The California Golden Seals were a professional
ice hockey
Ice hockey (or simply hockey in North America) is a team sport played on ice skates, usually on an Ice rink, ice skating rink with Ice hockey rink, lines and markings specific to the sport. It belongs to a family of sports called hockey. Tw ...
club that competed in the
National Hockey League
The National Hockey League (NHL; , ''LNH'') is a professional ice hockey league in North America composed of 32 teams25 in the United States and 7 in Canada. The NHL is one of the major professional sports leagues in the United States and Cana ...
(NHL) from
1967
Events January
* January 1 – Canada begins a year-long celebration of the 100th anniversary of Canadian Confederation, Confederation, featuring the Expo 67 World's Fair.
* January 6 – Vietnam War: United States Marine Corps and Army of ...
to
1976
Events January
* January 2 – The International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights enters into force.
* January 5 – The Pol Pot regime proclaims a new constitution for Democratic Kampuchea.
* January 18 – Full diplomatic ...
. Based in
Oakland, California
Oakland is a city in the East Bay region of the San Francisco Bay Area in the U.S. state of California. It is the county seat and most populous city in Alameda County, California, Alameda County, with a population of 440,646 in 2020. A major We ...
, they played their home games at the
Oakland–Alameda County Coliseum Arena
Oakland Arena, often referred to as the Oakland Coliseum Arena, is an indoor arena in Oakland, California, and part of the Oakland–Alameda County Coliseum Authority. Opened in 1966, the arena was originally home to the California Seals of the ...
. The Seals were one of six teams added to the league as part of the
1967 NHL expansion
The 1967 National Hockey League (NHL) expansion added six new franchises for the 1967–68 NHL season, 1967–68 season, doubling the size of the league to 12 teams. It was the largest expansion undertaken at one time by an established major spor ...
. 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 earning 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, who would merge with 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 ...
two years later.
They were the only franchise from the 1967 expansion to not reach the
Stanley Cup Finals
The Stanley Cup Finals in ice hockey (also known as the Stanley Cup Final among various media, ) is the annual championship series of the National Hockey League (NHL). The winner is awarded the Stanley Cup, North America's oldest professional spo ...
.
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 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 hocke ...
'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 for the
San Francisco Bay Area
The San Francisco Bay Area, commonly known as the Bay Area, is a List of regions of California, region of California surrounding and including San Francisco Bay, and anchored by the cities of Oakland, San Francisco, and San Jose, California, S ...
. 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
San Francisco, officially the City and County of San Francisco, is a commercial, Financial District, San Francisco, financial, and Culture of San Francisco, cultural center of Northern California. With a population of 827,526 residents as of ...
, 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 and events center located in Daly City, California, situated on the city's northern border with neighboring San Francisco. Because the border passes through t ...
in
Daly City
Daly City () is the second-most populous city in San Mateo County, California, United States. Located in the San Francisco Bay Area, and immediately south of San Francisco (sharing its northern border with almost all of San Francisco's southern ...
to
Oakland
Oakland is a city in the East Bay region of the San Francisco Bay Area in the U.S. state of California. It is the county seat and most populous city in Alameda County, with a population of 440,646 in 2020. A major West Coast port, Oakland is ...
to play in the new
Oakland–Alameda County Coliseum Arena
Oakland Arena, often referred to as the Oakland Coliseum Arena, is an indoor arena in Oakland, California, and part of the Oakland–Alameda County Coliseum Authority. Opened in 1966, the arena was originally home to the California Seals of the ...
. 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 Seal ...
; however, the terms imposed by the established
Original Six
The Original Six () are the teams that composed 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 Leafs. ...
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
Charles Frederick Burns (February 14, 1936 – November 5, 2021) was an American-born Canadian professional ice hockey forward who played 749 games in the National Hockey League (NHL) with the Detroit Red Wings, Boston Bruins, Oakland Seals, Pi ...
,
George Swarbrick
George Raymond Swarbrick (born February 16, 1942) is a Canadian former professional ice hockey player. He played 132 National Hockey League (NHL) games with the Oakland Seals, Pittsburgh Penguins, and Philadelphia Flyers. Swarbrick was born in Mo ...
,
Gerry Odrowski
Gerald Bernard Odrowski (born October 4, 1938) is a Canadian former professional ice hockey defenceman who played 309 games in the National Hockey League and another 282 in the World Hockey Association. He played for the NHL's Detroit Red Wings, O ...
