The California Golden Seals were a professional
ice hockey
Ice hockey (or simply hockey) is a team sport played on ice skates, usually on an ice skating rink with lines and markings specific to the sport. It belongs to a family of sports called hockey. In ice hockey, two opposing teams use ice ...
club that competed in the
National Hockey League
The National Hockey League (NHL; french: Ligue nationale de hockey—LNH, ) is a professional ice hockey sports league, league in North America comprising 32 teams—25 in the United States and 7 in Canada. It is considered to be the top ranke ...
(NHL) from
1967
Events
January
* January 1 – Canada begins a year-long celebration of the 100th anniversary of Confederation, featuring the Expo 67 World's Fair.
* January 5
** Spain and Romania sign an agreement in Paris, establishing full consular and ...
to
1976. Based in
Oakland, California
Oakland is the largest city and the county seat of Alameda County, California, United States. A major West Coast port, Oakland is the largest city in the East Bay region of the San Francisco Bay Area, the third largest city overall in the ...
, they played their home games at the
Oakland–Alameda County Coliseum Arena
Oakland Arena is an indoor arena located in Oakland, California, United States. From its opening in 1966 until 1996, it was known as the Oakland–Alameda County Coliseum Arena. After a major renovation completed in 1997, the arena was renamed ...
. The Seals were one of six teams added to the league as part of the
1967 NHL expansion. Initially named the California Seals, the team was renamed the Oakland Seals during the 1967–68 season and then the Bay Area Seals in 1970 before becoming the California Golden Seals the same year.
The Seals were the least successful of the teams added in the 1967 expansion, never garnering a winning record and only making the playoffs twice in nine seasons of play. Off the ice, they were plagued by low attendance. The franchise was relocated in 1976 to become the
Cleveland Barons The name Cleveland Barons has been used by three professional hockey teams and one junior team.
*Cleveland Barons (NHL), the National Hockey League team that played between 1976 and 1978
*Cleveland Barons (1937–1973), the original American Hockey ...
, who would cease operations two years later.
They are the only franchise from the 1967 expansion never to reach the
Stanley Cup Finals
The Stanley Cup Finals in ice hockey (also known as the Stanley Cup Final among various media, french: Finale de la Coupe Stanley) is the National Hockey League's (NHL) championship series to determine the winner of the Stanley Cup, North America ...
.
History
Founding
In 1966, the NHL announced that six expansion teams would be added as a new division for the
1967–68 season, officially because of a general desire to expand the league to new markets, but also to squelch the
Western Hockey League
The Western Hockey League (WHL) is a major junior ice hockey league based in Western Canada and the Northwestern United States. The WHL is one of three leagues that constitutes the Canadian Hockey League (CHL) as the highest level of junior ...
's threat to turn into a major league. The
San Francisco Seals were one such team from the WHL. The NHL awarded an expansion team to
Barry Van Gerbig Barend "Barry" van Gerbig (born 1939) is a US millionaire socialite best known as the owner of the National Hockey League's California Seals.
Early life
Van Gerbig was born in New York City as the son of attorney Howell van Gerbig and his wife D ...
for the San Francisco Bay area. Van Gerbig decided to purchase the WHL club with the intent of bringing them into the NHL as an expansion team the following season.
Van Gerbig had planned to have the team play in a new arena in San Francisco, but the new arena was never built. He decided to move the team across the Bay from the
Cow Palace
The Cow Palace (originally the California State Livestock Pavilion) is an indoor arena located in Daly City, California, situated on the city's northern border with neighboring San Francisco. Because the border passes through the property, a por ...
in
Daly City
Daly City () is the second most populous city in San Mateo County, California, United States, with population of 104,901 according to the 2020 census. Located in the San Francisco Bay Area, and immediately south of San Francisco (sharing its ...
to
Oakland
Oakland is the largest city and the county seat of Alameda County, California, United States. A major West Coast port, Oakland is the largest city in the East Bay region of the San Francisco Bay Area, the third largest city overall in the Bay ...
to play in the new
Oakland–Alameda County Coliseum Arena
Oakland Arena is an indoor arena located in Oakland, California, United States. From its opening in 1966 until 1996, it was known as the Oakland–Alameda County Coliseum Arena. After a major renovation completed in 1997, the arena was renamed ...
