they found was literally greener pastures as in the surrounding area of the Richfield Coliseum where sheep were known to graze. Let’s have a look back at some of the most memorable moments in Seals history with a great piece from the San Francisco Examiner‘s Ross McKeon. You can find this 1997 article right over here.

Well, that’s about it this week. Thanks for stopping by once again! Just because the NHL is planning on starting up again in the coming weeks doesn’t mean you should be a stranger to this site. There’s lots more cool stuff coming this summer and fall. If you like what you’re seeing and reading, why don’t you subscribe to the site? Every week, I promise you’ll be the first to know when I post an update. Guaranteed! You’ll get a nice e-mail every weekend and you can click right on the links in the e-mail, and they’ll take you right to the new content on this site. Come on, take the plunge! It’s summer after all.

Until next time, stay gold!

Hi everyone! Just a small update this week as I’ve been quite busy of late and I’m planning on taking a trip to the Eastern Townships to visit the in-laws and risk getting COVID-19 in another province! I think you’ll find this week’s article quite appropriate as it mourns the loss of the Bay Area’s first major professional hockey team. Of course, at this point in the summer of 1976, it was no secret the Seals were likely on their way out of California, even though the inevitable didn’t actually happen until mid-July. That being said, the news still shook a lot of folks who had seen so much hope for the future from the likes of Dennis Maruk, Al MacAdam, Rick Hampton, and others. You can check out this week’s article here.

I also realized lately that I have gotten a little lazy when it comes to the Surveys section of the site, so this week I’m adding a new poll where I’m asking who you think is the greatest line in franchise history. Is it the Assembly Line? The 3-M Line? The Wrecking Crew Line? You can find the survey here and cast your vote.

Since I’ll be away for the next week, and that I will need a bit of extra time to prepare for the induction of the newest members of the Seals Hall of Fame, there won’t be a site update next week. Golden Seals Hockey will be back July 14 on the 44th anniversary of the official announcement the Seals would be moving to Cleveland. Come back on that day to see if your picks for the Hall of Fame got in this year. If you haven’t voted yet, be sure to do so. You have until June 30 to cast your votes.

Until next time, stay gold!

Hi everyone! Another weekend is upon us, and it is hotter than hell up here in Eastern Ontario. Temps are supposed to be in the low 30s for the next four days – that’s the low 90s Fahrenheit for all my American friends – so it’s going to be one hot Father’s Day weekend. It’s also the first weekend in months where I’m actually going to visit someone at their house. In this case, my Dad and his girlfriend and my brother. I hope all of you fathers out there have yourselves a great Father’s Day too, and those of you who aren’t fathers, don’t forget to give your Dad a call or send him a card.

Like I said before, it’s going to be one hot weekend. Almost enough to make me want to shed all my clothes and have a cold one under a tree. Speaking of wearing not enough clothes, this week’s article comes from the November 19, 1971 Oakland Tribune, and it is all about the dangers of not dressing properly for the right occasion. On this night, the Seals won what can only be described as a barn-burner, but they were worse for wear afterwards. Goaltender Lyle Carter, when he was interviewed for my book, told me about that night and how it had a profound affect on his career. Here is an excerpt from the interview I did with Lyle on July 17, 2011:

“We were leading the game 2-1.  I’m going to say we were in the second period, I’m pretty sure, and the rebound went back to [Richard] Martin.  He didn’t even stop it; he blasted and they tell me it was 90 miles per hour or more and I was using a belly pad that shouldn’t have been used in peewee hockey that they had come up with for me to use in that game, and you think back and you wonder… why didn’t somebody think of me using Meloche’s belly pad, but anyone who knows goaltender gear, a belly pad in those days was one piece, the arm pads were another, today I believe they’re all the same piece, and this was a very small belly pad, it was not well-padded, whereas mine had reinforcements on it which went practically around to your back on both sides.  There was nothing like this on this belly pad, and that’s why I was injured, because it hit — next to maybe a hockey sweater and an undershirt or something underneath — it hit no equipment.  I hit me just in the bare skin you might say.  It cut me for about a five-inch gash. It tore the rib cartilage, and actually knocked me out. I never knew what happened until I looked up and the players were all around me.  I was laying on my back on the ice, and they took me off on a stretcher and so on.  That was the injury and it pretty much ruined my debut in the National Hockey League and ruined my season.”

Being short a piece of equipment is something this week’s newest Hall of Shame inductee need not worry about. In fact, he wears his equipment places where it isn’t even necessary. This week’s newest induction to the Overexposed wing is another classic card from the awful 1992-93 Topps Stadium Club set. This time around we’re featuring former St. Louis Blue Craig Janney and his shoulder pads! Like so many other cards in the Topps set, it is stunningly awful, and you can read all about it and a few other mistakes from that same set right here.

