Hi everyone! It has been one interesting week to say the least. The Canadian federal government workers have been on strike since Wednesday, meaning my school, which teaches French to said government employees, has been rather quiet the last few days. Not like “early Covid days” quiet, but quiet nonetheless. It has been rather pleasant in a way. Very few student complaints have been rolling into my inbox. I’ve had a bit more time during the day to browse the Internet for Seals-related things and a few days ago, I stumbled upon a very interesting website that pays tribute to former Seals first-round pick Ralph Klassen. I think you will all enjoy looking over it. It was created by a B.C. elementary school teacher to show his students how to do a proper research. The page contains several wonderful and rare photos of Klassen and his teammates in action, both in Seals and Barons uniforms. There is also lots of cool shots of Seals and Barons memorabilia, not to mention other great photos of Klassen’s career in junior hockey , in international hockey and with the Colorado Rockies and St. Louis Blues. Overall, it is a very warm tribute to a talented, but often overlooked member of the franchise. For those of you who were fans of the team’s later years, you will surely feel the warm and fuzzies perusing the Klassen site, which you can find here.

That’s about it for this week. I hope you all have a great weekend, and I hope to see you back here soon. Until next time, stay gold!

Hi everyone! I hope everyone enjoyed a great long weekend, and a good return to work. It has been one spectacular week here weather-wise. The mercury hit 27 degrees Celsius in Ottawa just two days ago, and it has been over twenty degrees every day since. We’re finally going to bring out the patio furniture (mainly because the 10 ft x 6 ft x 2 ft mound of snow blocking the gate to the back yard has finally melted away). That means it’s time for barbecues in the yard, and meals outside, meaning the kids can spill as much food on the ground as they want and I won’t have to pick it up. It’ll be great!

It’s been so hot outside recently that the temperature in my basement office has plummeted to about 57 degrees Fahrenheit. And then it got me thinking about the basement-dwelling Seals. This week, I’ve posted an article from November 22, 1972, the day after the Seals lost to the expansion New York Islanders for the second time. It was just the third win of the season for the Islanders, who would win a grand total of 12 the whole year. One could sense that newly re-appointed head coach Fred Glover was not going to enjoy his second stint behind the Seals bench as his frustration already started to show. Surprisingly, he lasted another 16 months… quite possibly the most difficult 16 months of his life. You can all about the Seals-Isles game right here.

As an added bonus this week, I invite you to check out the Google preview of my latest book. It’s a whopping 32 pages, so if you’re on the fence about buying the book, this preview should help make your decision a little easier.

That’s it until next week. Hope you all have a great weekend, and that the weather is as nice as it is up in my corner of the globe. Don’t forget to catch a little playoff hockey in the coming days! Until next time, stay gold!

Hi everyone! As you can see, another member of the Seals family has passed away. Dave Gardner, a member of the team from 1974 to 1978, passed away March 20th at the age of 70. Cal Gardner, an excellent player for the Toronto Maple Leafs in the 1940s and 1950s was his father, and his brother Paul was a solid goal-scorer in the late 1970s and 1980s with Colorado, Toronto, and Pittsburgh.

Dave Gardner had some great offensive skills as well. He was a big-time scorer with the Toronto Marlies alongside linemates Steve Shutt and Billy Harris. That combination scored close to 400 points one year, and all three became high NHL draft picks. Harris went first overall to the expansion New York Islanders in 1972, Shutt went fourth to Montreal, and Gardner went eighth to the Habs. While Shutt gradually improved his game and became a mainstay in Montreal, Gardner played just 36 games over two years there before being traded to St. Louis in March 1974 for a first-round draft pick. The following year, Gardner was dealt to the Seals where he would finally get the ice-time he deserved. In his four years with the Seals and Barons, Gardner would enjoy his greatest NHL success scoring 166 points in 289 games. The 1975-76 season proved to be his best: 16 goals, 32 assists. During that season, he had a particularly hot hand during a three-game stretch from February 11 to 15 where he scored 10 points. When the Barons and North Stars merged in 1978, Gardner was sent to L.A. with a few other Barons players as compensation for Minnesota’s signing of Gary Sargent. Gardner never suited up for L.A., and he played just two more NHL games, those being for Philadelphia a few years later. He finished out his career in Switzerland before returning to Canada to coach high school hockey.

To remember Dave Gardner, I’ve posted an article from February 6, 1975 after he had scored two goals against the Washington Capitals. You can read about Gardner’s first two-goal game as a Seal right here. R.I.P. Dave.

