Great memories, Went too most Home Games with my father. Just lost him 2 days before Christmas. It will be 4 years ago in December. I still have a Seals Hat and Hoodie sweatshirt.
As kids we played hockey at Leggs ice rink at 11th and Market. The Seals were not very good and we would go to games mostly to see the visiting teams. But since i was a goalie, Gil Meloche was my hero and the only bright spot on an otherwise poor team beside the great crazy George! The bay area had rinks in every town and at that time ice skating was still quite popular. We traveled up and down the state playing junior hockey all through the 70s. What a great time in the bay area!
Thank you Steve for the great memories! This is another example of Charlie Finley's meddling and causing the destruction of another sports franchise in the Bay Area...yet when you have the A's, Raiders, and Warriors in town, no doubt it was hard to keep up. I really treasurethis video - and thank you again!
@Eilliw Nodrog - the Cleveland Barons were the transplanted Seals. But they were plagued by shaky management and poor fan support (an area out in the middle of nowhere) just like the Seals were in Oakland.
@Horace Ball God they were all so bad! Probably Garry Simmons on account he had such a cool face rig... I've got to go to my mom's house and find the old scrap books that have all the pictures of us. I'm gonna post those . Some great memories. My father was Santa Clara PD and every time we went to the the Flyers game he carried 2 pistols. I swear to God every chapter of Hellss Angels in the Bay area would show up for that game.
I was at that last game with Bruins. I was a little kid amd I loved hockey. I met the Penguin players at a Restaurant I worked at and made them desert. I was telling them about a game where Gillis Meloche let in a huge amount of goals in one period and got booed off the ice and I said I felt really bad for him. It was him I told the story to. He gave me his autographed photo and then I realized I was talking to Meloche himself.
What an incredible video!! Growing up in Boston I had my Bruins shirt and my pal had his Seals ones. Loved those uniforms. Great memories. Thanks for posting!
My uncle loved those White skates so much he used up most of the family fortune to start a company that made white workboots for men. Didn't go well. Last I checked he was fabricating blades to put on the boots. That's uncle Fred.
Despite the white skates the Seald looked really good in this game. So many players on both sides who relative unknowns at the time would go on to play pivotal roles with other teams in the coming seasons.
As a 12 year old kid growing up in suburban Detroit in 1972, I was able to listen to the Bruins games on WBZ radio and especially used to look forward to the 11:00 PM starts from Oakland, Vancouver and LA. I had adopted the Seals as my second favorite team (after the Red Wings of course) and remember listening to the game highlighted at the end of this video. I fell asleep midway through the second period with the Seals leading 6-1 and awoke late in the third period to discover to my dismay that the Bruins were leading 7-6 and would add an empty net goal to win 8-6! I believe the Seals had traded Carol Vadnais to the Bruins for Reggie Leach that same day. Very cool to actually see the footage of that game that I recall listening to so long ago!
Great post, I was a Seals fan on Long Island and was able to get the following out-of-state teams radio stations: Boston, Pittsburgh, Philadelphia, Detroit, Chicago, Washington and Atlanta, which came in clear as a bell. Spent many a late night (even on a Wednesday school night) staying up until 1:00 huddled by the radio. Couldn't get Buffalo or Toronto stations though and the Canadiens station was in French.
Bruins fan here. I was excited about getting Vadnais, but he never really adjusted to a new system. He made mistake after mistake on defense and gave up the puck too easily on his rushes up-ice. The Bruins even tried making a part-time wing out of him, but nothing really improved and fans were really sour on him his whole time with the team.
@@MrHmg55 Vadnais was my favorite Seals player. As I recall, he had pretty good offensive skills but was somewhat of a defensive liability. I think he teamed up with Bobby Orr on Bruin power plays. Looked like stardom was in his future early on, but overall I'd say he had a slightly better than average career.
I remember Crazy George. He used to come down to the Forum in LA when they'd play the Kings and would pop out of the entry tunnels and bang that drum. The Kings had a cheering section called "The White Hats" who would go around between period and lead the sections with "Go Kings Go" They stopped right in front of this guy and he just stood up and pounded that drum. Hilarious!!!
I was a Blackhawks fan growing up, and it was great to see Bobby Hull. But the Seals were my second favorite team. Always hoped they would turn it around. And I Loved the Uniforms!!
There weren't many Seals fans in Upstate New York, but I was one of them. Gilles Meloche was my favorite, but I also rooted for Al MacAdam, Dennis Maruk, Joey Johnston, Bob Stewart, Dave Hrechkosy, Wayne Merrick. Their whole history might have been different if they didn't trade their 1st Round Draft pick to Montreal--turned out to be Guy Lafleur! And, man, did the Seals lose a lot of talented players to the WHA.
Great video. At the end of it, this is the game I heard about so many times: Bruins down 6-1 with less than half a game to go. According to Esposito, that's when Bobby Orr got pissed and after ranting, he would've said '''C'mon boys, let's get the show on the road''. Did they ever! All the way to the cup!!!
Wow, that Bruins game at the end of this video brings back a ton of memories. I lived outside of Boston and was in Jr High when this game was broadcast. We used to stay up until 11 pm to catch the start of the west coast games once a year on channel 38. I loved the Seals because I loved the A’s baseball team and crazy Charlie O Finley. Made it tough to get up early the next morning but it was worth it to get a glimpse of the Golden Seals, Kings, and Canucks.
Carol Vadnais went on and won a Stanley Cup with Montreal. Gilles Meloche almost went to the Canadians but the Seals got him. Imagine the great career stats he would have had. Meloche is still my favorite goalie of all time. He was awesome. He actually holds the NHL record for most goals against. Too bad he played for such bad teams. He was great. Doug Roberts was the instructor at the hockey school I attended two years in a row in Concord, California. I loved the Seals.
Meloche also set the record (at the time) for most assists in a season by a goalie with 6 in 1974-75, but it went completely unrecognized. He also had two in one game that season. The record was later broken by Mike Palmateer and then Grant Fuhr. Did you get the new book about the Seals that came out last year? I'm mentioned in there, two short anecdotes.
This is an absolute spot on classic! Growing up in Toronto, and because of my age, I started to watch hockey after the expansion to 12 teams...Toronto of course never won, nor will ever win, the stanley cup again, so I was especially interested in the California teams. Of all 6 of them, you folks in Oakland have a special place in my heart for hanging in there. Minnesota of all places in the winter wonderland did not keep their original team as well. I love the highlights with the Canadians...never loved them but their broadcasts from the Montreal Forum and the organ and the excitement was light years from that old barn Maple Leaf Gardens with the clowns know as the Maple Leafs....thanks so much for this posting
With each passing year, it gets harder to believe that the Seals' home arena still exists and has far outlasted the Seals themselves...for those millennials who think more in terms of Steph Curry and the Splash Brothers but who end up stumbling upon this here video, I am referring to what is now known as Oracle Arena, soon to be the site of another NBA championship celebration for the Golden State Warriors. In the Seals' day, it was known as the Oakland-Alameda County Coliseum Arena. The arena had a much smaller seating capacity during the Seals' existence and was later extensively renovated, but this video is a great opportunity to view what Oracle looked like in its early days and as a hockey venue.
Oops, Steph Curry IS one of the Splash Brothers (the other is Klay Thompson). Also an oops, the Cavs did the celebrating at Oracle...props to LeBron and the city of Cleveland, the city's 52-year schneid is over!