,
Tom Thurlby
Thomas Newman Thurlby (born November 9, 1938) is a Canadian former professional ice hockey defenceman who briefly played in the National Hockey League for the Oakland Seals
The California Golden Seals were a professional ice hockey club that c ...
, and
Ron Harris.
The Bay Area was not considered a particularly lucrative ice hockey market; however, the terms of a new television agreement with
CBS
CBS Broadcasting Inc., commonly shortened to CBS (an abbreviation of its original name, Columbia Broadcasting System), is an American commercial broadcast television and radio network serving as the flagship property of the CBS Entertainme ...
called for two of the expansion teams to be located in California and other than the
Los Angeles Kings
The Los Angeles Kings are a professional ice hockey team based in Los Angeles. The Kings compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Pacific Division (NHL), Pacific Division in the Western Conference (NHL), Western Conference. ...
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
Murray Albert Olmstead (September 4, 1926 – November 16, 2015) was a Canadian professional ice hockey left winger who played for the Montreal Canadiens, Chicago Black Hawks and Toronto Maple Leafs in the National Hockey League (NHL). Olms ...
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 List of cities in British Columbia, most populous city in the province, the 2021 Canadian census recorded 662,248 people in the cit ...
, resulting in an offer from
Labatt's
Labatt Brewing Company Limited () is a Anheuser-Busch InBev-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 Interbrew. In 2004, Interb ...
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 a compromise, the NHL agreed to expand again in
1970
Events
January
* January 1 – Unix time epoch reached at 00:00:00 UTC.
* January 5 – The 7.1 1970 Tonghai earthquake, Tonghai earthquake shakes Tonghai County, Yunnan province, China, with a maximum Mercalli intensity scale, Mercalli ...
, adding teams in both
Vancouver
Vancouver is a major city in Western Canada, located in the Lower Mainland region of British Columbia. As the List of cities in British Columbia, most populous city in the province, the 2021 Canadian census recorded 662,248 people in the cit ...
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. In their
second season they improved to 69 points, which while still seven games below .500 was good enough for second place in the all-expansion
West Division. The Seals were actually favored to win their first round playoff matchup against the Kings, but were upset in seven games. Oakland regressed to 58 points the
following season, but still edged out the
Philadelphia Flyers
The Philadelphia Flyers are a professional ice hockey team based in Philadelphia. The Flyers compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Metropolitan Division in the Eastern Conference (NHL), Eastern Conference. The team play ...
for the final playoff spot on a tiebreaker. Their second playoff appearance was a brief one as they were swept by the
Pittsburgh Penguins
The Pittsburgh Penguins (colloquially known as the Pens) are a professional ice hockey team based in Pittsburgh. The Penguins compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Metropolitan Division in the Eastern Conference (NHL), E ...
. 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 and consequently prohibits unfair monopolies. It was passed by Congress and is named for ...
. 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 professional American football, football player and television sportscaster who worked for CBS Sports, CBS, Fox Sports (USA), Fox, and ESPN Sunday Night Football, ESP ...
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 ...
, the flamboyant and eccentric owner of
Major League Baseball
Major League Baseball (MLB) is a professional baseball league composed of 30 teams, divided equally between the National League (baseball), National League (NL) and the American League (AL), with 29 in the United States and 1 in Canada. MLB i ...
's
Oakland Athletics
The Oakland Athletics (frequently referred to as the Oakland A's) were an American Major League Baseball (MLB) team based in Oakland, California from 1968 to 2024. The Athletics were a member club of the American League (AL) American League We ...
, purchased the Seals. Finley and
roller derby
Roller derby is a roller skating contact sport played on an oval track by two teams of five skaters. It is played by approximately 1,250 amateur leaguesA Roller Derby league is synonymous with an individual club or team in other team sports, as ...
boss
Jerry Seltzer had both put in bids on the team. Although Seltzer's offer was slightly better financed 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 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. However, on October 16, 1970, just two games into the season, 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 Athletics. 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 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 747
The Boeing 747 is a long-range wide-body aircraft, wide-body airliner designed and manufactured by Boeing Commercial Airplanes in the United States between 1968 and 2023.