. He renamed the club the California Seals. This was done in an attempt to appeal to fans from San Francisco, and to address complaints from the other NHL teams that Oakland was not considered a major league city and would not be a draw for fans.
A year later, Van Gerbig brought the Seals into the NHL as an expansion team. The team participated with the other five expansion teams in the
1967 NHL Expansion Draft
The 1967 NHL Expansion Draft was held on June 6, 1967, in the ballroom of the Queen Elizabeth Hotel in Montreal, Quebec. The draft took place to fill the rosters of the league's six expansion teams for the 1967–68 season: the California Seals ...
however the terms imposed by the established
Original Six
The Original Six () are the teams that comprised the National Hockey League (NHL) between 1942 and 1967. The six teams are the Boston Bruins, Chicago Black Hawks, Detroit Red Wings, Montreal Canadiens, New York Rangers, and Toronto Maple Leaf ...
teams were very one-sided in their favor. The existing NHL teams were permitted to protect nearly all of their best players, thus the players available for selection were mostly castoffs, aging players well past their prime and career minor leaguers. To bolster their roster and also to maintain a semblance of familiarity and continuity for existing Seals fans, the team retained a portion of the club's WHL roster such as
Charlie Burns,
George Swarbrick,
Gerry Odrowski,
Tom Thurlby, and
Ron Harris.
The
Bay Area
The San Francisco Bay Area, often referred to as simply the Bay Area, is a populous region surrounding the San Francisco, San Pablo, and Suisun Bay estuaries in Northern California. The Bay Area is defined by the Association of Bay Area Gov ...
was not considered a particularly lucrative hockey market, however the terms of a new television agreement with
CBS called for two of the expansion teams to be located in California and other than the Kings there were no other prospective franchise applicants of similar pedigree to the Seals. Nevertheless, while the WHL Seals had drawn well at the Cow Palace the team drew poorly in Oakland once they entered the NHL. The plan to bring fans in from San Francisco failed, and on November 6, 1967, Van Gerbig announced that the team's name would be changed to the Oakland Seals (although the league did not register the change until December 8 to focus more on the East Bay.
Struggles
The Seals were never successful at the gate even after the name change, and because of this poor attendance Van Gerbig threatened on numerous occasions to move the team elsewhere. First-year coach and general manager
Bert Olmstead publicly advocated a move to
Vancouver
Vancouver ( ) is a major city in western Canada, located in the Lower Mainland region of British Columbia. As the most populous city in the province, the 2021 Canadian census recorded 662,248 people in the city, up from 631,486 in 2016. ...
, resulting in an offer from
Labatt's
Labatt Brewing Company Limited (french: La Brasserie Labatt Limitée) is a Belgian-owned brewery headquartered in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. Founded in 1847, Labatt is the largest brewer in Canada.
In 1995, it was purchased by Belgian brewer Int ...
brewery to purchase and relocate the team to the Canadian city as well as a proposal to move the team to
Buffalo from the Knox brothers, who like Vancouver had been shut out of the 1967 expansion. The NHL, not wanting to endanger its TV deal with CBS, rejected both proposals. As it turned out, the league's
1970 expansion would include
Vancouver
Vancouver ( ) is a major city in western Canada, located in the Lower Mainland region of British Columbia. As the most populous city in the province, the 2021 Canadian census recorded 662,248 people in the city, up from 631,486 in 2016. ...
and
Buffalo. The Knoxes bought a minority share of the Seals in 1969, only to sell it a year later to fund the Sabres.
This, as well as the team's mediocre on-ice performance, led to major changes to both the Seals' front office and the roster – only 7 of the 20 Seals players remained after the first season. The new-look Seals were somewhat more successful, making the playoffs for two years, although with sub-.500 records. Those were the only two years that the franchise made the playoffs.
The league's rejection of a proposed move to Vancouver prompted a lawsuit that was not settled until 1974 ''(San Francisco Seals Ltd. v. National Hockey League)''. The Seals organization filed suit against the NHL claiming that the prohibition violated the
Sherman Act
The Sherman Antitrust Act of 1890 (, ) is a United States antitrust law which prescribes the rule of free competition among those engaged in commerce. It was passed by Congress and is named for Senator John Sherman, its principal author.