Yes, they were respectable in the 1971-72 season, then came the WHA, that tells you the players couldn't wait to get away from Finley, just like a mass exodus of players from the Oakland A's after the 1976 season
It's a hoot that coach Stasiuk is wearing white skates at practice... while most of the players are in black skates, probably a backup pair. "This Week in the NHL" used to air on Friday nights in the NY area at 10:30 on WPIX-TV if I recall right. Usually it focused on highlights of the top clubs but I'd be watching hoping to catch a glimpse of the Seals or any of the other recent expansion teams, so you can imagine how blown away I was when the Stasiuk episode aired -- an entire half-hour devoted to the Seals!!!
The white skates were a gimmick gone wrong. A marketing genius got the whole team white skates for their second or third season. No one wanted them so there were plenty left over for the coaching staff to use for seasons to come.
If I still had my Booster Club Jacket, I'd wear it now. I loved watching this, I think I even caught a glimpse of my parents !! I wonder if Crazy George is still with us? I know Dave Hrechkosy passed due to cancer a few years back :( I'd love to talk to Ron Huston again - we shared several birthdays together back in the day !!
All the footage in the first 3 minutes is actually from 69-70, the only season they wore that version of their early green jersey with white shoulder yolks -- their best-looking uniform in my opinion.
@@waynejohanson1083 I agree. I saw games in which Meloche stood on his head in defeat. The team was often just hapless in front of him, although there were some first-class individual players (Al MacAdam, for example) and staff (such as Al Arbour).
In the 70s, I was a goalie playing junior hockey in the bay area and Gil Meloche was my hero. The best part was we got to watch him face 40 shots a night every night! I mimicked my whole routine after his. We would go to games on donated tickets then sneak down to the good seats!
Gilles Meloche was regularly facing 40 plus shots per game with lots of them tough ones. The 70's were a great decade for Quebec native goalies that saw the likes of Roggie Vachon, Jacques Plante, Bernie Parent, Gilles Villemure, Dan Bouchard, Gilles Gilbert, Gump Worsley. Other notable Quebec native goalies include Denis DeJordy, Phil Myre (#9 on most games played in goals in 70's), Denis Heron, Michel Plasse (#20 most games played in goals in 70's), Michel Laroque (better GAA than team mate Ken Dryden in 76-77), Richard Sevigny (played in 79-80).
I'm from Halifax,NS,Canada and in the early 70s I was startled to see a high school aged guy wearing a Seals jersey while playing ball hockey in a schoolyard in my neighborhood. This was probably 1972 and I was only ten. The world was a lot smaller then----especially here---and that yellow jersey made an impression on me. ''Exotic.'' I have no idea where he got that jersey. lol.
I was a peewee hockey player in the late 60's from Boston, the bruins were my only heros, especially Bobby Orr, if I wasn't on the ice we were playing street hockey. (Car).
Peter Laframboise Lived across the street from me, he would visit his Mom and brother in his Green Corvette. My sister dated his younger brother. He was taller than Peter. My son and I spent a bit of time with Dennis Maruk, my son played a hockey tournament and stayed at the same Hotel. We had breakfast with him,and my son got his goalie pads. autographed. a pair of Vaughn white and black pads. It was cool.
High Hugo, I think if you reread my comment you will see that my Son is a goalie, who got his goal pad signed by Dennis Maruk. lol. The video starts off with Dennis scoring on Ken Dryden, Dennis went on to have a 50 goal season with the Capitals. Peter also socialized on occasion with Peter but were not big friends with him at the time. Dennis is a great guy. My son still uses these pads. by the way, he is now playing Juvenile and is 21 yrs. old. He is quite good.
Oh you mentioned a player I liked . I watched Pete Laframboise play in the ahl 1972-'79. From Baltimore Clippers, Springfield Indians. Oh those were good years. The AHL kept a lot of veteran players on rosters in those days unlike the simply development league it is now. How I miss those years. Things were simpler and without all the corporate seats in the lower bowls.
Other than the game mentioned of 23 February 1972 with Boston 8, California 6, here are the dates for the other games in this video: 19 December 1969 with Chicago 4, Oakland 0; 17 February 1970 with Boston 3, Oakland 3; 19 December 1971 with Montréal 3, California 3.
One thing the seals did that was great was putting names on the back of sweaters which I love because you then know who the player was and all sports now do it.
My team,Toronto,usually had little trouble with them in Toronto,once beating them 11-0;however,out in Oakland it was often a very different story.The Leafs were likely just under 500 with plenty of ties out there,once losing 8-1. I never liked it when they went out there and played the Seals and the Kings.
@@horaceball5418 Fringe player Ernie Hicke humorously recalled showing up a new Seal and noticing all the sun tanned teammates. He found it hard to get motivated about the game with such a distracting and laid back atmosphere. Didn't feel like a hockey world at all.
In the first 3 years of expansion, all the new teams were in the Western Division so you'd have the 2nd, 3rd and 4th place teams all making the playoffs with losing records.
Thanks for posting this really interesting video. Even though i’m Canadian & grew up cheering for the Toronto Maple🍁 Leafs & that’s a totally different topic all in itself being a Leafs fan lol 😆 I tell ya there’s been a lot of years of heartache with not winning the Stanley Cup since 1967 which was the last year for the original six era & the California Golden Seals would join the NHL the following year. I remember my Mom telling me that when the “Seals” joined the NHL & she seen the “Seals” in Toronto at the old “Maple Leaf Gardens” & Mom told me their uniforms & skates seemed like something out of Disney World lol 😝… & a lot of people thinking that hockey had no place in warm climates year round who couldn’t even build an ice-rink in their back yards for the young kids development or not even having a minor hockey system for the kids. But as many of us know now how many sunshine state teams there are + winning Stanley Cups.
I remember when I was a kid I saw a hockey game between The Toronto Maple Leafs against the California Golden Seals. Toronto slaughtered the California 11 - 0. Oh my goodness!
One problem with the Seals was the lack of local TV and radio broadcasts. It's my understanding (I've never lived in the Bay Area) that the Seals didn't have any local radio coverage for two of the nine years they existed in the Bay Area; and they only had local TV broadcasts for four of their nine years, consisting mainly of games from Los Angeles and (later on) Vancouver. That would total perhaps four or five televised games that year. Most of the TV footage in this clip came from games against Boston; Boston's WSBK-TV carried an extensive schedule of Boston Bruins' games from 1967 through 2002 (from 1967 until 1984; the station did the most local telecasts of any NHL club). Fortunately for the hockey fans of Northern California, the San Jose Sharks came in the early 1990's, and while the Sharks have yet (as of 2015) to win a Stanley Cup, the team has been profitable and hockey now has a large, solid, and growing fanbase in the Bay Area.
+altfactor Irony has it I first started started following the NHL in 73-74. I watched the NBC GOTW. I tried as a kid to find the local radio broadcast of the Seals here in the East Bay-- but they didn't have broadcasts! I can attest to altfactor-- But I remember sitting in my mom's kitchen listening to L.A. Kings games via am radio on the signal skip. I think it was KRLA and Bob Miller was the announcer. I swear I remember him discussing the League's plan to add Washington & K.C. expansion teams. I wrote to the Kings office and was pleasantly suprised with all the great schedules and other promo stuff they sent me.