Before you take off to enjoy that wonderful summer weather, don’t forget to cast your votes for the 2020 Seals Hall of Fame. The voting closes June 30th, so if you haven’t gotten around to voting, you’d better do it soon!

Until next time, stay gold!

Hi everyone! This week, it is time to show some respect for two of the greatest players of the 1970s, both of whom broke out in a big way toiling in Oakland, which unfortunately meant they got very little attention from the mainstream sports media. I’m talking about defenseman Paul Shmyr and centre Dennis Maruk.

There has been a recent surge in interest in the career of Dennis Maruk. First, there was his excellent and revealing autobiography, which you can read about here. There have also been several articles published online, including this week’s feature piece, detailing his great career. The Ukrainian Weekly posted this article just two weeks ago, and I’ve added it to the articles section for you to check out, but you can also read it from the Weekly‘s site here if you’d like to read some of the other articles that have been published recently.

In the Overexposed wing of the Hockey Hall of Shame, the great Paul Shmyr‘s not-so-great rookie card has been added. It also features another underrated defenseman from the 1970s, but see if you can figure out who before I give you the answer.

As the anniversary of the site approaches, please be reminded that the voting for the Seals Hall of Fame will close July 1, so if you haven’t voted for your favorites yet, I urge you to do so now. The newest inductees will be announced in mid-July as always.

Until next time, stay gold!

Hi everyone, and welcome back! It’s June 6, which means today is the 53rd anniversary of the NHL’s very first expansion draft, the one that officially gave birth to the Seals, Philadelphia Flyers, Pittsburgh Penguins, St. Louis Blues, Minnesota North Stars, and Los Angeles Kings. Today is the day Bill Hicke, Charlie Hodge, Gary Smith, Bobby Baun and several others became original members of the NHL Seals. Of course, things didn’t turn out so well for those guys in Year One as the club finished a disappointing 15-42-17, and a country mile out of the playoffs, but no one doubted their toughness and character strength.

To celebrate the grit and determination of hockey players from that long-ago era, I present you with a great piece from the Oakland Tribune’s Ed Levitt all about the grind that a season of pro hockey can be on a human body. The 1970-71 Seals, in particular, suffered a rash of injuries that pretty-much ensured they weren’t going to be participating in any meaningful games come April. Just about everyone who was counted on to lead the team went down with lengthy, nagging injuries, and you can read all about the Seals’ medical issues in the articles section.

Of course, one cannot write about hockey heartache and disappointment without focusing attention on one-time first-round draft bust Alexandre Daigle. We’ve got a horrible new entry to the Overexposed wing of the Hockey Hall of Shame that exemplifies all that was wrong with hockey cards in the mid-1990s. Awful colour schemes, random words everywhere, busy patterns and logos thrown about willy-nilly, and let’s not forget the completely nonsensical player photo! This thing has it all!

That’s about it for this week. Come back again next time and don’t forget to vote for your preferred pick for induction into the Seals Hall of Fame for 2020!

Until next time, stay gold!

Hi everyone! The NHL is back! In quiet, empty-arena form, but I’ll take it. After all, the Montreal Canadiens are actually going to live to see another playing day, and in the playoffs no less! Sure, it’ll probably be a quick playoff run that will last fewer days than the training camps players are going to have to go through before resuming play, but I’ll take it. It’ll give us all something to look forward to, and these days, that’s really all we can ask for. And there’s also the draft coming up in less than a month, so there’s a bonus, and free agency will be just around the corner. See how things are looking up all of a sudden?

In the articles section this week, we are featuring a piece on Seals all-star, and 2020 Seals Hall of Fame nominee Bill Hicke, arguably the team’s best player their first two seasons in the NHL. Hicke was especially effective when he was put onto a line with Ted Hampson and Gary Jarrett, and 1968-69 was their zenith when all three were selected to play in the all-star game. Unfortunately, Jarrett sustained an injury not long before the game, so he was replaced by Carol Vadnais. The “Assembly Line” wasn’t kept together very long, but in the short time they were together, they were dynamite, and Hicke was the line’s triggerman. You can read all about him and his linemates in the articles section.

In the Overexposed wing of the Hockey Hall of Shame, be prepared to dance like Dominic Roussel, a man who was so in the zone the night his card photo was taken that he broke out one hell of a crazy dance move right there in his crease. When you see this thing you’ll be wondering how there was no mention of it in the paper the following morning. It’s like John Travolta and a Russian leader had a rug-cuttin’ child who could also stop pucks. You read that right. Best get on over to the Overexposed wing and find out how that Russian Travolta sentence makes any sense.

