Hi everyone! Well, the All-Star game has come and gone, and now the players get down to the nitty gritty, the second-half push to the playoffs and then the trade deadline when we find out which teams are going to be buyers and which teams are going to be sellers. I love my Habs, but I’m pretty sure at this point that they are going to be sellers. The only question is who is going to stay, and who is going to be looking for a new dwelling. Of course, miracles do happen – Just ask the 2018-19 St. Louis Blues – but with the injuries Montreal has, I don’t expect any celebrating on St. Catherine’s St. this June.

This week, I’ve added a new article featuring the then-newly acquired Wayne Merrick from an old Goal magazine from 1975-76. It was published right around this time of year, when the Seals were just a few points out of a playoff spot in the Adams Division, so enthusiasm was sky high since the team hadn’t been in an actual playoff race since 1972. Merrick in particular was excited about the prospects of playing hockey in mid-April. Little did he know that when the decade ended he was about to embark on a four-Cups-in-four-years run with the New York Islanders. Thanks again to Pete Manzolillo for sending me the article so I could share it with all of you.

There is also a new Overexposed card featured in the Hockey Hall of Shame. It features one of the first, if only, hockey themed superheroes. No, I’m not talking about the Guardian Project, that awful Stan Lee-driven series of characters who were supposed to save the Earth from a hockey-tornado-darkness thing… I really don’t know what it was all about; you’ll have to check out the Guardian Project over here if you have such an insatiable need to find out. All I know is that it was weird, but this week we have a real superhero to gush over, and you can find out who he or she is over in the Overexposed wing of the Hockey Hall of Shame.

In closing this week, don’t forget to cast your votes for the inductees into the Seals Hall of Fame class of 2020. The voting has been close so far, so start clicking to start breaking some ties. You can vote up to three times per device, so come back as often as you like to cast your ballot.

Until next time, stay gold!

Hi everyone! Happy All-Star Weekend! Hope your team wins… oh, who am I kidding, no one really cares about who wins or even participates in this thing anymore. Sure, the skills competition is kinda fun, and the 3-on-3 tournament format has its moments, but it just ain’t the same as a real game, or even 3-on-3 overtime where there are points on the line. I don’t know, sometimes I just feel like hitting the way-back machine and going back to a simpler time and place, like the International League of the early 1970s…

As you may remember, I wrote about Eric Weltner’s new documentary “International Incidents” which includes the history of the Seals’ Columbus farm team. He has sent me a whole whack of photos of the junior Goldens, and you can get a look at them in the photos section. Thanks Eric! Be sure to check out the trailer for his film at https://vimeo.com/372635845 and the official Facebook page is at https://www.facebook.com/Internationalincidents.

There is also a brand new induction in the Overexposed wing of the Hockey Hall of Shame, a shameful product featuring one-time Edmonton Oiler Luke Richardson courtesy of Upper Deck.

In closing this week, just a reminder that the voting for the Seals Hall of Fame class of 2020 is open and the list of nominees can be found just to your right. Just move your eyes ever so slightly to the right part of your screen… almost there… stop! There you go. Votin’ time!

Until next time, stay gold!

Hi everyone! Welcome back to all of you, I hope. I came to realize a few days ago that this site’s subscribers haven’t been receiving any updates for the last few weeks. Oops! Sorry about that. My bad. I’m still having a few issues with WordPress, and in trying to resolve them, I think I made everything worse. The good news is that I think I’ve made everything right again, so hopefully you’ve all received an e-mail update like in the good old days of October 2019.

So what’s happened since you were all cut off from the Seals’ world? Well, first you need to turn your eyes slightly to the right to see the 2020 nominees for the Seals Hall of Fame. If you’d like any details about this year’s eight deserving candidates, I invite you to check out these men’s biographies in the Seals Hall of Fame section here.

In the articles section, there is a new piece from the January 14, 1970 San Francisco Examiner. The article is about the Seals’ struggles during the 1969-70 season and how several players were on the verge of being sent down to the minors. It also explores Fred Glover’s personality and how the media of the time perceived him. It is an interesting piece and well worth the two minutes it will take to read it, and you can find it in the Seals/Barons articles section.

There are also some new photos up of Gilles Meloche’s Cleveland Barons jersey which now resides in the Hockey Hall of Fame. You can find them right here.

I also received an e-mail from Eric Weltner, whose documentary “International Incidents” includes a history of the Columbus Golden Seals, the California Seals’ IHL farm club. The documentary premieres TODAY so be sure to check it out. The trailer is here: https://vimeo.com/372635845 and the official Facebook page is here: https://www.facebook.com/Internationalincidents/.

Whoa, that’s a lot of new stuff, so enjoy! Until next time, stay gold!