+Paul S. --- I also used to write to all the NHL teams and request schedules, stickers and any other freebie promo stuff they might care to send. Always exciting to get that envelope in the mail!
The Seals were poorly run from the start...with better ownership and management they might have lasted in the area, but they would have needed better media coverage and promotion. Frankly I don't know how the Kings survived with the attendance they had for years...but they iced competitive teams through the mid 70's, they had players like Dionne, Goring, Vachon, eventually the Triple Crown Line followed by the Gretzky Era...and KTLA broadcast a lot of simulcast games both home and away. Then they got The only 67 expansion to not flirt with or actually suffer folding, bankruptcy, or relocation are the Flyers. Thankfully Pittsburgh, and St. Louis survived their dark days but I still think its a shame that the North Stars couldn't manage to stay in Minnesota. Hockey in non traditional locales is always going to be tough...but even as solid as LA and San Jose are now if they suffered a long period of losing seasons, attendance would drop off...unlike meccas like Toronto and Montreal...perhaps the only two cities where attendance never suffers no matter how much the fans do. The Chicago Stadium and Detroit Olympia suffered poor attendance for the years the Hawks and Wings were abysmal. Boston and NYR have been pretty close to TO and Mtl in unfettered attendance over the years. The Bay area was a softer market even than LA so it was a really tough sell there.
WOW !! Great footage...CRAZY GEORGE.....he certainly did not 'Bang The Drum Slowly'...I think he moved to Colorado, for some reason I seem to recall watching him in McNichols Arena where the Rockies played. This footage is a must watch. Look at how hockey has transformed from the 70's to present day 2023. HUGE difference. Nonetheless, just a great time in the NHL. And Ohhh, Charles Finley......precedent setting in some ways....a total buffoon in many others....
beginning at 46:20, very tough to watch a goalie get scored upon with the lead they had. yes it's the bruins and yes they're the seals, but he looks so dejected after every goal. must have been tough for rick smith as well considering he was traded the morning of this game and then watched his former team win another cup a few months later...
1:13 imagine back then some Canadian guy was like "pfft hockey in St Louis Pittsburgh and Philly that will never work YEAH and the leafs will never win another cup again eh right fellas!?" .......lol
Both the Blues and Penguins were in danger of moving to Canada in mid 1980s...Blues were headed to Saskatoon in 1983....and Penguins to Hamilton in 1984. But because the Flames had moved to Calgary earlier in the decade....Ziegler and the US owners did not want to lose another franchise to Canada so they blocked the deals. Panthers should move to Quebec City...Coyotes should move as well.
1978: "The Seals moved? Knew it. Hockey never works in California!" 1988: "GRETZKY MOVED TO THE KINGS?! Meh. California is still not a hockey state. I don't think there will be another California team." 1991: "So the NHL is going back to the BAY AREA? When will the NHL learn? Those..."Sharks"....will just be a fad. Teal? Seriously? I don't think they'll ever become a playoff contender! No prospective Hall of Famer will ever want to play in Northern California! They'll never win the President's Trophy or reach the Cup Finals! They'll probably move to Cleveland or Ottawa in 5 years!" 1993: "Oh NHL...you seriously will never learn, will you? ANAHEIM?! DISNEY?! MIGHTY DUCKS?! This is a publicity stunt, not a team! This team will never win the Stanley Cup! The Sharks don't seem like they're gonna move, surprisingly, so Imma bet these "Mighty Sucks" will move to Milwaukee or Minnesota!"
The NHL was supposed to give that franchise to Vancouver in order to have two teams on the west coast, but the Toronto Maple Leafs, wishing to preserve their monoply on the CBC-CTV television rights suggested that the second west coast team be located in San Francisco, which was a problem in that San Francisco did not have a suitable arena for hockey. So team owner Barry Van Gerbig (Mary Pickfords` son in law) placed the team in Oakland, where the team was a failure. In 1968 Mr Van Gerbig, alonf with LaBatt Brewery asked the NHL to allow him to move the team to BC. That set of a fire storm, lead by Stafford Smyte, owner of the Toronto Maple Leafs, used all kinds of dumb excuses to prevent that from happening, the real reason being the CBC television rights which he wanted to keep for himself. So the Seals stayed in Oakland till they finally moved to Cleveland where two years later they finally folds. As for Vancouver they got their team in 1970.
Right, the San Francisco Seals had been a moderately-successful minor league franchise, playing in the Cow Palace in Daly City (where the NHL Sharks played 25 years later, before their new arena was ready), and the other new team down the coast, the Kings, needed a somewhat local rival at the time. Van Gerbig was a 28-year old playboy/absentee owner who was looking to sell the team before the first season was over. First to Vancouver, then Buffalo, then Vancouver after he got additional financing from Labatt's. It would have been a black eye to the league to move an expansion team after 1-2 seasons. So Vancouver (and Buffalo) had to wait a year or two..
@@waynejohanson1083 The NHL owned the Seals when he was traded (1974, just days after the Flyers won their first Stanley cup.) The management's directive throughout the period of time that the league owned the team was basically to cut costs, period. They dumped Ivan Boldirev to the Blackhawks for Len Frig and Mike Christie the day prior to peddling Leach to Philadelphia.
@@Rockhound6165 Everyone beat up Magnuson. He loved to start fights but never won any of them. Losing to Boldirev! He should have been ashamed of himself!
Meloche, in any other team is a HOF member. The Seals had this charming list of other goalkeeper candidates, Kurt, Worthy, Sneddon,Smith and the others....After Meloche I think the aggregate GAPGA was 5.00. Les Miserables.
Oakland lost the Golden Seals, its NBA team which renamed itself Golden State Warriors, its NFL team first to LA and then to Las Vegas, and now its A’s to Las Vegas.
You'd think the Seals play-by-play announcer would know how to pronounce Vadnais lol. The second tussle between Vadnais and Magnuson, Magnuson pushed the referee. These days that would be probably a 10 game suspension. Doesn't look like he got anything for that push.
That was the Chicago announcer mis-pronouncing Vadnais' name. The Seals didn't have local TV coverage of their home games. (Home teams wore dark jerseys in 69-70)
Oh my gosh... I was 🤔 ing how much of a non fighter Magnuson was and then he lands a direct right hook square on Carol Vaidnais Snoz.......point blank at full strength. WoW. My one memory of Magnuson as a kid was when he blocked a shot with his jaw and it might have been Dick Redmond who did it.
I remember them shocking Boston. By the time they folded I think they were gradually on their way. They were at least mediocre, with some decent players like Meloche and Gary Croteau and a few others. Better management may have made a big difference.
Dennis Maruk was their other star. Nobody mentions him anymore, but once he got away from Oakland/Cleveland he was a big-time scorer, especially with the Capitals.
I watched the Seals play many times as a visiting team in New York, Long Island, Boston, and Philadelphia when I was a single man and went to a lot of sports event. Not once did I ever see the Seals win, never. Never even a tie. They were a disgracefully bad franchise in a weakened league. I saw them crushed on a constant basis by scores like 21-1, 10-0, 9-2, many 7 and 6 goal games. I thought that Meloche was actually one of the best goalies that I have ever seen (have been watching NHL since 1959) but who knew? If you look strictly at his GAPG you would not be impressed. I saw him play at Madison Sq Garden when the Golden Seals lost to Rangers 3-1 and were outshot 59-13. 56 saves!!! And the sportswriter who picked the 3 stars of the game did not pick him at all! I also saw this aggregation play a home game when they moved to Cleveland. The arena seated about 20,000, and about 3,000 were rattling around this place in Richfield, Ohio, in the middle of nowhere. It was the Siberia of the NHL, a fitting end to it all.
