California golden Seals vs Boston Bruins Mar 14, 1976

[richardguitar1]

my god, i was at this game with my dad

[MrJuha82]

CLEAR wIN O'Reilly who overpowered Christie here in quick time

[ramfeild66]

Amongst my favorite old school jerseys.

[Decepticon469]

Yeah, hockey has really lost the magic.

[lecagr]

As much as I liked the Seals, they weren't really known as a physical team. They didn't have an enforcer. They wouldn't back down from a fight, but when a fight broke out they usually got their butts kicked. Christie and Pesut were probably the best fighters on the team. In 75-76, the Seals were improving on offense and defense but still lacked some toughness. Bruins teams of the 70's had some tough dudes, O'Reilly, Schmautz, etc. Those guys were tough and they loved to fight.

[lecagr]

The 76-77 Barons were pretty much the same team as the 75-76 Seals, there were just a few changes to the roster. But the Barons in their first year ended with nearly the same record (63 points) as the Seals in their last year (65 points.) Whatever momentum the Seals were gaining in 75-76, was apparently lost with the move to Cleveland. It just wasn't the same anymore.

[lecagr]

Mel Swig, the Seals owner in 1975-76, was lobbying for a new stadium to be built in the bay area. The proposal was rejected and Swig asked the league for permission to move the team. Permission was granted, and in 1976-77 the Seals became the Cleveland Barons. Pretty sad to lose the team over a stadium dispute, other than being a little small there was nothing wrong with the coliseum in Oakland, the Seals could have continued playing there while they were negotiating a new stadium deal.

[MLinden22]

The Seals weren't taking any crap in '75-76. Good team that would have gotten better. Going to Seals games as a kid was absolutely awesome. You could go anywhere you wanted, even right down to the glass. Not a lot of security at the Coliseum back then.

[MrManfly]

MacAdam was tougher than people realized.

[77RAMBLERkid]

march 14th is my birthday =D

[parkman35]

Too bad you don't see a close up of Seals Goalie Garry Simmons mask in this clip. He had a Cobra painted on it. He was a big guy. He and Meloche made a good team in those last seasons before they headed for Cleveland. Well, the Bay Area has the Sharks... now if only they could get deeper in the playoffs!

[parkman35]

The whole aura of the Seals is an interesting story. The NHL wanted to put a team in San Francisco in '67 to give the Kings a natural rival, but they would've had to play at the Cow Palace so with the Oakland Coliseum that opened in '66 the Seals opened up shop there, and if I can remember they were in the playoffs a few times when they were the Oakland Seals. I seem to remember them playing the Kings and it went 7 games. I will agree Charlie Finley started the ruination of the franchise.

[PowlettJones45]

Well, there's two of us then, lecagr, that started following the Seals their final two years. Joe Starkey was the radio announcer, remember? There seemed like real hope. The defense wasn't getting pushed around as much. Simmer and Maruk had arrived. Meloche and Simmons were good 'keepers. Hampton was going to be the next big thing...Ah, man...

[lecagr]

Yea, I was devastated when it was announced the Seals were moving to Cleveland. I had no idea it was coming. I think the team got a raw deal, they never amounted to anything once they became the Barons. But those last two years as the Seals were a blast, a young energetic team with an improving defense and pretty decent goalkeeping. Meloche and Simmons were good goalies. Rick Hampton never lived up to his potential. He was a young player and didn't handle well the pressure that was put on him.

[lecagr]

In 1975-76, the Seals started gaining some respect around the league. People were talking about the 3M line of Maruk, MacAdam, and Murdoch. They were a young team which struggled at times but they were learning, improving and getting better. Had they remained the Seals, I think they would have made the city of Oakland proud. It's a shame we'll never know what might have been.

[lecagr]

The Bruins won this game 4-2. I was a huge Seals fan from 1974-76, they had some good players and were improving as a team during those days. And yep, they sported the coolest looking uniforms in those days with that teal, yellow, and white. Mel Swig the owner of the team wanted a new stadium in the bay area but it wasn't approved and the Seals ended up relocating to Cleveland and became the Cleveland Barons. Had the Seals remained in Oakland, I think they would have become a winning team.

[bluebear1985]

Maybe, but we'll never know. It probably started going downhill even more once Chuck Finley bought the team. On a related note, the A's in MLB nearly went under with him in charge. I hear that only about 900 fans were in attendance during a few games in '79. Figures like that make the Montreal Expos look good.

[hklinker]

Holy cheap shot by Bobby Schmautz !

[arkham335]

i want to buy a seals jersey.

[jerrytimes]

love those seals jerseys

[CMUBrent]

Me too!

[lecagr]

Yep, the teal, yellow, and white Seals jerseys are awesome. I have two of the road jerseys like the ones seen here in the video. One is a large and the other is an XXL.

[psychlyst]

old tyme hockey!

[Thetweakster]

nice tx :)