...
. The Seals asserted that the league's constitution was in violation by prohibiting clubs from relocating their operations, and that the relocation request was denied in an attempt to keep the San Francisco market in the NHL and thereby discourage the formation of a rival team or league in that location. The court ruled that the NHL was a single entity, and that the teams were not competitors in an economic sense, so the league restrictions on relocation were not a restraint of trade.
For the
1969–70 season the team was sold to
Trans-National Communications, whose investors included
Pat Summerall
George Allen "Pat" Summerall (May 10, 1930 – April 16, 2013) was an American football player and television sportscaster who worked for CBS, Fox, and ESPN. In addition to football, he announced major golf and tennis events. Summerall ann ...
and
Whitey Ford
Edward Charles "Whitey" Ford (October 21, 1928 – October 8, 2020), nicknamed "the Chairman of the Board", was an American professional baseball pitcher who played his entire 16-year Major League Baseball (MLB) career with the New York Yankees ...
. However, the group filed for bankruptcy after missing a payment and relinquished the team to Van Gerbig, who put the team back on the market.
Charles O. Finley purchases the franchise
Prior to the
1970–71 season,
Charles 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 Ci ...
, the flamboyant owner of baseball's
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 t ...
, purchased the Seals. Finley and
Roller Derby
Roller derby is a roller skating contact sport played by two teams of fifteen members. Roller derby is played by approximately 1,250 amateur leagues worldwide, mostly in the United States.
Game play consists of a series of short scrimmages (jam ...
boss
Jerry Seltzer
Gerald Edwin "Jerry" Seltzer (June 3, 1932 – July 1, 2019) was the second and final owner of the original Roller Derby league. The league and the sport of roller derby were created in 1935 in Chicago by Leo Seltzer, Jerry's father. Jerry assu ...
had both put in a bid on the team. Although Seltzer's offer was slightly better and included a more detailed plan for revival, a majority of NHL owners from the "old establishment" voted in favor of Finley. General manager
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 i ...
left by mid-season due to clashes with Finley.
[''Pittsburgh Post Gazette'' Monday February 28, 1977 edition]
Finley renamed the team the "Bay Area Seals" to begin the 1970–71 season, but after just two games into the season on October 16, 1970, he changed the team name to the "California Golden Seals", following a number of other marketing gimmicks intended to promote the team to the fans, among them changing the Seals' colors to green and gold to match those of the popular A's. The team's uniform crest was now the word "Seals" in a unique typeface, but an alternate logo using a sketch based on a photo of star player
Carol Vadnais was used on marketing materials such as pennants, stickers and team programs. The original 1967 California Seals logo recolored in green and gold was often seen on trading cards and other unofficial material, but was never adopted by the team. The Seals are remembered for wearing white skates, but initially Torrey convinced Finley to use green and gold painted skates instead, as team-colored skates were a trend of the period.
However, this was all for naught, as the Seals finished with the worst record in the NHL that year. Other innovations that Finley's Seals incorporated, were the inclusion of player names on the back of the jerseys, which then set the precedent for today's 32 current NHL teams identifying players in the same fashion. Finley also was the first owner to allow players to fly first class on commercial flights to games, thus starting a trend that ultimately culminated in NHL teams regularly chartering aircraft by the 21st century. The Seals regularly used the new Boeing 747s the airlines had put into service at the time. Finley also introduced the flamboyant green and gold "Seals luggage" which all players and coaches were required to carry, to identify them as the northern California NHL team. On May 22, 1970, the Seals traded their pick in the first round of the
1971 NHL Amateur Draft to 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 ...
along with
Francois Lacombe in return for Montreal's first round pick in the
1970 draft (Seals selected
Chris Oddleifson
Christopher Roy Oddleifson (born September 7, 1950) is a Canadian former professional ice hockey centre who played in the National Hockey League (NHL) from 1972 until 1981. He is best known for his time with the Vancouver Canucks, where he was ...
),
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 ...
, and cash. As a result of the Seals' dreadful
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 ...
