I grew up in Minnesota and I remember attending a game at the Met Sports Center in Bloomington in 1969 when the north stars played the seals. The seals won the game 5 -2 as Charlie Hodge stopped 50 shots to lead them to victory. I was fascinated with Charlie Hodge as he was one of the all time great goalies, at the twilight of his career with Oakland. During that game, I also caught a puck off the stick of Oakland defenseman Wayne Muloin.

I always thought the seals jerseys from that era where really cool. The green and blue jersey with the abstract seal crest on the front made this one of the most colorful jerseys in the NHL at the time. I am still searching to find an original or replica of this design.

I look forward to purchasing a copy of the book when it comes out.

Thanks.

Hey, great web site! It stirred up a lot of old memories. Yours is the most complete work I've ever seen put together on the Seals. The old scores with game summaries absolutely stunned me. However, the 2/19/71 game against Boston was a home game, not 'away' as you currently have listed. One of the old Seals programs I've hung onto is from that home game.

I too attended many of those Seals home games with my dad, a lot of great childhood memories there at the Oakland Coliseum Arena. My dad had Seals season tickets for many years, even to the old Western league SF Seals. In fact I was a bit of a Seals freak and would even cut school on many occasions to watch them practice at Berkeley Iceland. (I was at the Seals practice Gilles Meloche got his hand stepped on, severing the tendons in his glove hand). Sometimes I even went to practices down at the Coliseum. (I grew up in Berkeley) I came to their practices so often some of the players got to know me, helped with my stick collection. Ted McAneeley even gave me rides back to the BART station a few times in his silver 240Z, license plate "23DUDE".

During the 73-74 season, I worked as a 'press runner' at all the Seals home games that year. That gave me the chance to see lots of inside scoop. I saw the Caps players parade that garbage can around, I was 20 feet away from St. Louis' Bob Gassoff the night he 'beat up' the coliseum Zamboni with his stick (and the snow shovel) after getting a game misconduct. Two broken headlights, a busted front grill and dents all over.

I knew Mike Laughton from a youth summer hockey school I used to attend up in British Columbia, still keep in slight contact with Mike. Are you still doing interviews, information collections about the Seals years? I also spoke briefly with Marshall Johnston about two years ago, I asked him about his Seals days and he recalled a funny story about a bunch of the guys driving over to Berkeley Iceland for practice and all their jaws dropped when they saw a naked woman calmly playing the guitar on a Berkeley sidewalk. Ah, the early 70's!

I still have lots of the old programs, ticket stubs, Seals hockey cards, other souvenirs but not many pictures. Many fond memories about those great years. If you ever want to chat about those Seals seasons sometime, respond back. I still live in the bay area. Otherwise, best wishes with your book project and I'll look forward to someday seeing it available.

Regards,

Tom Collins

Hi,

I played hockey as a kid in Concord and Berkeley from 69-75 and went to quite a few Seals games -- we had Seals hockey banquets and I met most of the Seals. It was moving to see all the names listed on your scoring chart, to recall how it felt to be part of hockey and how exciting it was to go to the games. I did a web search on Oakland Seals because I was wondering which team of today used to be the Seals and your site answered that question -- final game in bankruptcy court, oh well.

Anyway, thanks for doing such a nice piece of work for posterity.

Cheers,

Joe McConnell

Scott from St. Paul, Minnesota

Thanks for sending your memories of the Seals. If you want your name and hometown to be posted on the site, please e-mail me and I will post your memory along with that information (John from Anytown, USA is enough). As for Seals jerseys, I do know a few places that sell replica jerseys of the Seals from their early period (green and blue with the abstract Seal). If you are interested, you can go to the following: www.Silvestrisports.com www.oldjerseys.com www.jockshop.com All of these companies either have the jerseys in stock or will make them for you. In addition, you can add a name or number on the back of the jersey for a few extra dollars. The jerseys run from $80 to $200 depending on where you get them, whether you add numbers and names and whether you want a "pro quality" jersey or a "replica quality" jersey. I hope you find this helpful and thanks again for sharing your memories.

SEALS TRIVIA

1. Name the 3 brother combinations that played for the Seals?

2. Which of those 3 combinations played for the Seals at the same time?

3. Who of the following never owned a part of the Seals?
a) Bing Crosby
b) Charlie O. Finley
c) Pat Summerall
d) Horence Stoneham
e) Whitey Ford
f) The NHL
g) Mel Swig
h) None of the above

4) Who scored the first goal in Seals history?

5) Name the member of the Seals who had a fan club in New York

6) Name the only former Seals player who was inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame as a player

7) Which of the following players was never the captain of the Seals?
a) Ted Hampson
b) Bob Baun
c) Bill Hicke
d) Joey Johnston
e) Jim Neilson

8) Who did the Seals acquire in the trade that sent Guy Lafleur to Montreal?

9) How many road games did the Seals win in 1973-74?

10) Connect the following players with their nicknames:
a) Bob Baun 1. She-Cat
b) Billy Harris 2. Hank
c) Jim Neilson 3. Me Too
d) Joey Johnston 4. Cobra
e) Terry Murray 5. Bugsy
f) Gary Croteau 6. Beep
g) Gary Simmons 7. Hinky
h) Gary Smith 8. The Jet
i) Bobby Sheehan 9. The Bull
j) Brian Perry 10. Chief

k) Larry Cahan 11. Boom Boom
l) Alain Caron 12. Boomer
m) Bryan Watson 13. Suitcase
n) Dave Hreckhosy 14. Wrecker
o) Ivan Boldirev 15. Ike

11) True or false: Wayne Gretzky scored more goals in one season than any Seals player scored in his Seals career?

12) Who was the only Seals player to win an NHL post season Trophy?

13) The 1972-73 Islanders won only 12 games all season. How many of those wins were against the Seals?

14) The 1974-75 Washington Capitals won only 8 games all season. How many of those wins were against the Seals?

15) Which Seals goaltender went on to become an assistant coach with the team?

16) Who is the only player to appear with the Seals in the playoffs but never played for the team in the regular season?

17) Where did the Seals move to after the 1975-76 season?

18) Name the only team the Seals had an all-time winning record against?

19) Which 2 former Seals players are presently NHL general managers?

20) Which of the following celebrities was a Seals fan?
a) Actor Tom Hanks
b) Professional Cheerleader Krazy George
c) Hell's Angel Founder Sonny Barger
d) Cartoonist Charles Shultz (Peanuts)
e) All of the above

21) What was the signature call of Seals broadcaster Joe Starkey?

22) Who was the Seals first choice in the 1967 expansion draft?

23) Who was the Seals first play by play announcer?

24) When Charlie Finley took over the Seals, what were some of the things he did to attract fans?
a) Give the team white and colored skates
b) Have live Seals perform on ice between periods
c) Put the players names on their backs of their sweaters
d) Design new uniforms for the club
e) All of the above

25) Who was named Sporting News NHL Coach of the Year in 1969?

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