The California Golden Seals: A Tale of White Skates, Red Ink, and One of the NHL's Most Outlandish Teams
498
The California Golden Seals: A Tale of White Skates, Red Ink, and One of the NHL's Most Outlandish Teams
498Paperback
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Overview
Hockey has had its share of bizarre tales over the years, but none compare to the fascinating story of the California Golden Seals, a team that remains the benchmark for how not to run a sports franchise. From 1967 to 1978, a revolving door of players, apathetic owners, and ridiculous marketing decisions turned the Seals, originally based in Oakland, into hockey's traveling circus. The team lost tons of money and games, cheated death more often than Evel Knievel, and left behind a long trail of broken dreams. Live seals were used as mascots, players wore skates that were painted white on an almost daily basis, and draft picks were dealt away nonchalantly like cards at a poker game.
The California Golden Seals examines the franchise's mismanaged--but always interesting--history, from its ballyhooed beginnings as a minor-league champion in the 1960s to its steep slide into oblivion in the late 1970s after moving to Cleveland. Through a season-by-season narrative, Currier brings to life the Seals' history with lighthearted anecdotes, personal interviews, and statistics about hockey's most infamous losing team.
Steve Currier is a hockey historian and member of the Society for International Hockey Research. He lives in Ottawa, Ontario, is a proud member of the Seals Booster Club, and is the creator and moderator of the tribute site GoldenSealsHockey.com.
Product Details
| ISBN-13: | 9781496222282 |
|---|---|
| Publisher: | Nebraska |
| Publication date: | 10/01/2020 |
| Pages: | 498 |
| Sales rank: | 291,107 |
| Product dimensions: | 6.00(w) x 8.90(h) x 1.30(d) |
About the Author
Steve Currier is a hockey historian and member of the Society for International Hockey Research. He lives in Ottawa, Ontario, is a proud member of the Seals Booster Club, and is the creator and moderator of the tribute site GoldenSealsHockey.com.
Read an Excerpt
CHAPTER 1
San Francisco Treat, 1917–1967
The story of the California Golden Seals originates much further back in history than one would believe. While the National Hockey League granted San Francisco a franchise only in 1966, California and professional hockey had collided for the first time way back in World War I, months before the United States shipped its first troops off to Europe. Ushering in an exciting new era in hockey would be no less than the 1917 Stanley Cup Champion Seattle Metropolitans and the Montreal Canadiens. In the most technical sense, the storied Canadiens actually won their second world hockey championship in the City by the Bay. While no Stanley Cup banner hangs from the rafters of the Bell Centre to commemorate this victory, the Canadiens could have, at the time, proclaimed themselves the true hockey titans of the world. Before the Metropolitans and Canadiens could face off, however, they needed a suitable indoor rink to accommodate them.
On October 10, 1916, San Francisco's Winter Garden opened its doors to the public for the first time. It can be argued the California Golden Seals' origins lie with the construction of the Garden, which accommodated 1,800 people, housed a 210-by-90 foot sheet of ice — the largest of its kind on the Pacific coast — and contained approximately 55,000 feet of piping "necessary for the circulation of the cold brine which ma[de] the ice on the main floor." The Garden gave many Californians not only the chance to experience for the first time the sheer joy of gliding nonchalantly down a smooth, pristine frozen surface, but also the opportunity to see the world's fastest athletes compete before their very eyes.
The Oakland Tribune did its best to encourage Bay Area residents to participate in activities that had already been a popular pastime in Canada and the northern United States for decades. "Ice skating, under agreeable and comfortable conditions, will be enjoyed by lovers of this healthy and exhilarating sport, when the immense new Winter Garden opens tomorrow evening," read the Tribune. The newspaper also lay to rest any fears warm weather lovers may have had about spending time in what many probably thought would be some sort of full-scale snow globe. "The Winter Garden, one of the largest and finest institutions of the kind in the world," the Tribune explained, "has a frontage on three streets — Sutter, Pierce and Post, and is afforded splendid lighting by day and a wonderful artificial illumination by night. It is steam-heated throughout, so that spectators and others will not suffer in any way from the cold."
