Hockey Teams You've Never Heard Of: California Golden Seals

The California Golden Seals were Northern California’s first NHL team. Before the Sharks became San Jose’s hockey team in the early 90’s, the Golden Seals were the original Bay Area squad. They struggled on and off the ice, which was a big reason why their NHL life only lasted a short 9 seasons.

The 1967 expansion featured 6 teams added to the NHL. The Blues, Flyers, Penguins, North Stars, Kings, and Golden Seals were all brand new teams that doubled the NHL in size. All of those teams are still in existence today (counting the North Stars in Dallas), except the Seals. The Golden Seals struggled early on. Just two months into their inaugural season, the Seals were entertaining the idea of relocating to Vancouver. The idea was based on bringing the club to a much more traditional hockey market. The city of Buffalo also inquired about being the team’s new home. Both cities were denied by the NHL because they wanted to keep two teams in California. It sounds like the NHL has always had an obsession with expanding to non-traditional markets…. look out China….

Goaltender Gilles Meloche

Here are some more fun facts about the Golden Seals you probably didn’t know about:

• The Golden Seals were actually just the “California Seals” until 1970, when the team was purchased by Oakland A’s owner Charles O. Finley. He gave the team the “Golden Seals” name, and also changed the color scheme from teal/gold to kelly green/gold to match his baseball club.

• Finley also gave the team matching skates. The Oakland A’s were famously wore white cleats on the field, so Finley decided to paint the Golden Seals’ skates white to match. This made the skates heavy and uncomfortable for the players to wear.

• They started out with the name the “California Seals",” then changed to the “Oakland Seals” midway through their first season to try to draw more local attention.

• The Golden Seals only made the playoffs twice in their history.

• In 1976, they moved to Cleveland and became the Cleveland Barons. This was short-lived as well, and after only two years the team merged with the Minnesota North Stars.

• The Golden Seals were the first NHL team to put player names on the back of the jerseys.

It’s safe to say that the Golden Seals were doomed from the start. They arrived in Northern California two decades too early and they had way too many issues off the ice. With the success that the San Jose Sharks have had over the years, the Golden Seals might’ve had a shot at glory if they came around later on than they did and if they were managed better. We probably wouldn’t have the Sharks today if the Seals were still around, but who knows? Close proximity to LA didn’t stop Anaheim from getting a team in 1993.

Written By Andrew Silvers

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