I also stumbled upon a touching article written by the great Stan Fischler about former Cleveland Barons defenseman Jean Potvin. Of course, Potvin is more known as a member of the New York Islanders, where he played alongside his Hall-of-Fame brother Denis for a number of years. Jean, a defenseman like his younger brother, was no slouch, however, putting up some good numbers in the mid-1970s as the Isles moved up to the top of the standings. Jean passed away one year ago, and was memorialized very recently by family members, former teammates, and other close friends. Click on this link to go the article.

Until next time, stay gold!

Hi everyone! Glad to be back, and glad it is the weekend once again! I am so looking forward to sleeping in tomorrow and Sunday. This Daylight Savings thing absolutely sucks. Getting up before the sun just doesn’t seem right now, does it? But that all goes away on the weekend, the sweet, sweet weekend. I’m gonna take back my sleep now, and it is going to feel so good. I wouldn’t say it is anything like getting revenge on Daylight Savings or anything, but I really don’t know how else to segue to this week’s new article.

This week we go back to 1977 to see what the Cleveland Barons were up to in the weeks leading up to Christmas. To be more precise we’re going back to November 30, and the Toronto Maple Leafs are in town looking to sweep a home-and-home series against the Richfield Coliseum’s residents. The Barons? They were looking for sweet revenge! The Leafs were on a bit of a roll this season, challenging the Bruins and Sabres for first place in the Adams Division. In the end, they were close but fell short of that goal, but in the playoffs, the Leafs were one of the last four teams standing. The Barons, however, were not only not one of those four teams, but they were basically counting down the days to the big Minnesota-Cleveland merger. You can read all about the Barons’ retaliation right here.

Hope you all have yourselves a great weekend! Enjoy some games, and catch some “z”s. Until next time, stay gold!

Hi everyone! I hope everyone is having a great weekend and is able to enjoy some nice weather. Not sure about where you live, but the weather here in Ottawa has been just beautiful the last week or so. After a blast of winter left us with some 15 centimetres of snow exactly one week ago, it’s been single digits (Celcius) ever since, and while I’m sad the outdoor rinks are pretty much done for the season, I’m happy to see sunshine and brown grass again. I don’t want to jinx things, but it finally feels like spring is here. I also got to celebrate my birthday, which was a nice way to end the work week. Fun fact: no Seals or Barons were born on March 10, and the Seal born closest to my birthday is Gary Kurt (born March 9).

Gary “Cobra” Simmons was born July 19, 1944, and did not make his NHL debut until 30 years later, but once he reached hockey’s highest league, he made the most of it, posting five shutouts and a solid 3.57 goals-against average in 107 career games. He never won the Stanley Cup, but he left a lasting impression on everyone he played with, and his legendary “cobra” mask (rattle mistake and all) are nestled safely in the confines of the Hockey Hall of Fame. The last 18 games of his career were spent with the L.A. Kings, and this week’s article, from a 1977 Goal magazine, comes just a few weeks after Simmons was dealt West. In the article, we learn about Cobra’s tattoos, his allergy to horses, and some of the finer moments of his NHL and WHL years. This short, light, enjoyable article can be found here. Thanks to John Heberling for sending the Goal magazine my way so I can share one of its articles with you.

Until next time, stay gold!

Hi everyone! Have I got some great reading material for you this week, but before we get into that, a little quiz. Get your thinking caps on and take a few seconds (or minutes) to figure this one out:

Everyone who has been to this site before knows that the original NHL Seals, circa 1967-68, failed pretty spectacularly. According to Barry van Gerbig, which of the following reasons explained this phenomenon?

a) the Oakland Raiders winning the AFL championship

b) the arrival of the Oakland A’s

c) an indecisive Rick Barry

d) all of the above

I would tell you the answer, but instead I will urge you to read Ed Levitt’s piece from the January 18, 1968 Oakland Tribune, where the answer may shock and surprise you. To be precise, it’s not the answer itself that will shock and surprise you, but rather Barry van Gerbig’s complete unawareness of reality and the true source of the Seals’ dismal failure in year one of their NHL adventure. As a bonus, Levitt also talks about how the trade that brought in Ted Hampson, Bert Marshall, and John Brenneman would revolutionize the Seals. He was right in that the Hampson and Marshall would be key contributors to the club for the next few years, although there was only so much these two quality players could do. Brenneman was also a useful addition, but most of his contributions were concentrated on the final months of 1967-68.

As an added bonus, a second article from the same day’s Oakland Tribune where we see the immediate impact of Hampson and Brenneman on the Seals. I’m literally talking Batman-and-Robin-on-Gotham-City impact. Seriously. You can find both articles here. Enjoy!

Anyway, that’s it for today folks. Hope you all have a great weekend! Until next time, stay gold!

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!