After the introduction of the Boeing 707, 707 in October 1958, Pan Am ...
planes 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
1971 *
The year 1971 had three partial solar eclipses (Solar eclipse of February 25, 1971, February 25, Solar eclipse of July 22, 1971, July 22 and Solar eclipse of August 20, 1971, August 20) and two total lunar eclipses (February 1971 lunar eclip ...
first-round pick to the
Montreal Canadiens
The Montreal Canadiens (), officially ' ( Canadian Hockey Club) and colloquially known as the Habs, are a professional ice hockey team based in Montreal. The Canadiens compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Atlantic D ...
along with
Francois Lacombe in return for Montreal's
1970
Events
January
* January 1 – Unix time epoch reached at 00:00:00 UTC.
* January 5 – The 7.1 1970 Tonghai earthquake, Tonghai earthquake shakes Tonghai County, Yunnan province, China, with a maximum Mercalli intensity scale, Mercalli ...
first-round pick (Seals selected
Chris Oddleifson),
Ernie Hicke, and cash. As a result of the Seals' dreadful 1970–71 season, the Canadiens had the top pick in the 1971 draft, and used it 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 ...
. This transaction was later called 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 () was a professional ice hockey major league that operated in North America from 1972–73 WHA season, 1972 to 1978–79 WHA season, 1979. It was the first major league to compete with the National Hockey League (N ...
(WHA) wiped out most of those gains. Finley refused to match the WHA's contract offers, causing five of the team's top 10 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 National Hockey League'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 th ...
, 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 (NHL), Atlantic Division in the Eastern Conference (NHL), Eastern Conference. The t ...
, 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. The Maple Leafs compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the A ...
. The Seals once again finished well out of playoff contention, and were notably the only team to lose at home to the expansion
Washington Capitals
The Washington Capitals (colloquially known as the Caps) are a professional ice hockey team based in Washington, D.C. The Capitals compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Metropolitan Division in the Eastern Conference (NH ...
.
Finley soon lost patience with his struggling team, especially given the contrast to his
World Series
The World Series is the annual championship series of Major League Baseball (MLB). It has been contested since between the champion teams of the American League (AL) and the National League (NL). The winning team, determined through a best- ...
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 $6.585 million.
A 1973 attempt by Finley to sell the team to
Indianapolis
Indianapolis ( ), colloquially known as Indy, is the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of municipalities in Indiana, most populous city of the U.S. state of Indiana and the county seat of Marion County, Indiana, Marion ...
interests who planned to relocate the team to that city was rejected by the NHL's Board of Governors.
In early 1975, newspapers reported that the Seals and Pittsburgh Penguins were to be relocated to
Denver
Denver ( ) is a List of municipalities in Colorado#Consolidated city and county, consolidated city and county, the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of municipalities in Colorado, most populous city of the U.S. state of ...
and
Seattle
Seattle ( ) is the most populous city in the U.S. state of Washington and in the Pacific Northwest region of North America. With a population of 780,995 in 2024, it is the 18th-most populous city in the United States. The city is the cou ...
, 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 season.
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 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 canceled. With a new arena out of the picture, the league dropped their objection to the relocation of the franchise.
The end and aftermath

Although attendance was finally showing some improvement and the team playing better, minority owners
George and
Gordon Gund
Gordon Gund (born October 15, 1939) is an American businessman and professional sports owner. He is the CEO of Gund Investment Corporation. He is the former co-owner of the San Jose Sharks (National Hockey League) from 1992 to 2002, former princi ...
persuaded Swig to seek approval to move the team to their hometown of
Cleveland
Cleveland is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Cuyahoga County. Located along the southern shore of Lake Erie, it is situated across the Canada–U.S. maritime border and approximately west of the Ohio-Pennsylvania st ...
. The team's final game in Oakland was a win over the Los Angeles Kings on April 4, 1976; league approval for the move was granted on July 14, and the team was renamed the
Cleveland Barons after the city's
former team in the
American Hockey League
The American Hockey League (AHL) is a professional ice hockey league in North America that serves as the primary developmental league of the National Hockey League (NHL). The league comprises 32 teams, with 26 in the United States and 6 in Cana ...
(AHL).
Unfortunately, details were not finalized until less than six weeks before the start of the
1976–77 season, rendering the Barons all but invisible in Cleveland. 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 the equally strapped
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 Barons became the last actively playing NHL team to fold since the
Brooklyn Americans in
1942
The Uppsala Conflict Data Program project estimates this to be the deadliest year in human history in terms of conflict deaths, placing the death toll at 4.62 million. However, the Correlates of War estimates that the prior year, 1941, was th ...
