Oakland-California Golden Seals history

[uncl3m0key]

I still love their uniforms. CLASSIC!!!

[whakjob980]

why'd they leave to ohio then?

[whakjob980]

star wars music

[beb6375]

Love this clip. Saw all but nine Seals' home games during their existence, including a few at the SF Cow Palace and both playoff series. Nothing but great memories. Has season seat in section 120, 2 rows in front of Schultz, who was always gracious in drawing Snoopy, Woodstock and/or Sparky on the program covers. Still a Seals fan!

[arnoldpalmer1118]

Mel Swig really picked them seals up

[RushTabConner]

The all-white skates were actually the LAST version of colored skates for the Seals. They first had yellow skates with green trim and and also those colors reversed, green with yellow trim. The following season the skates were white with green trim, then finally all-white with green laces.

[doggertdog]

Seals, my favorite hockey team ever

[9999necron]

Crazy George = Homeless crackhead

[wonglee2424]

Joe Starkey Seals radio play by play the best

[FreewayBrent]

@wonglee2424: I didn't even know the Bay Area had a NHL team before the San Jose Sharks. I can't imagine the legendary Joe Starkey announcing anything other than 49er or Cal Bear games!

[msgilmourgirl]

if gilles meloche was on abetter team . he would have owned the vezina trophy!!

[whaler3232]

Love the music starting at 1:30....this was played in Star Wars lol!

[trashers4cashers]

@whaler3232 really sums up this team now when the music from that scene plays LOL

[vdven]

there were a lot of bad teams in the 70's it seems.

[SirLordHockey]

what was the date of the game against the flyers that at the time set the NHL record for penelty minutes??????? SEALS vs. FLYERS

[SirLordHockey]

what was the date of the game against the flyers that at the time set the NHL record for penelty minutes??????? SEALS vs. FLYERES

[Jsouthwell2006]

so the flower could have been a seal instead of a canadien?

[werqa123]

@Jsouthwell2006 Yes Lafleur was drafted by seals but was sold for deaft choice to Habs

[zeppomarx4]

@Jsouthwekll2006

Lafleur was not drafted by the Seals. He was drafted by Montreal with the pick that they acquired from California in the Hicke trade.

How much Cali pcp did Crazy George have in his system in the 70's?

[Staszu13]

@werqa123 Not quite. Just before they sold the team to Charlie Finley, they dealt the draft pick to Montreal.

[5inthehole]

As a Bruins fan, the best thing I remember about those Seals games is having to stay up till 10:30(EST) to watch the game...which wouldn't end till 1:30-2:00. They were always high scoring afairs the The Seals, sometimes, were competative. Ah those were the days!

P.S.- In the video footage, the guy who scored the first goal (Ted Hanson), he's not 1 of the 3 Hanson brothers in the slapshot movie ??? Is he?

[werqa123]

@5inthehole Not it was Ted Hampson. Btw brothers from "Slap shot" have real prototiype- Carlson's brothers - 2 from them it is real brothers Carlson? they played in this great movie. One of them real played in glasses in WHA team - Minnesota Fighting Sainta after even in NHL several games in Minnesota North Stars end 70's -start 80's.

[andyr1313]

Part of the Seals' problem was the Oakland Coliseum, at that time, had a capacity of just over 12,000. It was said if they sold out the entire season, they would still lose money, therefore the need for an 18.000 seat San Francisco arena. However, Mayor George Moscone scotched the plan for Yerba Buena Gardens (great name) before he was tragically assassinated. Ironically, the exhibit hall that went up on the site was called the Moscone Center...

[MrWillc1975]

Thanks for the info , now i know and again you just wonder what if the Seals had kept all their good players , maybe they would still be there now . I hope that Oakland will get another team someday the way that we did when we lost the Flames . ( I hate the Thrashers name though ! But glad that we got hockey back ! )

[Pmccrsp]

That's Don Earle announcingt hose Bruins Seals clips he later announced for the Flyers during their Cup years

[MrWillc1975]

Does anybody remember when Reggie Leech used to be a Seal ? Just who did the Seals get in return for him in 74 - 75 ? Man they had so much talent , you wonder if they could have kept him and Charlie Simmer , they both were great goal scorers with their new teams .

