California Golden Seals

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California Seals, Oakland Seals, California Golden Seals
Founded	1967
Home ice	Oakland Arena
Based in	Oakland, California
Colors	Royal Blue, Kelly Green and White (1967-1970) Kelly Green, California Gold and Snow White (1970-1974) Pacific Teal, Gold and White (1974-1976)
League	National Hockey League

The California Golden Seals were a team in the National Hockey League (NHL) from 1967-76. Initially named California Seals, the team was renamed Oakland Seals part-way through the 1967-68 season, and then to California Golden Seals in 1970.

Founded: 1967

Folded: 1976, moved to Cleveland, Ohio to become the Barons

Arena: Oakland Arena

Uniform colors:

Logo design:

Stanley Cup Finals appearances: none

Stanley Cups won: none

Added in the 1967 NHL Expansion, along with the Minnesota North Stars, Los Angeles Kings, Philadelphia Flyers, Pittsburgh Penguins, and St. Louis Blues.

Contents 1 History 2 Season-by-season record 3 Notable players 3.1 Hall of Famers 3.2 Team captains 3.3 First round draft picks 4 See also 5 External links

[edit] History

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 more importantly to squelch the Western Hockey League's threat to turn itself into a major league. The San Francisco Seals were one such team from the WHL, and after it was purchased by Barry van Gerbig and moved across the bay to a new arena in Oakland, the Seals joined the NHL. The Bay Area was not considered a particularly good hockey market, but the terms of a new television agreement with CBS called for two of the expansion teams to be located in California.

Van Gerbig had planned to have the team play out of a new arena in San Francisco, but the arena never came into fruition, and the Seals played out of the Oakland Arena in Oakland instead. The franchise was named California Seals in an attempt to appeal to fans from San Francisco, and to address complaints from the other NHL teams that Oakland was not a considered a major league city and would not be a draw for fans. The plan failed, however, and on November 6, 1967¹ , Van Gerbig changed the team's name to Oakland Seals.

¹ Minneapolis Tribune November 7 1967 page 24 from an AP story

The Seals were never successful at the gate, and because of the poor attendance Van Gerbig threatened to move the team elsewhere on numerous occasions if fans did not show up. First-year coach and general manager Bert Olmstead publicly advocated a move to Vancouver, but the offer from Labatt's brewery to purchase and relocate the team was rejected by the league, as was a proposal to move the team to Buffalo from the eventual owners of the Buffalo Sabres, who had been shut out of the 1967 expansion. This, as well as their dismal on-ice performance, led to major changes to both the Seals' front office as well as the on-ice product (only seven out of the 20 Seals players remained) after only one season. The new-look Seals were somewhat more successful, making the playoffs for two years, although with sub .500 records. Those would be the only two years that the Seals franchise made the playoffs.

Before the 1970-71 NHL season, the Seals were bought by flamboyant Oakland Athletics owner Charlie O. Finley, who changed the team's name to the California Golden Seals (itself a last-minute change from the announced "Bay Area Seals"), and introduced marketing gimmicks intended to sell the team to the fans, among them changing the Seals' colors to green and gold to match that of the A's. However, this was all for naught, as the Seals finished with the worst record in the NHL that year. The team rebounded in 1971-72, but the arrival of the World Hockey Association wiped out most of those gains. Finley refused to match many of the WHA's offers, causing many of the team's young stars from the previous season to bolt. Tired of hockey, he tried to sell the team, but there were no takers. The NHL eventually took control of the team in February 1974. The league ran the team for two years until San Francisco hotel magnate Mel Swig bought the team in 1975 with the intent 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.

As a result, the team was moved to Cleveland, Ohio, becoming the Cleveland Barons. After just two seasons in Cleveland, the team was merged into the Minnesota North Stars. Charlie Simmer was the last Seal active in professional hockey, retiring after playing with the minor league San Diego Gulls in 1992.

[edit] 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

Season	Team Name	GP	W	L	T	Pts	GF	GA	PIM	Finish	Playoffs
1967-682	Oakland Seals	74	15	42	17	47	153	219	787	6th in West	Out of Playoffs
1968-69	Oakland Seals	76	29	36	11	69	219	251	811	2nd in West	Lost in Quarterfinal (LA)
1969-70	Oakland Seals	76	22	40	14	58	169	243	845	4th in West	Lost in Quarterfinal (PIT)
1970-71	California Golden Seals	78	20	53	5	45	199	320	937	7th in West	Out of Playoffs
1971-72	California Golden Seals	78	21	39	18	60	216	288	1007	6th in West	Out of Playoffs
1972-73	California Golden Seals	78	16	46	16	48	213	323	840	8th in West	Out of Playoffs
1973-74	California Golden Seals	78	13	55	10	36	195	342	651	8th in West	Out of Playoffs
1974-75	California Golden Seals	80	19	48	13	51	212	316	1101	4th in Adams	Out of Playoffs
1975-76	California Golden Seals	80	27	42	11	65	250	278	1058	4th in Adams	Out of Playoffs

² named California Seals from October 11 to November 6, 1967

[edit] Notable players

[edit] Hall of Famers

• Harry Howell

[edit] Team captains

• Bob Stewart (1975-76)
• Jim Neilson (1975-76)
• Joey Johnston (1972-1975)
• Bert Marshall (1971-1973)
• Carol Vadnais (1970-1972)
• Ted Hampson (1968-71)
• Bobby Baun (1967-68)

[edit] First round draft picks

• 1967: Ken Hicks (3rd overall)
• 1968: none
• 1969: Tony Featherstone (7th overall)
• 1970: Chris Oddleifson (10th overall)
• 1971: none
• 1972: none
• 1973: none
• 1974: Rick Hampton (3rd overall)
• 1975: Ralph Klassen (3rd overall)

[edit] See also

• List of California Golden Seals players
• Head Coaches of the Oakland Seals and California Golden Seals
• Minnesota North Stars
• Dallas Stars
• List of NHL players
• List of NHL seasons
• 1967 NHL Expansion

[edit] External links

• Welcome to the Seals Homepage
• LET'S RETURN NOW TO HOCKEY'S GOLDEN ERA -- WHEN SEALS PERFORMED IN THE N.H.L.
• Oakland Seals Directory of Sport Ice NHL
• Arenas BY MUNSEY & SUPPES