21-1? I think you meant 12-1. That would be the game at Madison Square Garden in 71-72. Score was only 4-1 after two but the Rangers scored 8 in the 3rd period, Pierre Jarry getting two goals in 5 seconds! Poor Gilles. They took him out after the 10th goal and Lyle Carter let up two more. I think this is the 3-1 game you're referring to in 1973: www.flyershistory.com/cgi-bin/ppoboxscore.cgi?H19720402 Shots were actually 58-21. Good post, I only got to see the Seals when they came to Nassau Coliseum (and that was excrutiating), too young to have gone to those other arenas to follow my team but wish I could have!
Never even knew they where in the N.H.L. 67 they where in Oakland ,68-69 they moved too California wow didn't know anything about the team dude who owned the A"s finly was the owner of the time
TheWildNhlFan That wouldn't really make sense since the Golden Seals were, well Oakland. I'm pretty if Seattle got a team they would use the name of first team the Metropolitans better known as the Mets.
Right off the bat, the Colorado Rockies/KC Scouts are the same franchise who are now the NJ Devils, even at the time of the broadcast in the beginning so whoever was giving that young lady info didn't do a good job.
SJ Sharks celebrated the 50th anniversary of the Seals’ first faceoff (apparently Tom Hanks liked them) with a few of the old players and gave away a special tee-shirt. Didn't know there was still a local Seals fan club - goldensealshockey.com/ , here's a link to the local newspaper article www.mercurynews.com/2017/01/04/purdy-sharks-to-honor-the-california-golden-seals-the-nhl-expansion-team-that-wore-white-skates-entranced-tom-hanks-and-employed-a-cobra/
That's pretty cool. All the teams that have former NHL teams in their area should celebrate the history/anniversaries etc. I just wish the NHL would bring back Quebec and Hartford. Even though I'm a Leafs fan, I miss those teams.
between peiods 11:32 "I Don't anybody using the ref or the linesman as a crutch.... don't use them as an excuse" after losing 17:05 "I mean the referring....the first call was so obvious and ......"
1967 NHL expansion teams St.louis blues Philadelphia flyers Dallas stars (Minnesota north stars) Pittsburgh penguins ( wallieb26's team) Los Angeles kings Oakland seals
It might have helped a little if they didn't Change thire team name litterly every single season 🤔 They also should have stuk with "gee" Lafleur when had a chance
Well when the seals came I the league so did the Los Angeles Kind,St.Lpuis Blues and 5 other teams in the year of 1967 been those two fanscise are still in the (N.H.L. )&( both won the )???? ( STANLEY CUP )( are supposed to be successful today slot of faithful fans popular in there cities nice Stadiums cool unforms
Great memories, Went too most Home Games with my father. Just lost him 2 days before Christmas. It will be 4 years ago in December. I still have a Seals Hat and Hoodie sweatshirt.
I don't care what anyone thinks. I truly dug the uniforms and the skates. I call it being different; being unique.
As kids we played hockey at Leggs ice rink at 11th and Market. The Seals were not very good and we would go to games mostly to see the visiting teams. But since i was a goalie, Gil Meloche was my hero and the only bright spot on an otherwise poor team beside the great crazy George! The bay area had rinks in every town and at that time ice skating was still quite popular. We traveled up and down the state playing junior hockey all through the 70s. What a great time in the bay area!
Meloche was amazing. Imagine him playing for a cup contending team. Instead he sits at home convulsing from shell shock
Thank you Steve for the great memories! This is another example of Charlie Finley's meddling and causing the destruction of another sports franchise in the Bay Area...yet when you have the A's, Raiders, and Warriors in town, no doubt it was hard to keep up. I really treasurethis video - and thank you again!
The Seals are STILL tied with the Toronto Maple Leafs for most Stanley cup wins since 1968: zero.
Johnny Ancich stfu
BOOM ROASTED
Both teams will remain at 0 forever now
But then the Seals weren't competing for Stanley Cups after 1976 Barons after 1978
Let the ZERO continue
What memories, dad had season tickets. First pro sports team I ever rooted for. Been addicted to hockey ever since!!!! Go Sharks-Thanks Steve!
Yea the sharks have great fans they definitely were teased with the seals but took full advantage of the Sharks.
@Eilliw Nodrog not the message I was looking to convey. It was about the game and good times which far outweighed any disappointment. ...
@Eilliw Nodrog - the Cleveland Barons were the transplanted Seals. But they were plagued by shaky management and poor fan support (an area out in the middle of nowhere) just like the Seals were in Oakland.
Who was your favorite Seal?
@Horace Ball God they were all so bad! Probably Garry Simmons on account he had such a cool face rig... I've got to go to my mom's house and find the old scrap books that have all the pictures of us. I'm gonna post those . Some great memories. My father was Santa Clara PD and every time we went to the the Flyers game he carried 2 pistols. I swear to God every chapter of Hellss Angels in the Bay area would show up for that game.
I was at that last game with Bruins. I was a little kid amd I loved hockey. I met the Penguin players at a Restaurant I worked at and made them desert. I was telling them about a game where Gillis Meloche let in a huge amount of goals in one period and got booed off the ice and I said I felt really bad for him. It was him I told the story to. He gave me his autographed photo and then I realized I was talking to Meloche himself.
What an incredible video!! Growing up in Boston I had my Bruins shirt and my pal had his Seals ones. Loved those uniforms. Great memories. Thanks for posting!
My uncle loved those White skates so much he used up most of the family fortune to start a company that made white workboots for men. Didn't go well. Last I checked he was fabricating blades to put on the boots. That's uncle Fred.
Despite the white skates the Seald looked really good in this game. So many players on both sides who relative unknowns at the time would go on to play pivotal roles with other teams in the coming seasons.
As a child, Dave Stewart( ex-Mlb pitcher) would sneak in to watch Seals games.
As a 12 year old kid growing up in suburban Detroit in 1972, I was able to listen to the Bruins games on WBZ radio and especially used to look forward to the 11:00 PM starts from Oakland, Vancouver and LA. I had adopted the Seals as my second favorite team (after the Red Wings of course) and remember listening to the game highlighted at the end of this video. I fell asleep midway through the second period with the Seals leading 6-1 and awoke late in the third period to discover to my dismay that the Bruins were leading 7-6 and would add an empty net goal to win 8-6! I believe the Seals had traded Carol Vadnais to the Bruins for Reggie Leach that same day. Very cool to actually see the footage of that game that I recall listening to so long ago!
Great post, I was a Seals fan on Long Island and was able to get the following out-of-state teams radio stations: Boston, Pittsburgh, Philadelphia, Detroit, Chicago, Washington and Atlanta, which came in clear as a bell. Spent many a late night (even on a Wednesday school night) staying up until 1:00 huddled by the radio. Couldn't get Buffalo or Toronto stations though and the Canadiens station was in French.
Bruins fan here. I was excited about getting Vadnais, but he never really adjusted to a new system. He made mistake after mistake on defense and gave up the puck too easily on his rushes up-ice. The Bruins even tried making a part-time wing out of him, but nothing really improved and fans were really sour on him his whole time with the team.