[werqa123]

@MrWillc1975 He was traded in mid of 1971-72 season for Vadnais from Boston. And played for Seals until 1973-74 season after for Flyers and won the Cup with Flyers

[quincee33]

@werqa123 Why did they have 2 city names? i mean why were they Oakland and also California? Were both Golden Seals or was it just the California Golden Seals? And 1 last q: is Oakland close to San Jose, would old Seals fans support the Sharks?

[werqa123]

@quincee33 From 1967-70 team was as Oakland seals it was sold in 1970 and renamed as California Golden Seals with new uniform. Team was in Oakland all time.Seals home was Oakland-Alameda County Coliseum

[Pmccrsp]

@MrWillc1975 I would guess Al MacAdam

[Pmccrsp]

@MrWillc1975 LArry Wright, Al MacAdam a 1st round pick and future considerations. I only knew MacAdam. I hada seals Hockey card of Leach. Met him in alocker room after playing his son's team around 1976. Was real cool to us.

[Pmccrsp]

@MrWillc1975 I believe they got Al MacAdam for Reggie Leach.

[Pmccrsp]

@MrWillc1975 Wikipedai adds Larry Wright and a 1st rounder but I had forgotten that part of it.

[BiffScooter1]

Fantastic clip! Was a Seals fan mainly because when they came up yo Vancouver in '70 some of their fans including Krazy George came along, too.

[Forsure3333]

Stop the video at 3:08. Let me know the first thing that comes to your mind, however sick it is. :)

[roaringchicken92]

Holy crap -- *Oakland* Seals videotape! Didn't think it existed. Anyway, loved the video, especially "A female streaker dashed across the ice -- attendance, once again, rose." :-P

[Rockhound6165]

I didn't realize Craig Patrick was on that team. He went on to be the assistant coach on the 1980 USA Olympic hockey team with Herb Brooks.

[Matteger23]

woo go oakland seals!!!!! if they were still around.

[spamcoli]

mid 70s uniforms - coolest in NHL history. (thanks for the post).

[etsen3]

those white skates look like figure skates-no wonder the players hated them

[coolguy12333]

cali seals - dallas stars thats crazy

[TOSportsFan1990]

6200 per game? that would be considered poor for the AHL nowadays

[vidlivs]

@TOSportsFan1990 That would actually be a very good average in the AHL. Look at all the empty seats, the AHL is known for papering the house by counting tix sold and not necessarily people walking through the turnstiles. Midweek games have very poor attendance in most markets.

[TOSportsFan1990]

@vidlivs They do that for everything that requires a ticket to enter, wether its sports, concerts, conventions, etc. They count the tickets sold not people there

[robphilll]

If I had the money I d start a hockey Franchise in San Francisco and call them the Seals. Same colors and uni's but draft out-of-the closet players.New theme song "just the way you are"

[marlinsbaseballfan]

@robphilll good idea but isn't San Francisco and Oakland SanJose Sharks teritory.But if you did have the money you should do that

[MrHatesTheHabs]

Great video about a big part of the history of NHL. Thanks

[a7b7c78]

I wonder how things would have been different for the Seals if they would have got that arena okayed in 1975-76. I think that the reason it wasn't was because of a mayoral election that year or something like that.

[parkman35]

Had there been an adaquate arena in San Franciso back at the time of the 1967 expansion, the NHL would've put a team there. Remember the old San Francisco Seals of the WHL? Vancouver should've gotten one of the six franchises, but the NHL wanted a natural rival for the LA Kings, and so they put the Seals in Oakland and that's what they were known as for the first 3 years until Finley bought the team and changed the name to represent the Bay Area, along with the A's colors and white skates!

[ausfuhrpramienjagar]

Wow! I didn't know there were old Seals vids running around.. I used to work with Fred Glover in the mid 80's after he retired. Really nice guy...."Jagar"

[swuzz17]

my dad said he went to a toronto game vs seals and there was a 40 minute fight i wish i could see that

[jvswerbo]

Thanks for the video. Great upload.

[vegaslover777]

Interesting fact: The Seals will go down in history as having the one of the worst attendance records of any NHL team. Yet only 15 years later a new arena, only 30 miles from where the Seals' played, is one of the NHL's biggest American success stories - the Sharks are immensely popular in San Jose and it's rare the HP Pavilion is not sold out.

[rorytek]

Couldn't agree with you more, Vegaslover777. I was intrigued with the white skates of the time! I had a friend by the name of George Pesut who played with the Seals and he used to have some interesting stories about playing there!