, the Canadiens had the top pick in the 1971 draft, and used it to select future
Hall of Fame member 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 ...
. This transaction now ranks as one of the most one-sided deals in NHL history.
Under the ownership of the NHL and Mel Swig
The team rebounded in
1971–72, but the arrival of the
World Hockey Association
The World Hockey Association (french: Association mondiale de hockey) was a professional ice hockey major league that operated in North America from 1972 to 1979. It was the first major league to compete with the National Hockey League (NHL) ...
(WHA) wiped out most of those gains. Finley refused to match the WHA's contract offers, causing five of the team's top ten scorers from the previous season to bolt to the new league. Devoid of any defensive talent save for goaltender
Gilles Meloche
Gilles Emile Meloche (born July 12, 1950) is a Canadian professional ice hockey coach, scout and former player. Meloche played as a goaltender in the National Hockey League (NHL) for the Chicago Black Hawks, California Golden Seals, Cleveland Ba ...
, the Seals sank into last place again in
1972–73, where they would remain for the rest of their history. Although divisional restructuring in
1974–75 included a revamped format in which three teams in each division made the playoffs, the team's efforts were frustrated by their placement in the
Adams Division
The NHL's Adams Division was formed in 1974 as part of the Prince of Wales Conference. The division existed for 19 seasons until 1993. It was named in honour of Charles Francis Adams, the founder of the Boston Bruins. It is the forerunner of the ...
, with the strong Sabres,
Boston Bruins
The Boston Bruins are a professional ice hockey team based in Boston. The Bruins compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Atlantic Division in the Eastern Conference. The team has been in existence since 1924, making ...
, and
Toronto Maple Leafs
The Toronto Maple Leafs (officially the Toronto Maple Leaf Hockey Club and often referred to as the Leafs) are a professional ice hockey team based in Toronto. They compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Atlantic Div ...
of the day.
Finley soon lost patience with his struggling hockey team, especially given the contrast to his
World Series
The World Series is the annual championship series of Major League Baseball (MLB) in the United States and Canada, contested since 1903 between the champion teams of the American League (AL) and the National League (NL). The winner of the Worl ...
champion Athletics. He tried to sell the Seals, but when no credible buyers came forward who were interested in keeping the team in the Bay Area, he sold the team back to the league for A 1973 attempt by Finley to sell the team to
Indianapolis
Indianapolis (), colloquially known as Indy, is the state capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Indiana and the seat of Marion County. According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the consolidated population of Indianapolis and Marion ...
interests who planned to relocate the team to that city was rejected by the NHL's board
In early 1975, newspapers reported that the Seals and
Pittsburgh Penguins
The Pittsburgh Penguins (colloquially known as the Pens) are a professional ice hockey team based in Pittsburgh. They compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Metropolitan Division of the Eastern Conference, and have playe ...
were to be relocated to
Denver
Denver () is a consolidated city and county, the capital, and most populous city of the U.S. state of Colorado. Its population was 715,522 at the 2020 census, a 19.22% increase since 2010. It is the 19th-most populous city in the Unit ...
and
Seattle
Seattle ( ) is a seaport city on the West Coast of the United States. It is the seat of King County, Washington. With a 2020 population of 737,015, it is the largest city in both the state of Washington and the Pacific Northwest region o ...
, respectively, in an arrangement that would have seen the two teams sold to groups in those cities that had already been awarded "conditional" franchises for the
1976–77 At the same time, the league announced that if the Seals' sale to the Denver group was not completed or new ownership found locally, the franchise would be liquidated at the end of the season.
The Denver arrangement fell through, and the league ran the Seals for more than a year until a group headed by San Francisco hotel magnate
Melvin Swig
Melvin Morse Swig (July 31, 1917 – May 14, 1993) bought the team on July 28, 1975 with the intention of moving the team to a proposed new arena in San Francisco. The team fell just short of the playoffs, and after a mayoral election, plans for the new arena were cancelled. With a new arena out of the picture, the league dropped their objection to the relocation of the franchise.