@@MrHmg55 Vadnais was my favorite Seals player. As I recall, he had pretty good offensive skills but was somewhat of a defensive liability. I think he teamed up with Bobby Orr on Bruin power plays. Looked like stardom was in his future early on, but overall I'd say he had a slightly better than average career.
@Eilliw Nodrog - right. I hated the Islanders because they beat up the Seals pretty bad. Went to games at the Coliseum where it was 8-1 and 10-1.
@@MrHmg55 - Vadnais was used as a LW for about a third of the season in 70-71 when he scored 24 goals, a good deal of them were scored as a forward.
I remember Crazy George. He used to come down to the Forum in LA when they'd play the Kings and would pop out of the entry tunnels and bang that drum. The Kings had a cheering section called "The White Hats" who would go around between period and lead the sections with "Go Kings Go" They stopped right in front of this guy and he just stood up and pounded that drum. Hilarious!!!
I am familiar with Kraze cuz he used to work BC Lions games too.
I was a Blackhawks fan growing up, and it was great to see Bobby Hull. But the Seals were my second favorite team. Always hoped they would turn it around. And I Loved the Uniforms!!
greatest thing about hockey in the 70s...whenever a fight or brawl broke out the organist would go nuts lol
Or if the ref made a call against the home team, he'd play Three Blind Mice.
@@sdgakatbk I think that was happening in 60s-70s Montreal Forum. (3 Blind Mice)
I always liked the California Golden Seals! Such a cool hockey team!
There weren't many Seals fans in Upstate New York, but I was one of them. Gilles Meloche was my favorite, but I also rooted for Al MacAdam, Dennis Maruk, Joey Johnston, Bob Stewart, Dave Hrechkosy, Wayne Merrick. Their whole history might have been different if they didn't trade their 1st Round Draft pick to Montreal--turned out to be Guy Lafleur! And, man, did the Seals lose a lot of talented players to the WHA.
Being in upstate NY, you had to stay up very late to watch their home games if they were on TV
Great video. At the end of it, this is the game I heard about so many times: Bruins down 6-1 with less than half a game to go. According to Esposito, that's when Bobby Orr got pissed and after ranting, he would've said '''C'mon boys, let's get the show on the road''. Did they ever! All the way to the cup!!!
Wow, that Bruins game at the end of this video brings back a ton of memories. I lived outside of Boston and was in Jr High when this game was broadcast. We used to stay up until 11 pm to catch the start of the west coast games once a year on channel 38. I loved the Seals because I loved the A’s baseball team and crazy Charlie O Finley. Made it tough to get up early the next morning but it was worth it to get a glimpse of the Golden Seals, Kings, and Canucks.
Carol Vadnais went on and won a Stanley Cup with Montreal. Gilles Meloche almost went to the Canadians but the Seals got him. Imagine the great career stats he would have had. Meloche is still my favorite goalie of all time. He was awesome. He actually holds the NHL record for most goals against. Too bad he played for such bad teams. He was great. Doug Roberts was the instructor at the hockey school I attended two years in a row in Concord, California. I loved the Seals.
Correction : Vadnais won a Stanley Cup with Boston.
Gilles Meloche almost went to the Canadiens? He came from the Blackhawks with Paul Shmyr and Gerry Pinder in the 1971 Gary Smith trade.
Meloche also set the record (at the time) for most assists in a season by a goalie with 6 in 1974-75, but it went completely unrecognized. He also had two in one game that season. The record was later broken by Mike Palmateer and then Grant Fuhr. Did you get the new book about the Seals that came out last year? I'm mentioned in there, two short anecdotes.
@@pjet8042 It's remarkable when a goalie gets one assist in a game, let alone two.
Vadnais won a Stanley Cup with Montreal and Boston @@jamestiscareno4387
This is an absolute spot on classic! Growing up in Toronto, and because of my age, I started to watch hockey after the expansion to 12 teams...Toronto of course never won, nor will ever win, the stanley cup again, so I was especially interested in the California teams. Of all 6 of them, you folks in Oakland have a special place in my heart for hanging in there. Minnesota of all places in the winter wonderland did not keep their original team as well. I love the highlights with the Canadians...never loved them but their broadcasts from the Montreal Forum and the organ and the excitement was light years from that old barn Maple Leaf Gardens with the clowns know as the Maple Leafs....thanks so much for this posting
The last time Toronto won the Stanley Cup was in 1967.
With each passing year, it gets harder to believe that the Seals' home arena still exists and has far outlasted the Seals themselves...for those millennials who think more in terms of Steph Curry and the Splash Brothers but who end up stumbling upon this here video, I am referring to what is now known as Oracle Arena, soon to be the site of another NBA championship celebration for the Golden State Warriors. In the Seals' day, it was known as the Oakland-Alameda County Coliseum Arena. The arena had a much smaller seating capacity during the Seals' existence and was later extensively renovated, but this video is a great opportunity to view what Oracle looked like in its early days and as a hockey venue.
Oops, Steph Curry IS one of the Splash Brothers (the other is Klay Thompson). Also an oops, the Cavs did the celebrating at Oracle...props to LeBron and the city of Cleveland, the city's 52-year schneid is over!
Very cool. I had no idea
I liked the Seals as a boy. Even though they lost a lot. I even loved their uniforms; including their white skates.
They should've hired Crazy George to be the head coach. Maybe they would've had a winner on the ice.
No one on the team would take him serious.
I was thinking broadcaster.
Yes, they were respectable in the 1971-72 season, then came the WHA, that tells you the players couldn't wait to get away from Finley, just like a mass exodus of players from the Oakland A's after the 1976 season
It's a hoot that coach Stasiuk is wearing white skates at practice... while most of the players are in black skates, probably a backup pair. "This Week in the NHL" used to air on Friday nights in the NY area at 10:30 on WPIX-TV if I recall right. Usually it focused on highlights of the top clubs but I'd be watching hoping to catch a glimpse of the Seals or any of the other recent expansion teams, so you can imagine how blown away I was when the Stasiuk episode aired -- an entire half-hour devoted to the Seals!!!
The white skates were a gimmick gone wrong. A marketing genius got the whole team white skates for their second or third season. No one wanted them so there were plenty left over for the coaching staff to use for seasons to come.
19 :35 Shoot the puck at the net when u can. And one of u guys be there. Wow . Thats a wealth of coaching rite there !
exactly dude knew nothing horrible
If I still had my Booster Club Jacket, I'd wear it now. I loved watching this, I think I even caught a glimpse of my parents !! I wonder if Crazy George is still with us? I know Dave Hrechkosy passed due to cancer a few years back :( I'd love to talk to Ron Huston again - we shared several birthdays together back in the day !!
All the footage in the first 3 minutes is actually from 69-70, the only season they wore that version of their early green jersey with white shoulder yolks -- their best-looking uniform in my opinion.
Gilles meloche best goalie on a bad team of all time
Probably the best Goalie of all time with a losing record
@@waynejohanson1083 I agree. I saw games in which Meloche stood on his head in defeat. The team was often just hapless in front of him, although there were some first-class individual players (Al MacAdam, for example) and staff (such as Al Arbour).
Mr. Meloche's brother lived up the street from me in Cherry Hill, NJ- back in the 70s & 80s...