That’s about it for this week. The weather is finally improving so spending more time outside is becoming a priority. Thank God we have a back yard so we can enjoy the weather and social distance at the same time. Hope everyone enjoys a beer or two, grills up something good on the BBQ, and enjoys their time outside with the family.

Until next time, stay gold!

Hi everyone! I don’t know what the weather is like for all of you throughout Hockeyland, but in my neck of the woods, things are really looking up. We’ve had sun and just a little bit of heat all week long, and it’s going to continue throughout the weekend. Haven’t had this type of consistently pleasant weather since last August, and with this lock-down stuff seemingly unending, it certainly is appreciated. The weather, I mean, not the lock-down.

More and more, I keep hearing rumors that the NHL season is going to resume sooner rather than later. Whenever it does, it is probably going to feel like a brand new season, so why not get into the early-season mood with a brand new Seals article from the early days of the 1968-69 season. The Seals were playing the Kings in a game that featured a little bit of everything: hitting, punching, comebacks and controversy. And you’ll find out what the word “puncheroo” means too, so there’s an added bonus for your vocabulary. As always, you can find all Seals-related articles right over here.

Finally, if you’re a Calgary Flames fan, and you love receiving fashion tips, this is the card for you! I’m talking about the classic Zarley Zalapski sittin’-on-the-boards-wearin’-the-tightest-black-shorts-you-ever-did-see card. What, you don’t remember this one? Oh, then you absolutely must head on over to the Overexposed wing of the Hockey Hall of Shame, but be forewarned: you will never be able to un-see what Upper Deck concocted once upon a time.

Before you leave, don’t forget to cast your votes for this year’s inductees to the Seals Hall of Fame. You have until the end of June, so you still have time, but why wait, right?

Until next time, stay gold!

Hi everyone! Well, it’s week 47 of quarantine, and still no hockey. Bunch of rumors going around, but that’s it. Getting harder and harder to come up with some sort of hockey-related, even sports-related intro to these postings. Doesn’t help much that the main topic of this site, the California Golden Seals, haven’t played a game in over four decades, but we keep plugging along hoping that tomorrow will bring some good news. It feels like forever since COVID-19 took sports away from us like Donald Audette used to kick the skates out from under his much-bigger opponents.

So, like I said, I… wait, what? You didn’t know that Donald Audette had such a violent streak? He sure did, and I gots the proof. You should check out the latest induction to the Overexposed wing of the Hockey Hall of Shame, a fantastic new card featuring the former Buffalo Sabres star.

This week, we’re going back to season one of the Seals’ NHL life. Back to the time when the Montreal Canadiens paid their first visit to the Oakland Coliseum… and lost. The Canadiens would have the last laugh, however, winning the 1968 Stanley Cup, but one brief shining moment the Seals came out on top. It was also the Seals’ very first win against an Original Six club, in fact, the one on which star goaltender Charlie Hodge had enjoyed so much success. You can read all about it here.

Don’t forget to cast your vote for your fave candidates for the 2020 Seals Hall of Fame induction! You can find the ballot right over there on the right-hand side of the page. Easy!

Until next time, folks, stay gold!

Hi everyone! I hope everyone is doing well and not going too stir-crazy spending all this extra time at home. I’m glad to hear that before long I’ll be able to escape my cellar where I do all my teaching nowadays. Almost like back in January 1976 when the Seals were inching ever so closely to a playoff spot and attempting to climb out of their division basement for the first time since 1972. This week’s article comes from that point in time just after a big win over division rivals the Toronto Maple Leafs.

Continuing the “at home” theme, have we got a treat for you! Yes, we’ve got two new Overexposed inductions, which I had to post together in one posting, which you will understand why when you check out these classic Shayne Corson cards. These beauties were produced during that strange period in the mid-to-late 1990s when card companies loved featuring NHL players engaging in their favorite hobbies. You probably remember the crap-load of golfing cards we’ve featured in the past, not to mention Mike Ricci riding around on a golf cart like a four-year-old, and Joe Sakic eating soup. Ah, memories! In Shayne Corson’s case, his hobby was apparently… DUM, DUM, DUM… MURDER! I know, I know, you don’t believe me, and if I were you I wouldn’t either. But I’m not you, I’m me, and I’m tellin’ ya there was something fishy going on at the Corson residence between 1997 and 1998. You’ll just have to check out this week’s induction to find out for yourself.

One last thing I wanted to announce… The paperback version of my book is now available for pre-order on Amazon if you want to pick it up, but there’s a catch. You won’t be able to get it in your hands until October 1 when it is officially released. So, if you’re looking to get your Christmas shopping done early – and let’s face it, there’s still a chance you won’t be leaving the house anytime soon – wouldn’t it be great for a book to just one day show up in your mailbox? Yup, that’s what I thought, so head on over to Amazon and get clicking!

Until next time, stay gold!