The end
Although attendance was finally showing some improvement and the team playing better, minority owners
George and
Gordon Gund persuaded Swig to seek approval to move the team to their hometown of
Cleveland
Cleveland ( ), officially the City of Cleveland, is a city in the United States, U.S. U.S. state, state of Ohio and the county seat of Cuyahoga County, Ohio, Cuyahoga County. Located in the northeastern part of the state, it is situated along ...
. The team's final game in Oakland was a win over the
Los Angeles Kings
The Los Angeles Kings are a professional ice hockey team based in Los Angeles. The team competes in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Pacific Division in the Western Conference and was founded on June 5, 1967, after Jack Kent ...
on April 4, 1976; league approval for the move was granted on July 14, and the team was renamed the "
Cleveland Barons The name Cleveland Barons has been used by three professional hockey teams and one junior team.
*Cleveland Barons (NHL), the National Hockey League team that played between 1976 and 1978
*Cleveland Barons (1937–1973), the original American Hockey ...
" after the city's old AHL squad. After two more years of losses and with attendance worse than it had been in Oakland, the Gunds (by this time majority owners) were permitted to merge the Barons with another failing team, 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 ...
on June 14, 1978.
The merged team continued as the Minnesota North Stars under the Gunds' ownership, but assumed the Barons' place in the Adams Division. The North Stars ultimately relocated to
Texas
Texas (, ; Spanish: ''Texas'', ''Tejas'') is a state in the South Central region of the United States. At 268,596 square miles (695,662 km2), and with more than 29.1 million residents in 2020, it is the second-largest U.S. state by ...
following the
1992–93 season to become the
Dallas Stars
The Dallas Stars are a professional ice hockey team based in Dallas. They compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Central Division in the Western Conference, and were founded during the 1967 NHL expansion as the Minne ...
.
The Cleveland Barons remain the most recent team in an established North American major professional league to fold. They were also the last actively playing NHL team to do so since the
Brooklyn Americans in
1942
Events
Below, the events of World War II have the "WWII" prefix.
January
* January 1 – WWII: The Declaration by United Nations is signed by China, the United Kingdom, the United States, the Soviet Union, and 22 other nations, in w ...
(the franchise was formally cancelled in 1946) and the last team to cease operations since the
Montreal Maroons had their franchise formally canceled in 1947 (though they had not iced a team since 1938). As a result, the NHL consisted of 17 teams for the
1978–79 season.
Legacy
The current NHL team in the Bay Area, the
San Jose Sharks
The San Jose Sharks are a professional ice hockey team based in San Jose, California. They compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Pacific Division in the Western Conference, and are owned by San Jose Sports & Entertain ...
, has a historical connection to the Seals. Years after the Barons-North Stars merger, the Gunds wanted to bring hockey back to the Bay Area. They asked the NHL for permission to move the North Stars there in the late 1980s, but the league was unwilling to abandon a traditional hockey market like the
Twin Cities
Twin cities are a special case of two neighboring cities or urban centres that grow into a single conurbation – or narrowly separated urban areas – over time. There are no formal criteria, but twin cities are generally comparable in sta ...
. Meanwhile, a group led by former
Hartford Whalers
The Hartford Whalers were a professional ice hockey team based for most of its existence in Hartford, Connecticut. The club played in the World Hockey Association (WHA) from 1972 until 1979, and in the National Hockey League (NHL) from 1979 to ...
owner
Howard Baldwin was pushing the NHL to bring a team to
San Jose, where an arena was being built. Eventually, a compromise was struck whereby the Gunds would sell their share of the North Stars to Baldwin's group, with the Gunds receiving an expansion team in the Bay Area to begin play in the
1991–92 season. In return, the Sharks would have the rights to players from the North Stars and then participate with the North Stars as an equal partner in an
expansion draft
An expansion draft, in professional sports, occurs when a sports league decides to create one or more new expansion teams or franchises. This occurs mainly in North American sports. One of the ways of stocking the new team or teams is an expansio ...
with the new franchise. On May 5, 1990, the Gunds officially sold their share of the North Stars to Baldwin and were awarded a new team in the Bay Area that eventually became the Sharks. Ironically, in their first two seasons in the league, the Sharks played their home games at the Cow Palace in Daly City (the same facility the NHL rejected as a home for the Seals in 1967) while their
new permanent home arena in San Jose was being completed.