Dunbar Poole, the Garden's manager, and G. R. Percival made sure the Winter Garden's grand opening would be quite the social event even for those patrons who planned on staying off the ice. "A military band, under the direction of Charles Cassasa, leader of the park and exposition bands, will add to the enjoyment of skaters," read an article in the October 9, 1916, Tribune. "Norval Baptie and Gladys Lamb, exhibition skaters from 'Castles in the Air,' New York City, and their ballet of six girls, will be a feature for the opening days." The October 1, 1916, Tribune explained, "For those who do not skate, however, things will be made very comfortable as hot air from the basement will be forced up under the seats allotted spectators. Another provision has been made for non-skaters, a ballroom being placed adjacent to the rink where dancing may be indulged in both afternoon and evening to the music of Cassasa's military band."
While the Winter Garden was ideal for leisurely skating, there was an added incentive to building an arena in San Francisco: getting professional players to come over as a feature attraction. In late 1916 and early 1917 local amateur teams from Stanford University and the University of California were among the first to play organized hockey at the Garden, but it was not until March 31, 1917, that the first professional hockey game was played in California.
Five days earlier the Seattle Metropolitans of the Pacific Coast Hockey Association had defeated the Montreal Canadiens of the National Hockey Association to become the first American-based team to win the Stanley Cup. Unlike today's NHL, players and coaches of the championship team did not disburse after the season to enjoy the summer with friends and family; they often kept playing a little while longer. In fact, just two days after Seattle's triumphant victory the Metropolitans defeated the Canadiens again, this time in an exhibition contest, by a score of 9–7.
The game was a tune-up for an exhibition series that would be played at the Winter Garden from March 31 to April 4. At stake would be a $5,000 prize, with the winning team taking home 60 percent. The Manitoba Free Press reported that the two clubs "left Seattle at midnight for San Francisco," where they would play three exhibition games in a week. The Free Press continued: "They will introduce professional hockey in the Golden Gate city for the first time and according to advance accounts big crowds are expected to see the champs and runners-up perform."
In ads leading up to the first game, the Oakland Tribune promoted the series like it was of monumental importance, boasting the Metropolitans and Canadiens would be playing "World's Championship Professional Hockey" and proclaiming, "this engagement has been made at an enormous expense and will be the first Professional Hockey ever seen in California." Tickets were sold for between 50 cents and $1.50, which included skates, since ticket holders were also allowed to take to the ice themselves following the game!
The Canadiens won the first contest 5–4, in what the Tribune described as "a brilliant game." Seattle stormed back to win game two on April 2 by a score of 5–2 thanks to a hat trick from Bernie Morris and 2 goals from Cully Wilson. The third and final game was hyped up as though the Stanley Cup was actually on the line: "Hockey Title of World at Stake" read the headline of the small write-up tucked way down at the bottom of page 10 of the evening Tribune. In retrospect, saying the world title was up for grabs was a slight exaggeration, but when Montreal won the final contest 6–2, there was more than a little boasting heard from the Canadiens' side. "We finished in a blaze of glory," said Canadiens' owner George Kennedy. "We have the better team — the finest aggregation playing hockey today."
Interestingly, Kennedy believed California could sustain a four-team hockey league with teams primarily located in the Bay Area:
Do I think that the introduction of professional hockey in California would pay? Well, that's a pretty big question. There is no doubt that the people of San Francisco were highly enthusiastic over the games there between the Canadiens and Seattle and I see no reason why other California towns shouldn't relish the fastest sport on Earth also. But — and here's where the rub comes — it would take an outlay of several hundred thousand dollars to build four rinks and get the game started. The question is — who is going to take the gamble? It might be a highly paying one at that.
With the groundwork already laid thanks to these early professional teams, the California Hockey League began play in 1928 with four teams: the Oakland Sheiks, San Francisco Icelanders, Los Angeles Richfields, and Hollywood Millionaires. During the CHL's first season, the Sheiks emerged as the league's premier franchise, finishing atop the regular-season standings with 41 points in 36 games. The Sheiks continued to dominate the CHL as the Great Depression worsened, winning championships in 1930, 1931, and again in 1933 before the league was dissolved.
Four years after the demise of the CHL, Oakland had another club, the Clippers, that competed in the Pacific Coast Hockey League, but before the season ended the Clippers packed their sticks and shoulder pads and moved to Spokane. Bay Area hockey then went into a slumber for nearly ten years, supported only sporadically by college and amateur teams. It was not until 1945, with the creation of a new Pacific Coast Hockey League, that organized hockey returned to the Bay Area. The new PCHL became a senior amateur league, because the NHL had territorial rights to Seattle, Vancouver, and Portland, and the PCHL refused to pay a territory fee. Both the San Francisco Shamrocks and Oakland Oaks became mainstays in the new amateur league and enjoyed varying degrees of success.
