The 1970–71

California Golden Seals The California Golden Seals were a professional ice hockey club that competed in the National Hockey League (NHL) from 1967 to 1976. Based in Oakland, California, they played their home games at the Oakland–Alameda County Coliseum Arena. The S ...

season A season is a division of the year based on changes in weather, ecology, and the number of daylight hours in a given region. On Earth, seasons are the result of the axial parallelism of Earth's tilted orbit around the Sun. In temperate and pol ...

was the Seals' fourth in the

NHL The National Hockey League (NHL; french: Ligue nationale de hockey—LNH, ) is a professional ice hockey league in North America comprising 32 teams—25 in the United States and 7 in Canada. It is considered to be the top ranked professional ...

, but their first as the ''Golden Seals''.

Oakland Athletics The Oakland Athletics (often referred to as the A's) are an American professional baseball team based in Oakland, California. The Athletics compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) West division. The te ...

owner

Charlie O. Finley Charles Oscar Finley (February 22, 1918 – February 19, 1996), nicknamed Charlie O or Charley O, was an American businessman who owned Major League Baseball's Oakland Athletics. Finley purchased the franchise while it was located in Kansas Cit ...

bought the team in the offseason for approximately $4,500,000. He announced a name change in which his team would be called the Bay Area Seals. On October 16, after the first two games of the season, Finley changed the name once again. The team became known as the California Golden Seals in an attempt to draw fans from across the state of

California California is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States, located along the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the List of states and territori ...

, in particular from nearby

San Francisco San Francisco (; Spanish language, Spanish for "Francis of Assisi, Saint Francis"), officially the City and County of San Francisco, is the commercial, financial, and cultural center of Northern California. The city proper is the List of Ca ...

. Along with the name change came new green and gold colours, and a new logo and uniforms. Several other changes occurred in the Seals' front office after Finley bought the team. Unhappy, General Manager Frank Selke Jr. quit in October 1970. His replacement,

Bill Torrey William Arthur Torrey (June 23, 1934 – May 2, 2018) was a Canadian hockey executive. He served as a general manager in the National Hockey League for the Oakland Seals, New York Islanders, and Florida Panthers. He developed the Islanders in ...

, lasted only a month before resigning himself. Coach Fred Glover took over the responsibilities of General Manager after Torrey's departure in November. Amidst the shake-up of the Seals from a business point of view the on-ice performance of the team suffered greatly. The team finished the season with an NHL-worst record of 20-53-5 (45 points). It was the worst season in their history up to that point in time, and the 53 losses set an NHL record (since surpassed). The Seals record was worse than both of the two expansion teams that season, the

Buffalo Sabres The Buffalo Sabres are a professional ice hockey team based in Buffalo, New York. The Sabres compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Atlantic Division in the Eastern Conference. The team was established in 1970, along w ...

and the

Vancouver Canucks The Vancouver Canucks are a professional ice hockey team based in Vancouver. They compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Pacific Division of the Western Conference, and play their home games at Rogers Arena. Bruce B ...

. On May 22, 1970, The Seals made a trade with the

Montreal Canadiens The Montreal CanadiensEven in English, the French spelling is always used instead of ''Canadians''. The French spelling of ''Montréal'' is also sometimes used in the English media. (french: link=no, Les Canadiens de Montréal), officially ...

that would come back to haunt the franchise for the rest of their existence. In the trade, the Seals sent defenseman Francois Lacombe along with their first round draft pick in 1971 to the

for

Ernie Hicke Ernest Allan Hicke (born November 7, 1947) is a Canadian former professional ice hockey forward who played in the National Hockey League (NHL) with the Oakland Seals, Atlanta Flames, New York Islanders, Minnesota North Stars and Los Angeles Ki ...

and Montreal's first round pick. Since the Seals finished with the NHL's worst record that season, that gave the Canadiens the first overall pick in the 1971 draft which they used to select future hall of famer

Guy Lafleur Guy Damien Lafleur (September 20, 1951 – April 22, 2022), nicknamed "the Flower" and "Le Démon Blond", was a Canadian professional ice hockey player. He was the first player in National Hockey League (NHL) history to score 50 goals in six c ...

. Captain

Ted Hampson Edward George Hampson (born December 11, 1936) is a Canadian former professional ice hockey centre, who played in the National Hockey League and World Hockey Association during the 1960s and 70s. Ted is the father of Gord Hampson. Career Ted H ...

was traded to the

Minnesota North Stars The Minnesota North Stars were a professional ice hockey team in the National Hockey League (NHL) for 26 seasons, from 1967 to 1993. The North Stars played their home games at the Met Center in Bloomington, Minnesota, and the team's colors for ...

late in the season, and was replaced by

Carol Vadnais Carol Marcel Vadnais (September 25, 1945 – August 31, 2014) was a Canadian professional ice hockey defenceman who played 17 seasons in the National Hockey League (NHL) from 1966–67 until 1982–83. Vadnais won the Stanley Cup twice during his ...

Offseason

Amateur draft

Regular season

Standings

Schedule and results

Player statistics

Skaters

''Note: GP = Games played; G = Goals; A = Assists; Pts = Points; PIM = Penalties in minutes'' †Denotes player spent time with another team before joining Seals. Stats reflect time with the Seals only. ‡Traded mid-season

Goaltenders

''Note: GP = Games played; TOI= Time on ice (minutes); W = Wins; L = Losses; T = Ties; GA = Goals against; SO = Shutouts; GAA = Goals against average''

Transactions

The Seals were involved in the following transactions during the 1970–71 season:

Trades

Additions and subtractions

Awards and records

* Gary Smith, most losses by a goaltender in one season (48)National Hockey League Official Guide and Record Book 2006, p. 188, Dan Diamond & Associates, Toronto, Ontario, .

References

Golden Seals on Hockey Database

Bibliography

* {{DEFAULTSORT:1970-71 California Golden Seals season California Golden Seals seasons

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Calif Calif may refer to: * Caliph * Abbreviation of California California is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States, located along the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total ar ...