Dennis Maruk
Dennis John Maruk (born November 17, 1955) is a Canadian former professional ice hockey player of Ukrainian descent. He played in the National Hockey League (NHL) from 1975 to 1989, scoring a career-high 60 goals for the Washington Capitals in 1 ...
was the last Seals player active in the NHL, retiring as a member of the North Stars in
1989
File:1989 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The Cypress Street Viaduct, Cypress structure collapses as a result of the 1989 Loma Prieta earthquake, killing motorists below; The proposal document for the World Wide Web is submitted; The Exxo ...
. The last former Seals player in any league was
George Pesut
George Matthew Pesut (born June 17, 1953) is a Canadian former professional ice hockey player. He played in 92 NHL games for the California Golden Seals over two seasons. He also played in 17 WHA games with the Calgary Cowboys during the 1976 ...
, who was active in Germany until 1994.
Though no longer an active team, the Seals remained a popular subject, and are the subject of multiple works. In 2006, Brad Kurtzberg published the first book on the Seals franchise, ''Shorthanded: The Untold Story of the Seals: Hockey's Most Colorful Team''. In January 2017, filmmaker Mark Greczmiel released his documentary, ''The California Golden Seals Story'' on iTunes. In 2016, the Seals tribute site, GoldenSealsHockey.com was founded to help promote the November 2017 release of the book, ''The California Golden Seals: a Tale of White Skates, Red Ink, and One of the NHL's Most Outlandish Teams'', which covers the Seals' and Barons' entire history, including their six years in the WHL.
The San Jose Sharks unveiled their Reverse Retro jersey based on the final years of the Golden Seals on October 20, 2022.
Season-by-season record
''Note: GP = Games played, W = Wins, L = Losses, T = Ties, Pts = Points, GF = Goals for, GA = Goals against, PIM = Penalties in minutes''
Notes:
*
1 Named ''California Seals'' from October 11 to November 6, 1967.
*
2 Renamed ''California Golden Seals'' after two games in the season
Franchise records
''Includes Cleveland Barons (1976–78)''
Career:
* Most games played –
Bob Stewart (414)
* Most goals –
Dennis Maruk
Dennis John Maruk (born November 17, 1955) is a Canadian former professional ice hockey player of Ukrainian descent. He played in the National Hockey League (NHL) from 1975 to 1989, scoring a career-high 60 goals for the Washington Capitals in 1 ...
(94)
* Most assists –
Al MacAdam
Reginald Alan MacAdam (born March 16, 1952) is a Canadian former professional ice hockey player who spent 12 seasons in the National Hockey League (NHL) between 1973 and 1985, and was twice selected to play in the NHL All-Star Game. He is best kn ...
(129)
* Most points – Al MacAdam (217)
* Most penalty minutes – Bob Stewart (691)
* Most wins by a goaltender –
Gilles Meloche
Gilles Emile Meloche (born July 12, 1950) is a Canadian professional ice hockey coach, scout and former player. Meloche played as a goaltender in the National Hockey League (NHL) for the Chicago Black Hawks, California Golden Seals, Cleveland Ba ...
(93)
* Most losses by a goaltender – Gilles Meloche (191)
* Lowest goals against average (GAA) by a goaltender –
Charlie Hodge (3.09)
* Most shutouts by a goaltender – Gilles Meloche (11)
* Most minutes – Gilles Meloche (20,666)
* Most wins by a coach –
Fred Glover (96)
* Most losses by a coach – Fred Glover (206)
Single season:
* Most goals – Dennis Maruk (36 in 1977–78)
* Most assists – Dennis Maruk (50 in 1976–77)
* Most points – Dennis Maruk (78 in 1976–77)
* Most wins by a goaltender –
Gary Smith (21 in 1968–69)
* Most losses by a goaltender – Gary Smith (48 in 1970–71)
* Best goals against average (GAA) by a goaltender – Charlie Hodge (2.86 in 1967–68)
* Most shutouts by a goaltender – Gary Smith (4 in 1968–69) and Gilles Meloche (4 in 1971–72)
Scoring leaders
These are the top ten scorers for the franchise, including its time in Cleveland.