@@PeterRepovski he played for the North Stars in the 80's. He was very good
In the 70s, I was a goalie playing junior hockey in the bay area and Gil Meloche was my hero. The best part was we got to watch him face 40 shots a night every night! I mimicked my whole routine after his. We would go to games on donated tickets then sneak down to the good seats!
I have Been Driving the Zamboni since I was 16 . Started skating when I was 12 . Got to work at 6 different rinks over my lifetime.
Gilles Meloche was regularly facing 40 plus shots per game with lots of them tough ones. The 70's were a great decade for Quebec native goalies that saw the likes of Roggie Vachon, Jacques Plante, Bernie Parent, Gilles Villemure, Dan Bouchard, Gilles Gilbert, Gump Worsley. Other notable Quebec native goalies include Denis DeJordy, Phil Myre (#9 on most games played in goals in 70's), Denis Heron, Michel Plasse (#20 most games played in goals in 70's), Michel Laroque (better GAA than team mate Ken Dryden in 76-77), Richard Sevigny (played in 79-80).
I'm from Halifax,NS,Canada and in the early 70s I was startled to see a high school aged guy wearing a Seals jersey while playing ball hockey in a schoolyard in my neighborhood. This was probably 1972 and I was only ten. The world was a lot smaller then----especially here---and that yellow jersey made an impression on me. ''Exotic.'' I have no idea where he got that jersey. lol.
He was likely a Norm Ferguson fan!
I was a peewee hockey player in the late 60's from Boston, the bruins were my only heros, especially Bobby Orr, if I wasn't on the ice we were playing street hockey. (Car).
Peter Laframboise Lived across the street from me, he would visit his Mom and brother in his Green Corvette. My sister dated his younger brother. He was taller than Peter.
My son and I spent a bit of time with Dennis Maruk, my son played a hockey tournament and stayed at the same Hotel. We had breakfast with him,and my son got his goalie pads. autographed. a pair of Vaughn white and black pads. It was cool.
High Hugo, I think if you reread my comment you will see that my Son is a goalie, who got his goal pad signed by Dennis Maruk. lol. The video starts off with Dennis scoring on Ken Dryden, Dennis went on to have a 50 goal season with the Capitals. Peter also socialized on occasion with Peter but were not big friends with him at the time. Dennis is a great guy. My son still uses these pads. by the way, he is now playing Juvenile and is 21 yrs. old. He is quite good.
did it on my phone sorry. Glad you enjoyed the story.
Oh you mentioned a player I liked . I watched Pete Laframboise play in the ahl 1972-'79. From Baltimore Clippers, Springfield Indians. Oh those were good years. The AHL kept a lot of veteran players on rosters in those days unlike the simply development league it is now. How I miss those years. Things were simpler and without all the corporate seats in the lower bowls.
@@dennis9707 Pete RIP.
@@carrolandre304 And would score 60 in a season. Almost a hall of famer
Other than the game mentioned of 23 February 1972 with Boston 8, California 6, here are the dates for the other games in this video: 19 December 1969 with Chicago 4, Oakland 0; 17 February 1970 with Boston 3, Oakland 3; 19 December 1971 with Montréal 3, California 3.
One thing the seals did that was great was putting names on the back of sweaters which I love because you then know who the player was and all sports now do it.
Not in baseball.
I always thought the New York Rangers were the first team to do it beginning in 70/71
Later would become the Cleveland Barons.
then later would share the Minnesota north stars
My team,Toronto,usually had little trouble with them in Toronto,once beating them 11-0;however,out in Oakland it was often a very different story.The Leafs were likely just under 500 with plenty of ties out there,once losing 8-1. I never liked it when they went out there and played the Seals and the Kings.
My Sabres likewise, destroyed the Seals in Buffalo but often went limp in Oakland!
@@horaceball5418 Fringe player Ernie Hicke humorously recalled showing up a new Seal and noticing all the sun tanned teammates. He found it hard to get motivated about the game with such a distracting and laid back atmosphere. Didn't feel like a hockey world at all.
It’s hard to believe that they actually made the playoffs let alone twice
In the first 3 years of expansion, all the new teams were in the Western Division so you'd have the 2nd, 3rd and 4th place teams all making the playoffs with losing records.
@pjet8042 Nobody in the new division had a winning record in 67 68 only the Blues had a winning record in 68 69 and 69 70
Thanks for posting this really interesting video. Even though i’m Canadian & grew up cheering for the Toronto Maple🍁 Leafs & that’s a totally different topic all in itself being a Leafs fan lol 😆 I tell ya there’s been a lot of years of heartache with not winning the Stanley Cup since 1967 which was the last year for the original six era & the California Golden Seals would join the NHL the following year. I remember my Mom telling me that when the “Seals” joined the NHL & she seen the “Seals” in Toronto at the old “Maple Leaf Gardens” & Mom told me their uniforms & skates seemed like something out of Disney World lol 😝… & a lot of people thinking that hockey had no place in warm climates year round who couldn’t even build an ice-rink in their back yards for the young kids development or not even having a minor hockey system for the kids. But as many of us know now how many sunshine state teams there are + winning Stanley Cups.
I remember when I was a kid I saw a hockey game between The Toronto Maple Leafs against the California Golden Seals. Toronto slaughtered the California 11 - 0. Oh my goodness!
One problem with the Seals was the lack of local TV and radio broadcasts.
It's my understanding (I've never lived in the Bay Area) that the Seals didn't have any local radio coverage for two of the nine years they existed in the Bay Area; and they only had local TV broadcasts for four of their nine years, consisting mainly of games from Los Angeles and (later on) Vancouver. That would total perhaps four or five televised games that year.
Most of the TV footage in this clip came from games against Boston; Boston's WSBK-TV carried an extensive schedule of Boston Bruins' games from 1967 through 2002 (from 1967 until 1984; the station did the most local telecasts of any NHL club).
Fortunately for the hockey fans of Northern California, the San Jose Sharks came in the early 1990's, and while the Sharks have yet (as of 2015) to win a Stanley Cup, the team has been profitable and hockey now has a large, solid, and growing fanbase in the Bay Area.
+altfactor --- right, I remember reading in the Hockey News during 73-74 that they had no local radio coverage. Unfathomable!
+altfactor Irony has it I first started started following the NHL in 73-74. I watched the NBC GOTW. I tried as a kid to find the local radio broadcast of the Seals here in the East Bay-- but they didn't have broadcasts! I can attest to altfactor-- But I remember sitting in my mom's kitchen listening to L.A. Kings games via am radio on the signal skip. I think it was KRLA and Bob Miller was the announcer. I swear I remember him discussing the League's plan to add Washington & K.C. expansion teams. I wrote to the Kings office and was pleasantly suprised with all the great schedules and other promo stuff they sent me.
+Paul S. --- I also used to write to all the NHL teams and request schedules, stickers and any other freebie promo stuff they might care to send. Always exciting to get that envelope in the mail!