[vegaslover777]

@rorytek I remember George Pesut. Don't think he was on the team too long though. I think he was a fringe player.

[wikipuff88]

y r the seals/barons/north stars/stars all have problems with the bruins?

[toonguy85]

They neglect to mention "Sparky The Seal", a club mascot drawn by PEANUTS creator Charles Schulz. Being a native Minnesotan, Schulz was a big booster of hockey and enjoyed a longtime involvement with the Seals.

[casey24jones]

This a great video!

[JasonVoorhees83]

this is cool to watch! have not seen to much actual game footage with the seals. knew they had meloche though.

[Habsfan0206]

6 200 in attendance!? Things started to look great? You've got to be kidding me! White skates? You're really got to be kidding me!

[switchhitter08]

You're right on that. Expansion teams usually create a wave of excitement as far as fanbase is concerned. And the California Golden Seals failed to do that. They were two decades ahaed of their time. The state of California was not known for being a hockey market until Wayne Gretzky joined the Los Angeles Kings. That's when fans there really started coming to hockey games. It took The Great One to get things going.

[xWESTICLESx]

Yeah that's true. Unfortunately, we need another big boost here in Southern California. I don't know how the Sharks' turnout is, but down here nobody really gives a rat's ass about the Kings or the Ducks, even though the Ducks have won the cup recently. Out of the 5 rinks that were in my area 3 have shut down. I heard that the World Series of Poker has higher ratings than NHL games. That's pretty sad. I don't know what it will take to get people in California interested in Hockey again

[acetrain81]

Sharks usually sell out there games up here but it get bad ratings on tv and doesn't get a lot of mention on the sports shows.

[parkman35]

@xWESTICLESx I know it's be awhile since your post, but one of the tough things about having hockey teams in California interestwise is the fact that when the teams go east, the game starting times may be like 7PM in New York, or Boston..Detroit, or Chicago and St Louis, but that's 4 and 5PM on the west coast. It's obvious that the San Jose Sharks have a great fan base and sell out teh HP Pavillion a lot. The Ducks will draw well if they win. I see better days though coming for the LA Kings..

[rapideye97]

The Seals - The Black Sheep of the '67 expansion teams.

[TheTzdope]

@rapideye97i saw the rangers beat them 12-1 at msg in the eaerly 70's!! 

[ThisIsBilbo]

Great porn mustaches in the 70's!

[CMUBrent]

White skates, yikes!

[bds1167]

I once saw the Flyers crush the Seals, 10-0 at the Spectrum. I remember those Pacific blue uniforms.

[myGUYfawkes]

(Part one) If you read the book parkman recommended - "Shorthanded" - you'll see that the Seals organization suffered from a lot of self-inflicted wounds. The Seals entered the NHL - in 1967-68 - with a roster which SHOULD have been competitive in the Western division. Unfortunately, behind the bench they had Drill Sergeant Olmstead coaching. By Thanksgiving he had lost the team, and - by the time the season ended - the Seals were well out of the playoff race.

[myGUYfawkes]

(Part two) Olmstead was replaced behind the bench by Fred Glover, and - suddenly - the Seals looked as good as they should have from the beginning. They finished second in the Western division in 1968-69, and again made the playoffs in 1969-70.

If the Seals would have had ownership willing to pay the price necessary to KEEP their better players, hockey could have been more consistently successful in Oakland.

[Lava1964]

Funny to think that 6,000 fans was considered a good turnout.

Gilles Meloche was one of my favorite NHL goalies. He was totally underrated because he played for such poor Seals teams.

[vegaslover777]

The Seals' talent was depleted by the WHA in '72 but what many forget is that once Finley was out of the picture the team restocked with some tremendous talent: Dennis Maruk and Charlie Simmer both went on to score 50 goals in one season with other teams (Simmer twice) , Wayne Merrick was fast and exciting, Rick Hampton, Mike Christie, Al MacAdam, Morris Mott and others were also talented players. Attendance was finally up but sadly by '76 the deal was done and the Seals were gone.

[ECWnWWF]

In Clarence Campbell's 31 seasons as the NHL's head honcho...the league tripled in size..from 6 to 18 teams. In that span only 2 teams were relocated, the Kansas City Scouts went to Denver to become the Colorado Rockies and the Seals left Oakland to become the Cleveland Barons. The Seals/Barons were the only team to fold under Campbell's watch.