Notable players
Hall of Fame members
*
Harry Howell
*
Bert Olmstead (inducted as a player but was only a coach for the Seals)
*
Craig Patrick (inducted as builder)
*
Rudy Pilous
Rudolph Pilous (August 11, 1914 – December 5, 1994) was a Canadian ice hockey player and coach, born in Winnipeg, Manitoba. Pilous won the Stanley Cup coaching the Chicago Black Hawks in 1960–61, and was inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame ...
(inducted as builder)
*
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 i ...
(inducted as builder)
Team captains
*
Bobby Baun, 1967–68
*
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 ...
, 1968–71
*
Carol Vadnais, 1971–72
*
Bert Marshall
Albert Leroy "Moose" Marshall (born November 22, 1943) is a Canadian former professional ice hockey defenceman who played in the National Hockey League for the Detroit Red Wings, Oakland Seals/California Golden Seals, New York Rangers and New ...
, 1972–73
*
Joey Johnston
Joseph John Johnston (born March 3, 1949) is a Canadian ice hockey coach and former professional player. Johnston played 331 games in the National Hockey League (NHL). Johnston was once a coach for the Douro Dukes of the Greater Metro Junior A Hoc ...
, 1974–75
*
Jim Neilson
James Anthony Neilson (November 28, 1941 – November 6, 2020) was a Canadian professional ice hockey defenceman who played in the National Hockey League (NHL) for the New York Rangers, California Golden Seals, and Cleveland Barons and complet ...
and
Bob Stewart, 1975–76
(co-captains)
*Source: ''The California Golden Seals''
General managers
*
Rudy Pilous
Rudolph Pilous (August 11, 1914 – December 5, 1994) was a Canadian ice hockey player and coach, born in Winnipeg, Manitoba. Pilous won the Stanley Cup coaching the Chicago Black Hawks in 1960–61, and was inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame ...
, 1967 (fired before start of season)
*
Bert Olmstead, 1967–68 (resigned in March 1968)
*
Frank Selke Jr. Francis Donald Selke (September 7, 1929 – March 18, 2013) was a Canadian hockey executive and broadcaster who served as an announcer and executive for ''Hockey Night in Canada'' and was president and general manager of the Oakland Seals.
Early li ...
, 1968–70 (resigned in November 1970)
*
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 i ...
, 1970 (resigned in December 1970)
*
Fred Glover, 1970–71 (fired in October 1971)
*
Garry Young, 1971–72 (fired in November 1972)
* Fred Glover, 1972–74 (resigned in February 1974)
* Garry Young, 1974—given title of Director of Hockey Operations due to NHL ownership of club (resigned before start of 1974–75 season)
*
Bill McCreary, 1974–76—given title of Director of Hockey Operations from 1974 to 1975 while club under ownership of NHL. He became general manager in the summer of 1975 after Melvin Swig bought the club from the league
First round draft picks
*
1967
Events
January
* January 1 – Canada begins a year-long celebration of the 100th anniversary of Confederation, featuring the Expo 67 World's Fair.
* January 5
** Spain and Romania sign an agreement in Paris, establishing full consular and ...
:
Ken Hicks
Ken Hicks (born July 18, 1947) is a Canadian former professional ice hockey player. He was selected by the Oakland Seals in the 1st round (3rd overall) of the 1967 NHL Amateur Draft
The 1967 NHL Amateur Draft was the fifth NHL Entry Draft. I ...
(third overall)
*
1968
The year was highlighted by protests and other unrests that occurred worldwide.
Events January–February
* January 5 – " Prague Spring": Alexander Dubček is chosen as leader of the Communist Party of Czechoslovakia.
* J ...
: none
*
1969
This year is notable for Apollo 11's first landing on the moon.
Events January
* January 4 – The Government of Spain hands over Ifni to Morocco.
* January 5
**Ariana Afghan Airlines Flight 701 crashes into a house on its approach to ...
:
Tony Featherstone
Anthony James Featherstone (July 31, 1949 – October 30, 2021) was a Canadian professional ice hockey forward who played 130 games in the National Hockey League for the California Golden Seals and Minnesota North Stars. He also played 108 g ...