Hi everyone! It’s that time of year once again where you all get to vote for the people you feel are deserving of induction in the Seals Hall of Fame. The candidates this year are probably more diverse than ever before. We’ve got coaches, general managers, two-way players, big-time goal scorers, heart-and-soul players, and playmakers to choose from. One thing is for sure: everyone is deserving of a spot in this Hall of Fame, as they all made a tremendous impact on either the San Francisco Seals, Oakland Seals, California Golden Seals or Cleveland Barons, but it is up to you to decide who makes the cut.

Without further ado, here are the eight candidates from which you can choose:

Fred Glover

Jack Evans

Ray Cyr

Mike Christie

Gerry Ehman

Norman “Bud” Poile

Wayne Connelly

Bill Hicke

You are allowed to vote up to three times per device, and you also have the option of writing in your own selection, which you can do by clicking on the box at the very end of the list of nominees over on the right side of your screen.

If you are having trouble choosing one, two or three candidates, I invite you to head on over to the Seals Hall of Fame where a new page with profiles of each nominee has been created. You can click on the following link (right here) as well if you wish to go there directly.

That’s about it for this week. I’ll be back with more articles and Overexposed cards shortly, so keep coming back to see what new stuff I’ll be posting.

Until next time, stay gold!

Hi everyone! Short update this week since I’m writing this as my three-week old daughter is sleeping next to me on the couch. She’s been kinda in and out of sleep this evening, so she may wake up at any moment needing a bottle or a diaper change, you never know. I’ve had a bit of time these past few weeks to do a little research to complete the San Francisco Seals’ game-by-game summary, and I’m happy to say I’m finally done. If you head on over to the Stats section you will find the updated WHL Seals game summaries, which now includes attendance figures for about 95% of games, as well as which games went to overtime. There are a few corrections here and there as well, but for the most part, it’s mostly attendance and OT indicators. I’d like to thank Chuck Nan for his help in finding the majority of Seals home attendance figures, making my job a lot easier!

Next week, I will be out of town and probably won’t have access to the Internet on a consistent basis, so no update the first few days of January, but I’ll be back the following week. Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays to everyone! Please enjoy the time you spend with your family and friends, and have a happy and healthy new year! All the best to all of you in 2020! Until next time, stay gold!

Hi everyone! Well, Christmas is almost upon us, and that means it is the time for giving and receiving… uh, family, of course. The kids will be home for the holidays, and that means lots and lots of fighting between siblings! Oh, how I remember those old Nintendo battles my brother and I would have, constantly arguing over who would be Mario this time around. Usually, it would end up with us being separated so we could each play as Mario. As we got older we found other ways to get on each other’s nerves. “I want to watch this on TV!” “Stop playing guitar! I can’t hear myself think!” “It’s not fair! I need the car tonight!”, etc. Those teenage years must have been hell for my parents. Can’t wait ’til I get there with my kids!

Anyway, I decided to go in a different direction with this week’s Christmas themed post, partly because I found a new article I really liked, and I wanted to find a way to wedge it into the theme of Christmas. In the articles section this week, a great piece from the January 8, 1973 Montreal Gazette. I wish I had seen this article when I was doing research for my book as it has a little bit of everything. Fist fighting? Check. Head butts? Check. Controversy? Check. Battles with ownership? Check. Guys out sick with the flu? Check. If that doesn’t have Christmas written all over it, I don’t know what does.

OK, I hear what you’re thinking: “C’mon, Steve, can’t you post something even remotely positive? After all, it is Christmas, the season of perpetual hope, no?” Yes, you would be correct, so in the true spirit of the holiday season, I present to you this week’s induction to the Overexposed wing of the Hockey Hall of Shame. If you like glittery things, I got a card for you that could easily pass for a Christmas ornament. I’m serious, if you hang this piece of cardboard in your tree and you put a coloured bulb next to it, this card will project light like a disco ball. I give you the classic 1995-96 Edge Ice Marty McSorley insert card, which you can read all about in the Overexposed section of the Hockey Hall of Shame.

Over the next few weeks, I’ll be rolling out a few more interesting things, notably an updated game-by-game summary of all San Francisco Seals games as well as the nominees for the 2020 Seals Hall of Fame, so be sure to check back frequently. Until next time, stay gold!

Hi everyone, and welcome back to another installment of Golden Seals Hockey. Yup, from what you can read in today’s headline, that’s been my last two weeks. New baby girl in the house changing all of our lives, but for the better, of course. The little one came into the world December 3rd at an astonishing 10 lbs., 13 oz., and she spends most of the day eating and sleeping, so I can’t complain too much. It’s eleven o’clock on a Friday, and she’s next to me right now just waking up from another nap and getting ready for another meal. I’ve taken some time off work to help make the transition from family of three to family of four a little easier. That being said, my wife and I have lost a little sleep and, as a result, I’ve actually gone out twice in public this week with my fly unknowingly down. I also almost backed my car into a neighbour’s car as she was backing out of her driveway. My wife and I also thought our daughter’s last doctor’s appointment was yesterday, when in reality it is only next Thursday. Life has been a little weird the last two weeks, but things are starting to settle down again though. I’m learning to take naps whenever I can. I’ve caught up on some classic films here and there. I’m getting lots of work done on my new book. It’s good to be back!