In 1948 the PCHL once again became a professional circuit under the NHL's supervision. The Oaks moved to the top of the standings while the Shamrocks sank to the bottom. Despite the Oaks' strong season, the club suffered financially and disbanded just 29 games into the 1949–50 season. The Shamrocks, meanwhile, finished first in the Southern Division that same season with a 3527-9 record. Attendance in the entire Southern Division, comprising the LA Monarchs, San Diego Sky Hawks, and Fresno Falcons, was pathetic, so all of the California teams closed up shop, leaving the PCHL with only six teams for its 1950–51 season. In 1952 the PCHL merged with the Western Canada Senior Hockey League to create the Western Hockey League, but there would be no California-based franchises for a while.
While the California Seals' birth was still a few years away, the eventual franchise would greatly benefit from the Winnipeg Warriors, who were granted league membership in 1955. The Warriors experienced immediate success, winning the league championship their first season thanks to the likes of past and future NHL alumni Paul Masnick, Bill Mosienko, Eric Nesterenko, Mike Nykoluk, and Ed Chadwick. The Warriors mostly disappointed from that point on, finishing out of the playoffs three of the next five seasons.
After the 1955–56 season the Warriors reportedly made an $80,000 profit. After the 1960–61 season, however, the Warriors had lost an estimated $200,000 over their six seasons. Owner J. D. Perrin Jr. planned on moving the Warriors to San Francisco, but the league preferred setting up an expansion franchise there instead. The Warriors never moved to California, but they did take a leave of absence from the league, which eventually became a permanent withdrawal. Winnipeg's loss would greatly benefit the new Bay Area outfit.
In the meantime, Vancouver general manager Coleman "Coley" Hall, a hotel owner and cattle rancher, suddenly resigned from the Canucks and bid on an expansion franchise for San Francisco. On April 23, 1961, the Seals were born when Hall and the minority owner and San Francisco hotelier Melvin M. Swig won the rights to the franchise. The plan was for the San Francisco Seals to play their home games at the venerable Cow Palace in Daly City, contingent upon an ice surface being installed before the start of the regular season.
The Cow Palace had character, to put it nicely, but not quite in the same way as, say, Maple Leaf Gardens or the Montreal Forum. Built in 1941, the 11,866-seat Cow Palace had not been designed to house a professional hockey team; thus it was inadequate in many ways. Jim Lingel, who would later become the Seals' vice-president for marketing, recalled that "between the goal lines there were only about 15 rows" of seats. "Most of the seats were in the corners for hockey," he continued. "It was like a big, square barn and it had terrible sight lines. The rink was also 15 feet short of the regulation 200 feet long. It was originally designed for rodeo." Future Seals head coach Fred Glover recalled, "The nets at each end were smaller at the bottom than at the top. They were bent in and couldn't fit on the pegs. The seats were up against the bench. There was just no room."
The Seals, led by general manager Joseph J. Allen and coach Max McNab, were not a typical expansion team in that high-quality players were acquired from a few other minor-league teams rather than through a league-controlled expansion draft. Hall obtained many players from the Canucks, which, at the time, was the New York Rangers' farm club, and other players from friend Eddie Shore's Springfield Indians. Before the season started, the Seals also acquired several Winnipeg Warriors players, notably Nick Mickoski, Al Nicholson, Jean-Marc Picard, Tom Thurlby, and Carl Boone.
Even though the Cow Palace ice was not in place until mid-November, the season started without much of a hitch, except for the fact the Seals would be forced to start their history on a 14-game road trip! This little hiccup notwithstanding, high-level hockey was back in the Bay Area. Over nine thousand fans witnessed the Seals' home debut November 17, 1961, versus the Edmonton Flyers, and the fans were treated to a tremendous effort by their new heroes. Bob Solinger, who would lead the Seals in scoring that season with 85 points, gave the Seals a 1–0 lead just two minutes into the game, followed by a goal from Boone eight minutes later. The Flyers fought back the rest of the period, cutting the lead to one thanks to a goal by Forbes Kennedy. In the second period, the Seals refused to let the Northern Division leaders pull away from them; the period ended with the two teams deadlocked at 3 goals apiece. In the third period, Kennedy scored his third goal of the night on the power play and gave the Flyers the lead for good. Eddie Joyal scored an insurance goal at 18:29 to give the Flyers a 5–3 win.