(the franchise was formally cancelled in 1946) and the last team to cease operations since the
Montreal Maroons
The Montreal Maroons (officially the Montreal Professional Hockey Club) were a professional ice hockey team in the National Hockey League (NHL). They played in the NHL from 1924–25 NHL season, 1924 to 1937–38 NHL season, 1938, winning the Sta ...
had their franchise formally canceled in 1947 (though they had not iced a team since 1938). As a result, the NHL were reduced to 17 teams for the
1978–79 season.
In the late 1980s, the Gunds wanted to bring ice hockey back to the Bay Area and asked the NHL for permission to relocate the North Stars there. However, the league was unwilling to abandon a traditional ice 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 stat ...
. Meanwhile, a group led by former
Hartford Whalers
The Hartford Whalers were a professional ice hockey team based for most of its 25-year 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 1 ...
owner
Howard Baldwin
Howard Lapsley Baldwin[Rose Weld Baldwin obituary](_blank)
ccgfuneralhome.com; acce ...
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, which was named the
San Jose Sharks
The San Jose Sharks are a professional ice hockey team based in San Jose, California. The Sharks compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Pacific Division (NHL), Pacific Division in the Western Conference (NHL), Western Con ...
. 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 sports franchising, franchises. This occurs mainly in Sports in North America, North American sports and closed leagues. O ...
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 became the Sharks. Coincidentally, 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.
Norman Green
Norman Neil Green (born 12 June 1934) is a shopping mall developer and owner from Calgary, Alberta. He was an original director and one of the principal investors in Sage Telecom, a private, telecommunications company operating in eleven US state ...
then joined Baldwin's ownership group and eventually bought controlling interest in the North Stars. Citing poor attendance and a poor arena deal at the
Met Center
The Met Center was an indoor arena that stood in Bloomington, Minnesota, United States, a suburb of Minneapolis. The arena, which was completed in 1967 by Minnesota Ice, just to the north of Metropolitan Stadium, seated 15,784. It was the home ...
, Green was able to relocate the team to
Dallas
Dallas () is a city in the U.S. state of Texas and the most populous city in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex, the List of Texas metropolitan areas, most populous metropolitan area in Texas and the Metropolitan statistical area, fourth-most ...
following the
1992–93 season as the
Dallas Stars
The Dallas Stars are a professional ice hockey team based in Dallas. The Stars compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Central Division (NHL), Central Division in the Western Conference (NHL), Western Conference. The Stars ...
.
Legacy
Dennis Maruk was the last Seals player active in the NHL, retiring as a member of the North Stars in
1989
1989 was a turning point in political history with the "Revolutions of 1989" which ended communism in Eastern Bloc of Europe, starting in Poland and Hungary, with experiments in power-sharing coming to a head with the opening of the Berlin W ...
. The last former Seals player in any league was
George Pesut, 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 website was launched 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 covered 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''
Players and personnel
Hall of Fame members
*
Harry Howell, 1969–1971, inducted 1979
*
Bert Olmstead
Murray Albert Olmstead (September 4, 1926 – November 16, 2015) was a Canadian professional ice hockey left winger who played for the Montreal Canadiens, Chicago Black Hawks and Toronto Maple Leafs in the National Hockey League (NHL). Olms ...
, 1967–1968, inducted 1985 (as player)
*
Craig Patrick, 1971–1974, inducted 2001 (as builder)
*
Bill Torrey, 1970, 1995 (inducted as builder)
Team captains
The Golden Seals had the following team captains:
*
Bobby Baun
Robert Neil Baun (September 9, 1936 – August 14, 2023) was a Canadian professional ice hockey defenceman who played in the National Hockey League for 17 seasons from 1956 to 1973. His nickname was "Boomer".
Playing career
Baun played junior ...
, 1967–1968
*
Ted Hampson, 1968–1971
*
Carol Vadnais, 1971–1972
*
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 Y ...
, 1972–1973
*
Joey Johnston, 1974–1975
*
Jim Neilson and
Bob Stewart, 1975–1976 (co-captains)
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
Murray Albert Olmstead (September 4, 1926 – November 16, 2015) was a Canadian professional ice hockey left winger who played for the Montreal Canadiens, Chicago Black Hawks and Toronto Maple Leafs in the National Hockey League (NHL). Olms ...