This week, be sure to check out a brand new Overexposed induction featuring the Quebec Nordiques’ Claude Lapointe doing something weird with his mouth. He may be about to blow chunks, but I’m just speculating. Anyway, if seeing big-leaguers trying to hold in their barf interests you, head on over to the Overexposed wing of the Hockey Hall of Shame.

Also new this week, a brand new article from September 1976 previewing the Cleveland Barons’ first training camp after their move from Oakland. You can find the piece in the articles section by clicking here.

Until next time, stay gold!

Hi everyone! After one hell of a bad week for the National Hockey League (I’m looking at you Mike Babcock, Bill Peters, and Sutter brothers), it’s time to put all that negativity aside for just a while. The revelations from the past few days have been shocking to say the least. They remind me a little of some of the stories I’ve heard about Bert Olmstead when he was coaching the Seals: skating the players so hard they would puke, locking the players in the dressing room so they couldn’t go home for Thanksgiving. And what about those old Eddie Shore tales we’ve all heard. Players being forced to undergo painful massages and medical experiments from “Doctor” Shore, not to mention tying goaltenders to the net, but I may be confusing that story with the first Mighty Ducks movie. It’s been a long week, what can I say. Either way, it’s about time some of these old coaching practices get put out to pasture.

This week, I’ve posted a brand new-ish article from just this month. I say it is new-ish because it is a reposting of a March 1971 article about the night the expansion Vancouver Canucks ran roughshod over our Seals and established a team record with 11 goals. The Seals would get their revenge two years later, however, when the set a team record of their own, beating the Canucks 11-3. To read the piece head on over to the articles section. Thanks to Pete Manzolillo for making me aware that the article even existed!

Just to let you all know, I will be away from my computer most of next week due to the impending birth of my daughter. My wife is going in for a scheduled C-section this Monday, and I’ll be in and out of the hospital the next few days afterward, not to mention up to my elbows in baby poop and pee, so there won’t be an update until the following week, but rest assured I haven’t forgotten about all of you.

Until next time, stay gold!

Hi everyone! I haven’t had much spare time on my hands recently so I haven’t been able to get much time on the creative side of things, but I did have some time to do a little research on the Web, and I’ve come across some great new Seals-related media that is sure to interest all of you. I haven’t had a chance to get through all of it yet, but so far these new podcast episodes have made the morning and afternoon commutes rather pleasant.

What I’m referring to is the Pro Hockey Alumni Podcast. If you’re a fan of old time hockey — and if you come to this site regularly, you probably are — you’re going to love Mark Willand’s show. To get you started, might I suggest the four episodes I have linked to this site, and you can connect to Mark’s site in the Audio/Video section. The first two links will take you to parts one and two of an interview with Seals Hall of Famer Gary “Suitcase” Smith. I’m currently in the middle of part two, and so far, it has been thoroughly enjoyable to hear the legendary wandering goaltender about his relationships with Harry Howell, Carol Vadnais, and Tony Esposito. He also gets deep into his four-year stint with the Seals, telling great stories about the nightmare first season under Bert Olmstead, and how his final season with the Seals messed him up. The two other episodes include a tribute to former Seals and Barons defenseman Mike Christie, and an interview with Seals documentary producer Mark Greczmiel.

Normally, I would have an Overexposed card or a newspaper article for you as well, but I’m still having my issues with WordPress, and I’m going to have to find a way to do what I normally do with a malfunctioning web-site creator. Don’t fret, however, as I have lots of new stuff coming in the next few months, and I won’t be letting you down!

Until next time, stay gold!

Hi everyone! It’ll be a small update this week, unfortunately, due to some ongoing problems with WordPress. I had a new Overexposed card to post this week, but until I figure out what is wrong with WordPress, it will have to wait until next week. Until then, I’d like to share a great new article sent to me from site subscriber Jim Shattock. It is an interesting piece from a Seals game program, and it is all about Gilles Meloche and Morris Mott. One opened a new burger joint, and the other was subject of the Brooklyn-based Morris Mott Fan Club. I’ll let you figure out which player was associated with which extracurricular activity. You can find the article in the Seals/Barons articles section, which you have to access through the menu at the top of the page.

Again, very sorry for the small update, but we’ll hopefully be back to normal next week. Until next time, stay gold!