Bettman on the other hand, in 16 seasons, while no team has folded, he relocated 4 teams and added 6 more. Bettman is a cancer to the NHL.

[Irekyu]

couldn't agree more. Bettman should have stayed with the NBA

[ethicomm]

And as of today April 29th, the NHL is running the Phoenix Coyotes and paying the arena lease, parking and security. Nothing wrong with this scenario.

[alexglauer]

So because 2 more teams have relocated under Bettman's watch than Campbell's he's done a bad job?

Times have changed, with corporations don't expect every team these days to remain.

And then you praise Campbell for adding 12 teams, but it's a criticism that Bettman has added 6 teams? Would he do a better job if he added 6 more teams? But then he'd be criticized for making the league too large.

He may have made some errors, but Bettman's done a good job and deserves respect.

[vidlivs]

@alexglauer Bettman, a good job...are you fuck'n kidding me. What are you? related to him or something. You're in the minority. Most hockey fans in Canada and the US rightfully thinks he's done a bad job. Nevermind that debacle in Phoenix with Balsillie that would have raised the value of every NHL team, had Bettman not personally try to keep him out, but that free TV contract with NBC is a joke for a pro league.

[jealouscardinal]

thanks, Staszu13, for the Desjardins anecdote. I'm gonna have to get this "Shorthanded" book. AND A FUCKING SEALS JERSEY!!!!!!!!

[PowlettJones45]

I was in high school and became a fan of the team two seasons before they moved.

They had some better players (which was not hard) in Hampton, Maruk, a seasoning Meloche, MacAdam and some others. I've named my fantasy hockey team after them because I'm still bummed they ever moved.

[parkman35]

You can get a book by Brad Kurtzburg called "Shorthanded' about the Seals. I bought it, and there's a ton of great photos and memories.

[myGUYfawkes]

The Seals - in 1971-72 - were very promising, although not particularly successful. Gilles Meloche arrived that year, Carol Vadnais - who was traded in February for Rick Smith, Bob Stewart and Reggie Leach - was probably the best defenseman in the Western Division. If you remember 70s NHL, you'll recognize forwards like Walt McKechnie, Ivan Boldirev, Gerry Pinder and Ernie Hicke, and Dick Redmond on defense. The arrival of the WHA that summer - 1972 - crippled the Seals.

[FischerFan]

Thanks for posting this video. It's always fascinating to watch the humble beginnings of the NHL in the Bay Area.

I believe the Seals undoing came with Charlie Finlay. He could build a baseball winner alright; but he knew absolutely nothing about hockey...and that's by his own admission.

Still, this team had talent like Joey Johnston, Larry Patey, Dennis Maruk, Al MacAdam, Charlie Simmer, and Gilles Meloche.

The potential was there, but sadly never realized.

[azstong]

Awesome video, i reaily enjoyed that.

[lameroger]

The best seasons this team ever had was the 1968-69 and 1969-70 when they made the playoffs twice!!!

[wow77777]

barons lasted 2 years and they did have a little spark.the seals lasted more years and though lousy later on they did twice make the nhl playoffs.both seals/barons had great unifoms

[CCampLI]

Don't have to use it, I remember it because I lived through it.

Beaupre was the reason why the Northstars defeated the Canadiens that year.

[vidlivs]

@CCampLI I Suppose you're talking about that QF series in 1980 where 4 time Stanley Cup champion Habs were finally beaten by the North Stars in 7 games.

Gilles Meloche was the goalie, as a matter of fact, Beaupre was not even on the team yet, as he was still in Junior. His NHL carear started in 1980-81, where he split duties with Meloche.

[CCampLI]

It is amazing how the Seals are still remembered. The team was horrendous and only exsisted for 2 years, but for some reason people still talk about them. I was told a couple of years ago by a life long Isles fan who has supported our team since it was born that he met the head of their booster club, an Asian man who had a reputation for NEVER forgetting someone's name. Didn't matter how long ago it was, the man never forgot.

This is a great vid, thank you for putting this up.

[vidlivs]

@CCampLI You may want to check the archives, especially since you have the internet it's very accessible. The Seals were around from the 1967-68 season, until 1975-76, before moving to Cleveland. I believe that's 9 years. The Cleveland Barons were only around for 2 years before merging with the Minnesota North Stars for the 78-79 season.