Despite the loss, opening night was an overwhelming success. "From the roar of the crowd, there were more knowledgeable clients than mere night-outers," wrote the San Francisco Chronicle's Art Rosenbaum. "The Seals were greeted with an outburst of applause when they took the lead, and as the game progressed the cheers increased for the home side and the boos grew for the currently detested and, as it turned out, victorious Flyers."
Despite having just one goaltender in training camp and not enough players to make two full practice squads with substitutes, the Seals recovered from a shaky 4-10 start to finish third in the Southern Division with a respectable 29-39-2 record. In the playoffs the Seals were soundly defeated by Spokane in a best-of-three series by scores of 4–1 and 7–3, but fans remained enthused about the future. Fans came to the Cow Palace in droves: 194,530 to be exact, a figure that put them ahead of every other team in the league except Portland. The formation of the Seals Booster Club, a nonprofit organization, was announced on September 8, 1962. The club's first meeting, open to anyone interested in hockey, took place Tuesday, September 11, at 8 p.m. in the Round Up Room at the Cow Palace. The Booster Club would grow in stature over the next fifteen years, counting at one point, some have estimated, around a thousand members. In 2012, the club celebrated its fiftieth anniversary.
For the 1962–63 season Norman "Bud" Poile became the Seals' new coach and general manager. Offensively, the team was led by star forwards Nick Mickoski (95 points) and Orland Kurtenbach (87 points), and goaltender Jim McLeod won 43 games. The Seals became one of the more aggressive teams in the WHL, thanks to toughies like Kurtenbach, Larry McNabb, and Gary "Duke" Edmundson. "We had some pretty tough guys on our team," recalled defenseman Tom Thurlby, the WHL Seals' all-time leader in games played. "We didn't go looking for trouble, but it always seemed to find us, I guess, but we had some pretty good players on our team that could mix it up if the time came."
The Cow Palace became an extremely inhospitable rink for visitors. Over their five seasons in San Francisco, the Seals sported an impressive 113-59-4 home record. Thurlby remembers the Palace being an intimidating place to play "just because of the size of it compared to some of the other rinks, and it was a small ice surface there too ... we had a lot of big guys on that team, and I think we just dominated at home. Teams coming in there were kind of shocked, I guess, at the amount of people that was there the first time they played there." He went on to add that the fan support the Seals received in San Francisco "was unreal, you wouldn't believe it, and we filled that old Cow Palace all the time ... even though it didn't matter where we were in the standings." Over the Seals' six seasons in the Western League, the club's average attendance would vary between 2,700 and 5,600. Some teams, many in more traditional hockey markets, were only drawing a fraction of that.
The 1962–63 season started much like the last one. The Seals opened the schedule splitting 2 games with Portland at the Cow Palace, before embarking on what would become a traditional, ridiculously long October road trip. This season it would be 12 games straight away from home. After 14 games the Seals' record was a disappointing 4-10-0, which included two 5-game losing streaks, but after a cushy home stand in November and December, their record climbed to 1814-0. The slow start cost the Seals a chance at the division title, but with a 44-25-1 record and a second-place finish, the team was a serious contender for the Lester Patrick Cup.
(Continues…)
Excerpted from "The California Golden Seals"
by .
Copyright © 2017 Steve Currier.
Excerpted by permission of UNIVERSITY OF NEBRASKA PRESS.
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Table of Contents
List of Illustrations Acknowledgments Introduction 1. San Francisco Treat, 1917–1967 2. The Oakland Error, 1967–1968 3. The Three Musketeers, 1968–1969 4. Hung Over, 1969–1970 5. Fools’ Gold, 1970–1971 6. Young Blood, 1971–1972 7. Goodbye, Oakland, 1972–1973 8. Big Hats, No Cattle, 1973–1974 9. Restoring Pride, 1974–1975 10. Swig vs. Moscone, 1975–1976 11. Mistake on the Lake, 1976–1977 12. One Last Gasp, 1977–1978 13. The Road Home Appendix of Tables: Seals / Barons Record Book Notes Bibliography Index