, 1967–1968 (resigned in March 1968)
*
Frank Selke Jr., 1968–1970 (resigned in November 1970)
*
Bill Torrey, 1970 (resigned in December 1970)
*
Fred Glover, 1970–1971 (fired in October 1971)
*
Garry Young, 1971–1972 (fired in November 1972)
* Fred Glover, 1972–1974 (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 Sr., 1974–1976 (given title of director of hockey operations from 1974 to 1975, while club under ownership of NHL; later bbecame 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 Canadian Confederation, Confederation, featuring the Expo 67 World's Fair.
* January 6 – Vietnam War: United States Marine Corps and Army of ...
:
Ken Hicks (third overall)
*
1969
1969 ( MCMLXIX) was a common year starting on Wednesday of the Gregorian calendar, the 1969th year of the Common Era (CE) and ''Anno Domini'' (AD) designations, the 969th year of the 2nd millennium, the 69th year of the 20th century, and the ...
:
Tony Featherstone (seventh overall)
*
1970
Events
January
* January 1 – Unix time epoch reached at 00:00:00 UTC.
* January 5 – The 7.1 1970 Tonghai earthquake, Tonghai earthquake shakes Tonghai County, Yunnan province, China, with a maximum Mercalli intensity scale, Mercalli ...
:
Chris Oddleifson (10th overall)
*
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 Lea ...
(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)
*
1976
Events January
* January 2 – The International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights enters into force.
* January 5 – The Pol Pot regime proclaims a new constitution for Democratic Kampuchea.
* January 18 – Full diplomatic ...
:
Bjorn Johansson (fifth overall)
Franchise records
Scoring leaders
These are the top-ten point-scorers in franchise history.
Individual records
Career records
* Most games played –
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 Y ...
(313)
* Most goals –
Joey Johnston (84)
* Most assists –
Ted Hampson (123)
* Most points – Joey Johnston (185)
* Most penalty minutes –
Carol Vadnais (560)
* Most wins by a goaltender –
Gary Smith (61)
* Most losses 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 ...
(140)
* Lowest goals against average (GAA) by a goaltender –
Charlie Hodge (3.10)
* Most shutouts by a goaltender – Gary Smith (9)
* Most minutes – Gilles Meloche (14,578)
* Most wins by a coach –
Fred Glover (71)
* Most losses by a coach – Fred Glover (130)
Single season records
* Most goals –
Norm Ferguson, 34 (1968–69)
* Most assists –
Ted Hampson, 49 (1973–74)
* Most points –
Ted Hampson, 75 (1968–69)
* Most penalty minutes –
Dennis Hextall
Dennis Hextall (born April 17, 1943) is a former professional hockey forward who spent most of his career with the Minnesota North Stars and Detroit Red Wings. He is the son of Bryan Hextall, brother of Bryan Hextall Jr., uncle of Ron Hextall a ...
, 217 (1970–71)
* Most wins by a goaltender –
Gary Smith, 21 (1968–69)
* Most losses by a goaltender – Gary Smith, 48 (1970–71)
* Lowest goals against average (GAA) by a goaltender –
Charlie Hodge, 2.87 (1967–68)
* Most shutouts by a goaltender – Gary Smith (1968–69) and
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 ...
(1971–72), 4
* Most minutes – Gary Smith, 3,974 (1970–71)
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" (song), a single by That Petrol Emotion
* Keen Records, American record label
* Keening, traditional Irish la ...
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 eithe ...
. 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
Jon Miller (born October 11, 1951) is an American sportscaster, known primarily for his broadcasts of Major League Baseball. Since 1997, he has been employed as a play-by-play announcer for the San Francisco Giants. He was also a baseball ann ...
worked 15 games (all on
delay) 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
*
List of California Golden Seals head coaches
*
List of NHL players
*
List of NHL seasons
This is a list of Season (sport), seasons of the National Hockey League (NHL), a professional ice hockey league, since its inception in 1917. The list also includes the seasons of the National Hockey Association (NHA), the predecessor organization ...
*
1967 NHL expansion
The 1967 National Hockey League (NHL) expansion added six new franchises for the 1967–68 NHL season, 1967–68 season, doubling the size of the league to 12 teams. It was the largest expansion undertaken at one time by an established major spor ...
Notes
References
Further reading
*
*
*
External links
Site by author and Society for International Hockey Research member Steve Currier about the franchise
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