(seventh overall)
*
1970:
Chris Oddleifson
Christopher Roy Oddleifson (born September 7, 1950) is a Canadian former professional ice hockey centre who played in the National Hockey League (NHL) from 1972 until 1981. He is best known for his time with the Vancouver Canucks, where he was ...
(10th overall)
*
1971 *
The year 1971 had three partial solar eclipses ( February 25, July 22 and August 20) and two total lunar eclipses ( February 10, and August 6).
The world population increased by 2.1% this year, the highest increase in history.
Events
J ...
: none
*
1972: none
*
1973: none
*
1974
Major events in 1974 include the aftermath of the 1973 oil crisis and the resignation of United States President Richard Nixon following the Watergate scandal. In the Middle East, the aftermath of the 1973 Yom Kippur War determined politics; ...
:
Rick Hampton
Richard Charles Hampton (born June 14, 1956) is a Canadian former professional ice hockey defenceman. He was born in Toronto, Ontario, but grew up in King, Ontario, and attended King City Secondary School.
Hampton started his National Hockey Leag ...
(third overall)
*
1975
It was also declared the ''International Women's Year'' by the United Nations and the European Architectural Heritage Year by the Council of Europe.
Events
January
* January 1 - Watergate scandal (United States): John N. Mitchell, H. R. ...
:
Ralph Klassen (third overall)
Broadcasters
In
1967–68,
KTVU 2 televised 12 games with
Tim Ryan on play-by-play. In
1968–69, away games were broadcast on the radio by
KEEN
Keen, Keen's, or Keens may refer to:
People
*Keen (surname)
*Thomas Keens (1870-1953), British politician Music and song
* Keen (band), Italian band
* Keen (song), "Keen" (song), a single by That Petrol Emotion
* Keen Records, American record ...
with Tim Ryan again on play-by-play. In
1969–70, Saturday and Sunday games were broadcast by
KGO radio.
Jim Gordon,
Bill Schonely and Bill McColgan each did play-by-play alone on multiple games. Meanwhile, Harvey Wittenberg and Rick Weaver did one game each; Weaver did the
playoffs
The playoffs, play-offs, postseason or finals of a sports league are a competition played after the regular season by the top competitors to determine the league champion or a similar accolade. Depending on the league, the playoffs may be eit ...
. In
1970–71, Roy Storey worked play-by-play on KEEN radio while Rick Weaver called 10 games on KTVU. In
1972–73,
Joe Starkey called the games on KEEN radio while
Jon Miller worked 15 games (all on
delay
Delay (from Latin: dilatio) may refer to:
Arts, entertainment, and media
* ''Delay 1968'', a 1981 album by German experimental rock band Can
* '' The Delay'', a 2012 Uruguayan film
People
* B. H. DeLay (1891–1923), American aviator and ac ...
) on
KFTY 50. Starkey continued to call the Golden Seals games on KEEN in
1974–75 and
1975–76. In the Golden Seals' final season, their games were televised on
KBHK-TV 44.
See also
*
List of California Golden Seals players
This is a list of players who have played at least one game for the California Golden Seals franchise of the National Hockey League (NHL). This list does not include players for the Cleveland Barons or the Minnesota North Stars and the Dallas Stars ...
*
List of California Golden Seals head coaches
This is a list of coaches of the California Seals, Oakland Seals and California Golden Seals. Eight men coached the Seals from their creation for the 1967–68 NHL season until the team moved to Cleveland, Ohio after the 1975–76 NHL season. Fr ...
*
List of NHL players
A ''list'' is any set of items in a row. List or lists may also refer to:
People
* List (surname)
Organizations
* List College, an undergraduate division of the Jewish Theological Seminary of America
* SC Germania List, German rugby unio ...
*
List of NHL seasons
*
1967 NHL expansion
Notes
References
Bibliography
*
External links
Site by author and Society for International Hockey Research member Steve Currier about the franchise
{{NHL
Bankruptcy in the United States
Defunct National Hockey League teams
National Hockey League in the San Francisco Bay Area
Ice hockey clubs established in 1967
Ice hockey clubs disestablished in 1976
1967 establishments in California
1976 disestablishments in California