[boomac62]

I always kinda liked the good 'ol Seals. They were bad for sure but they always looked good in those nice sweaters and white skates. i was a fan of Gary Smith, I wasn't aware he played with them, I knew he backed up Tony Esposito for a while...

[Staszu13]

Smith was an interesting story, he'd played 71 out of 80 matches in 1970-71. He was traded to Chicago for Gerry Desjardins, but Desjardins showed up for training camp in Oakland with his arm in a cast. Finley got furious, demanded another goalie and got Gilles Meloche. Of course, Desjardins wasn't really injured....:-)

[boomac62]

Very interesting...gotta love Charly O! Well, that worked out well for the seals but as a Smith fan I should have known he played with the Seals (some fan)...thanks for the information.

[BiffScooter1]

Seals fans were not many but they were LOUD! My first experience was when Krazy George led a bunch of them up to Vancouver to see the Seals on the road vs. the Canucks. Became a Seals fan right then and there despite the pathetic record on the ice. Losers maybe but bland and boring they never were. Plus look at how good goalies.Gary Smith (revived Nux in mid''70s) and Gilles Meloche (took Minny to Final in '81) were when freed from Oakland

[CCampLI]

Don Beaupre took the Northstars to the finals in '81. I remember because I was 9 years old and went to game 1 of that series, we beat the Stars in 6.

Still remember it took three hours to get home after game 1, Hempstead Tpk was flooded with fans.

Reminds me, Isles fans started chanting "Rangers (bleepin) Suck!" The Isles had embarrassed the Rangers in the earlier round by sweeping them, ending thier season at the garden and by a lopsided goal total. Something like 28-8.

[BiffScooter1]

Well, jog that memory, dude. Meloche was #1 that year. Meloche played 13 games and Beuapre 6 in that playoff run. Almost on that GF total...it was 22 to 8 in the sweep. The Interwebs--use it or be forever called on your facts.

[doogwood]

gary "suitcase" smith....

[bsteg92]

the seals didnt have any money and nobody would go to there games thats why they failed

[Puckguy14]

Let's not forget the ultimate embarassment player personnel wise. Seals traded their #1 pick to Montreal who selected... Guy Lafleur

[hitthepost59]

My first NHL game was a Seals game in 1970..Gary Smith was my favorite..he sure saw alot of rubber back then!..great to see these seals videos

[chrisuncleahmad]

Why couldn't the Seals ever improve?

The Sharks, Kings and Ducks seemed to get better- but what was wrong with the Seals?

[NHLTrav]

I heard they didn't make enough money, so they could only pay for a few good players

[NHLTrav]

I heard they didn't make enough money, so they could only pay for a few good players

[AndyAkeko]

Oddly, the Seals moved to Cleveland who were then merged with the North Stars. When the Stars moved to Dallas, they ended up being split into another team that would move to the Bay area ... the San Jose Sharks.

[flg8or]

What?

The Sharks were an expansion team.

[Puckguy14]

Technically yes. While the Seals became the Barons then merged with the North Stars, the Gunds made a deal with the new North Stars owners to have a dispersal draft of Minnesota's minor league talent, in exchange to have the North Stars to share in the Expansion Draft pool. The North Stars stayed in Minny for two seasons and then went to Dallas where the team originally was to be called the Lone Stars.

[flg8or]

Technically, yes. The Sharks were an expansion team. They didn't exist prior to 1991, so they didn't "move" to the Bay Area.

[Puckguy14]

True, but that was almost the case with the Gunds wanting to move the North Stars to Oakland.

[Edenbridge]

Oh, the memories. This was my team - from 3,000 miles away in NY. Lived and breathed Seals hockey.

I had that poster behind the announcer, too. It was from a Wheaties promotion - I got the whole set of NHL West teams.

For Steve - I used to track their attendence figures. They never had under 1,000/game. 2,000+ was the lowest I remember.

[steve355]

A pair of references to attendance figures.

One was 6200 per game ; during that year when the Bruins and Canadiens came in, they were up around 12,000. The place must have be a mausoleum for other years, with less attractive opponents. Wondering if they ever did under 1,000 for a game.

[steve355]

Ernie Hicke and Chris Oddliefson for Guy Lafleur...nice even trade !!

[CMUBrent]

LOL, yeah that worked out well, didn't it?

[jjpeterson1]

What you talkin about? That's 2 players for 1!

It seemed like a nice bargain.. for a week or two.

[blank77]

Oakland-California Golden Seals 1967-76.RIP