The Seals were poorly run from the start...with better ownership and management they might have lasted in the area, but they would have needed better media coverage and promotion. Frankly I don't know how the Kings survived with the attendance they had for years...but they iced competitive teams through the mid 70's, they had players like Dionne, Goring, Vachon, eventually the Triple Crown Line followed by the Gretzky Era...and KTLA broadcast a lot of simulcast games both home and away. Then they got The only 67 expansion to not flirt with or actually suffer folding, bankruptcy, or relocation are the Flyers. Thankfully Pittsburgh, and St. Louis survived their dark days but I still think its a shame that the North Stars couldn't manage to stay in Minnesota. Hockey in non traditional locales is always going to be tough...but even as solid as LA and San Jose are now if they suffered a long period of losing seasons, attendance would drop off...unlike meccas like Toronto and Montreal...perhaps the only two cities where attendance never suffers no matter how much the fans do. The Chicago Stadium and Detroit Olympia suffered poor attendance for the years the Hawks and Wings were abysmal. Boston and NYR have been pretty close to TO and Mtl in unfettered attendance over the years. The Bay area was a softer market even than LA so it was a really tough sell there.
Thanks for your post. Very informative.
I love the seals never seen a game but I follow them!
Saw them many times while living in Montreal. :^)
WOW !! Great footage...CRAZY GEORGE.....he certainly did not 'Bang The Drum Slowly'...I think he moved to Colorado, for some reason I seem to recall watching him in McNichols Arena where the Rockies played. This footage is a must watch. Look at how hockey has transformed from the 70's to present day 2023. HUGE difference. Nonetheless, just a great time in the NHL. And Ohhh, Charles Finley......precedent setting in some ways....a total buffoon in many others....
0:50 - I had the poster on the right. It was a set of 7 Western Division teams ordered from the back of a box of Wheaties!!
Me too. They were still selling them through an ad in Hockey Digest in 1986.
According to my Google search, Vic Stasiuk is still alive. 93 years old!
He passed away this year at 93
RIP Magnuson
beginning at 46:20, very tough to watch a goalie get scored upon with the lead they had. yes it's the bruins and yes they're the seals, but he looks so dejected after every goal. must have been tough for rick smith as well considering he was traded the morning of this game and then watched his former team win another cup a few months later...
1:13 imagine back then some Canadian guy was like
"pfft hockey in St Louis Pittsburgh and Philly that will never work YEAH and the leafs will never win another cup again eh right fellas!?" .......lol
Toronto is the ARM PIT of Canada anyhow!
Both the Blues and Penguins were in danger of moving to Canada in mid 1980s...Blues were headed to Saskatoon in 1983....and Penguins to Hamilton in 1984. But because the Flames had moved to Calgary earlier in the decade....Ziegler and the US owners did not want to lose another franchise to Canada so they blocked the deals. Panthers should move to Quebec City...Coyotes should move as well.
1978: "The Seals moved? Knew it. Hockey never works in California!"
1988: "GRETZKY MOVED TO THE KINGS?! Meh. California is still not a hockey state. I don't think there will be another California team."
1991: "So the NHL is going back to the BAY AREA? When will the NHL learn? Those..."Sharks"....will just be a fad. Teal? Seriously? I don't think they'll ever become a playoff contender! No prospective Hall of Famer will ever want to play in Northern California! They'll never win the President's Trophy or reach the Cup Finals! They'll probably move to Cleveland or Ottawa in 5 years!"
1993: "Oh NHL...you seriously will never learn, will you? ANAHEIM?! DISNEY?! MIGHTY DUCKS?! This is a publicity stunt, not a team! This team will never win the Stanley Cup! The Sharks don't seem like they're gonna move, surprisingly, so Imma bet these "Mighty Sucks" will move to Milwaukee or Minnesota!"
The NHL was supposed to give that franchise to Vancouver in order to have two teams on the west coast, but the Toronto Maple Leafs, wishing to preserve their monoply on the CBC-CTV television rights suggested that the second west coast team be located in San Francisco, which was a problem in that San Francisco did not have a suitable arena for hockey. So team owner Barry Van Gerbig (Mary Pickfords` son in law) placed the team in Oakland, where the team was a failure. In 1968 Mr Van Gerbig, alonf with LaBatt Brewery asked the NHL to allow him to move the team to BC. That set of a fire storm, lead by Stafford Smyte, owner of the Toronto Maple Leafs, used all kinds of dumb excuses to prevent that from happening, the real reason being the CBC television rights which he wanted to keep for himself. So the Seals stayed in Oakland till they finally moved to Cleveland where two years later they finally folds. As for Vancouver they got their team in 1970.
Right, the San Francisco Seals had been a moderately-successful minor league franchise, playing in the Cow Palace in Daly City (where the NHL Sharks played 25 years later, before their new arena was ready), and the other new team down the coast, the Kings, needed a somewhat local rival at the time. Van Gerbig was a 28-year old playboy/absentee owner who was looking to sell the team before the first season was over. First to Vancouver, then Buffalo, then Vancouver after he got additional financing from Labatt's. It would have been a black eye to the league to move an expansion team after 1-2 seasons. So Vancouver (and Buffalo) had to wait a year or two..
Reggie Leach was awesome, He won 2 Cups with the Flyers.
+Quentin Raffensperger He also scored that very important overtime goal for the cup.
Why would they trade him. Go Figure.
Quentin Raffensperger too bad flyers haven't won shit since haha
@@waynejohanson1083 The NHL owned the Seals when he was traded (1974, just days after the Flyers won their first Stanley cup.) The management's directive throughout the period of time that the league owned the team was basically to cut costs, period. They dumped Ivan Boldirev to the Blackhawks for Len Frig and Mike Christie the day prior to peddling Leach to Philadelphia.
@@skifusya2814 Awesome point. Yes those were horrible trades. If I were a fan I would be very upset.
UrinatingTree used some of this footage. I don't blame him, it's limited footage.
14:20 had to laugh at yet ANOTHER clip of Keith Magnuson getting the shit kicked out of him!
I remember when Dave Schultz beat Magnuson like he ran over his dog.
@@Rockhound6165 Everyone beat up Magnuson. He loved to start fights but never won any of them. Losing to Boldirev! He should have been ashamed of himself!
Magnuson won that fight with Vadnais
39:40 too bad linesman cant do that in todays game. Encourage them to fight lol
@cashtheyen hopefully the refs of today are watching this and learning how to let them fight it out.
Let 'em go get it out. It keeps frustration from getting so high that players get injured. Gotta let that pressure out.
St Louis and the kings also adopted the coloured skates concept. iirc several in the WHA did too.
The San Jose Sharks are the Golden Seals reincarnated
Thank you Keith Allen for swindling the Seals and getting Reggie Leach.
I sure miss the golden seals!!
You aren't missing much
I like how in the Bruins Vs seals game, it was mostly Bruins fans, even though it was in Oakland
The game in the 71/ 72 season they had a 6-1 lead on the Bruins lost it 8-6
Crazy George. I remember that guy.
Same thing with the loyal CFL fans from Baltimore coming to watch every Grey Cup.
Ah, when the NHL had real expansion drafts
Their coach was quite the strategist ,( let's go watch those guys do it referring to the hawks
I remember the California Golden Seals were a powerhouse dynasty.
You misspelled Montreal Canadiens
One of my favorite shirt was the white Oakland Seals...one of my trauma was the white skates of the Golden Seals!
I liked Meloche in net. A good goalie with a number of bad teams.
Meloche, in any other team is a HOF member. The Seals had this charming list of other goalkeeper candidates, Kurt, Worthy, Sneddon,Smith and the others....After Meloche I think the aggregate GAPGA was 5.00. Les Miserables.
Oakland lost the Golden Seals, its NBA team which renamed itself Golden State Warriors, its NFL team first to LA and then to Las Vegas, and now its A’s to Las Vegas.
