The Oakland Seals were a team in the National Hockey League. They were also known as the California (Golden) Seals.

History

The Expansion six was created in 1967 partly because of the need to expand the NHL, and partly to squelch the Western Hockey League's attempt to turn itself into a major league. The San Francisco Seals was one such team from the WHL, and after it was purchased by Barry van Gerbig and moved across the bay to Oakland, the Seals joined the NHL. Of the six teams that formed the Western Division of the NHL, this was the only team that no longer exists today in any form.

The Seals originally played out of the Oakland Arena, but were never successful because of the poor attendance of the team (van Gerbig had reportedly threated to move the team elsewhere on numerous occasions if fans did not show up) as well as their dismal on-ice performance. This led to a major reshuffling of 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 successful, making the playoffs for two years. Unfortunately, those were 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, among other gimmicks intended to sell the team to the fans (among them the changing of the Seals' team colors to match that of the Athletics). However, this was all for naught, as the Seals finished with the worst record in the NHL that year, and a series of promotional disasters would lead to the NHL assuming control of the franchise in February of 1974. The "Golden" part of the team name was dropped prior to the 1975-76 NHL season .

The attempt to resurrect the Seals and move the team back to San Francisco in a new arena largely failed, and the team moved to Cleveland in 1976, rechristened as the Cleveland Barons, and under the ownership of the Gund family . The Barons played in the suburban Richfield Coliseum in Richfield, Ohio, the arena with the largest seating capacity in the NHL at the time. The Barons would not benefit from playing there, as a combination of factors would eventually lead the Gund family to merge the team with the Minnesota North Stars. The Gund family would sell their shares in the North Stars in 1990 for the rights to a new team, back in Northern California - a team now known as the San Jose Sharks.

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

Year-By-Year Record

Oakland Seals (1967-70)

California (Golden) Seals (1971-76)

Cleveland Barons (1976-78)