Would you stay in Oakland if there were any other alternative available?
@@barbarakiewe4917 Of course not!
They haven't moved to Las Vegas yet it's a long time until opening day 2028
You'd think the Seals play-by-play announcer would know how to pronounce Vadnais lol. The second tussle between Vadnais and Magnuson, Magnuson pushed the referee. These days that would be probably a 10 game suspension. Doesn't look like he got anything for that push.
That was the Chicago announcer mis-pronouncing Vadnais' name. The Seals didn't have local TV coverage of their home games. (Home teams wore dark jerseys in 69-70)
@@pjet8042 Right, Lloyd Pettit on WGN (with Lou Boudreau doing color?!).
Wayne Merrick was a former blue went on to win four Stanley Cups with the Islanders
Great coaching" Just keep moving it ahead guys,move that puck ahead gang come on"Nice white skates also coach"Man white skates were a bad idea.
Haha yeah not exactly Vince Lombardi is he?
I remember 50 years ago. ?????
If the Seals were to return it'd be awkward for me because I've always been a Sharks fan.
I would say the Sharks are the Seals as they came from the North Stars.
The Cleveland Crusaders merged with the North StArs ….
@@mikelawlor1533 One of the former members of the Seals worked to create the Sharks
@@mikelawlor1533 Cleveland Crusaders were in the WHA. Cleveland Barons merged with North Stars.
@@1959markie1 except for Dennis marouk he went to the capitals
@@mikekeeler6362 And had a 60 goal season for them a couple of years later!
Reggie Leach should have been in the HHOF 30 years ago.
Oh my gosh...
I was 🤔 ing how much of a non fighter Magnuson was and then he lands a direct right hook square on Carol Vaidnais
Snoz.......point blank at full strength. WoW.
My one memory of Magnuson as a kid was when he blocked a shot with his jaw and it might have been Dick Redmond who did it.
Was this on channel KBHK 44 or KTVU 2, I don't think this was on ABC 7, CBS 5 or NBC 4! Do you have any Seals versus Flyers games?!
40:00 the voice of Blackhawks play by play announcer Loyd Pettit. Remember that voice so we'll.
along with lou boudreau
Carol vadnais he played for Boston good talent out of seal territory lol
Brian Oleary I remember him with The Rangers
The Seals were the gift that kept on giving to the other teams in the league
I remember them shocking Boston. By the time they folded I think they were gradually on their way. They were at least mediocre, with some decent players like Meloche and Gary Croteau and a few others. Better management may have made a big difference.
Dennis Maruk was their other star. Nobody mentions him anymore, but once he got away from Oakland/Cleveland he was a big-time scorer, especially with the Capitals.
2:36 Gerry 'Tex' Ehman
I watched the Seals play many times as a visiting team in New York, Long Island, Boston, and Philadelphia when I was a single man and went to a lot of sports event. Not once did I ever see the Seals win, never. Never even a tie. They were a disgracefully bad franchise in a weakened league. I saw them crushed on a constant basis by scores like 21-1, 10-0, 9-2, many 7 and 6 goal games. I thought that Meloche was actually one of the best goalies that I have ever seen (have been watching NHL since 1959) but who knew? If you look strictly at his GAPG you would not be impressed. I saw him play at Madison Sq Garden when the Golden Seals lost to Rangers 3-1 and were outshot 59-13. 56 saves!!! And the sportswriter who picked the 3 stars of the game did not pick him at all! I also saw this aggregation play a home game when they moved to Cleveland. The arena seated about 20,000, and about 3,000 were rattling around this place in Richfield, Ohio, in the middle of nowhere. It was the Siberia of the NHL, a fitting end to it all.
21-1? I think you meant 12-1. That would be the game at Madison Square Garden in 71-72. Score was only 4-1 after two but the Rangers scored 8 in the 3rd period, Pierre Jarry getting two goals in 5 seconds! Poor Gilles. They took him out after the 10th goal and Lyle Carter let up two more. I think this is the 3-1 game you're referring to in 1973: www.flyershistory.com/cgi-bin/ppoboxscore.cgi?H19720402
Shots were actually 58-21. Good post, I only got to see the Seals when they came to Nassau Coliseum (and that was excrutiating), too young to have gone to those other arenas to follow my team but wish I could have!
Never even knew they where in the N.H.L. 67 they where in Oakland ,68-69 they moved too California wow didn't know anything about the team dude who owned the A"s finly was the owner of the time
Are those donuts on the Training Table in the locker room that are being eaten? Looks like a donut box.........40 years ago seems like 80 years.
If Seattle gets an expansion team they should recover the name and call the team the Seattle Seals
Las Vegas Seals now?
No, it belongs to either Oakland or San Francisco (whoever gets it first).
TheWildNhlFan That wouldn't really make sense since the Golden Seals were, well Oakland. I'm pretty if Seattle got a team they would use the name of first team the Metropolitans better known as the Mets.
TheWildNhlFan just saw a list of names in contention for Seatttle and one of them is the Seals.
Haha just NOW seeing Seattle sending in their application to become a team
Vadneye......funny!
Right off the bat, the Colorado Rockies/KC Scouts are the same franchise who are now the NJ Devils, even at the time of the broadcast in the beginning so whoever was giving that young lady info didn't do a good job.
SJ Sharks celebrated the 50th anniversary of the Seals’ first faceoff (apparently Tom Hanks liked them) with a few of the old players and gave away a special tee-shirt. Didn't know there was still a local Seals fan club - goldensealshockey.com/ , here's a link to the local newspaper article www.mercurynews.com/2017/01/04/purdy-sharks-to-honor-the-california-golden-seals-the-nhl-expansion-team-that-wore-white-skates-entranced-tom-hanks-and-employed-a-cobra/
That's pretty cool. All the teams that have former NHL teams in their area should celebrate the history/anniversaries etc. I just wish the NHL would bring back Quebec and Hartford. Even though I'm a Leafs fan, I miss those teams.
Well Seattle is getting a team.
between peiods 11:32 "I Don't anybody using the ref or the linesman as a crutch.... don't use them as an excuse"
after losing 17:05 "I mean the referring....the first call was so obvious and ......"
1967 NHL expansion teams
St.louis blues
Philadelphia flyers
Dallas stars (Minnesota north stars)
Pittsburgh penguins ( wallieb26's team)
Los Angeles kings
Oakland seals
The coach is still alive! Age 90 in 2020.
Not anymore he passed away in 2023 at 93
Can the video be any blurrier???
It might have helped a little if they didn't Change thire team name litterly every single season 🤔
They also should have stuk with "gee" Lafleur when had a chance
Lafleur wore # 15 at first ? wow
I can’t remember his name, but the Seals had a diehard fan who I think was the head of their booster club, an Asian gentleman. Anyone know who he was?
Ty Toki.
Well when the seals came I the league so did the Los Angeles Kind,St.Lpuis Blues and 5 other teams in the year of 1967 been those two fanscise are still in the (N.H.L. )&( both won the )???? ( STANLEY CUP )( are supposed to be successful today slot of faithful fans popular in there cities nice Stadiums cool unforms
So who won?
Whats up with the Star Wars Cantina Band music? WTF lol
Why wouldn’t they just root for the Kings?
Only decent player they ever had was Carol Vadnais and of course they traded him to the Bruins. Thank you!!!! Go BS!!