What Happened To The California Golden Seals?

In 1967 the California Golden Seals were included as part of a legendary expansion to the National Hockey League, placing NHL teams on the west coast for the first time. So why after nine seasons did the Seals leave the San Francisco Bay Area and move to Cleveland? In today’s video we’ll take a look back at how financial turmoil and failed relocation attempts doomed the Seals almost from the very beginning.

The NHL Expands

In 1966, the NHL signed a new TV contract with CBS worth $3.6 million dollars. Interestingly, one part of its terms promised that the NHL would expand into new markets, particularly with the western portion of the United States that had yet to become home to an NHL team. Not too long after, six brand new franchises were awarded and who would join the six existing clubs, thereby doubling the league. Those new clubs were the Philadelphia Flyers, The Pittsburgh Penguins, The St. Louis Blues, The Minnesota North Stars, The Los Angeles Kings, and the California Seals. The Seals were located in the San Francisco Bay Area, and were owned by a group of numerous investors but primarily headed by millionaire socialite Barry Van Gerbig. Prior to joining the NHL, Van Gerbig bought the Western Hockey League club the San Francisco Seals with the intention of moving them into the NHL. In their final season in the WHL, the Seals moved from the aging Cow Palace arena to the brand new Oakland-Alameda County Coliseum Arena. Due to the team now playing in Oakland, Van Gerbig decided to rename the team the “California Seals” to try and widen the team’s appeal throughout the bay area and state. However, in a way, the team rebrand backfired. The Seals first season in the NHL was disastrous on the ice. And making matters worse, people who lived across the bay in San Francisco had little interest in commuting to the East Bay to attend Seals games. A frustrated Van Gerbig decided to drop the name California, and simply call the team the “Oakland Seals” instead. Van Gerbig on many different occasions also threatened to move the team to another city, if the Seal’s fortunes didn’t turn around. Bert Olmstead, (ULM-STEAD) the Seals head coach and general manger publicly backed the idea of the team moving to Vancouver, while an ownership group from western New York offered to buy the Seals and move them to Buffalo. The NHL wasn’t yet ready to give up on hockey in the bay area, and they also didn’t want to jeopardize the contract the league had with CBS by relocating the Seals.  So in somewhat of a compromise, the league decided to expand once more in 1970 by adding two new teams, the Vancouver Canucks and the Buffalo Sabres.

The NHL’s blocking of the Seals’ attempt to relocate to Vancouver, caused the team to actually sue the NHL over antitrust laws. The Seals felt that the league intentionally prohibited the teams from moving to Vancouver in order to keep a franchise in the San Francisco Bay Area, thereby discouraging any other rival hockey league or independent team from moving into the Bay Area. The case wouldn’t be settled until 1974, when a court ruled that the NHL had not broken any antitrust laws and that the league hadn’t prevented other leagues or teams from relocating into the Bay Area. During the time of the lawsuit, the Seals’ luck did manage to change for at least a short time. After their first season ended so poorly, sweeping changes were made across the franchise with only seven players returning the next year. During the 1968-69 season, The Seals managed to qualify for the playoffs with only 69 points in a weak Western Conference. Unfortunately for the team, they were upset by the Los Angeles Kings in the first round in seven games. The following year, the Seals once again made the playoffs. But were once again ousted in the first round, this time by the Pittsburgh Penguins in a four game sweep. This would be the last time the Seals franchise ever made the playoffs while representing the Bay Area. By the club’s third season Van Gerbig was looking to offload to a new ownership group, and briefly sold the Seals to a group financially backed by football announcer Pat Summerall among others. But, the deal fell apart when the Summerall backed company known as Trans-National Communications failed to pay ownership installments for the Seals. Van Gerbig then took control of the team back, and later sold the franchise to the Oakland A’s owner Charlie Finley, setting up the second chapter to the Seals time in the Bay Area.

The Seals Struggle

Known for his eccentric behavior as an owner of the A’s, Charlie Finley immediately set out to put his stamp on the Seals franchise. Finley decided to change the team’s name to the “Bay Area Seals” for the 1970-71 season, but ended up changing the name again just two games into the season, to the “California Golden Seals”. Finley also updated the Seals colors from blue and green to green and gold, to match the A’s baseball team. Controversially, Finley also tried to force the Seals to wear white skates, just like how the A’s baseball team famously wore white cleats. This did not go well with the Seals players, who absolutely hated it, and preferred to wear green and gold skates instead. Admittedly it did make them look more like figure skates than hockey skates. The Seals only wore the white skates for one season and changed to green and gold skates the year after. One good change that Finley brought however, was the introduction of player’s names on the back of the hockey jersey. The Seals were one of the first to showcase each player’s name on their jersey, which at the time many teams chose not to do. The NHL would standardize this in 1977, when they made it a league-wide policy to have a player’s name on the back of the jersey. The new look for the team wouldn’t help their performance on the ice, as they finished last in the Western division with only 20 wins. Adding to the further embarrassment, in one of the most lopsided trades in NHL history, the Seals traded away their first round draft pick for the 1971 draft to the Montreal Canadiens for a first round pick in the 1970 draft. Because of how bad the Seals played in 1970, the Canadiens were able to select future hall of fame player Guy Lafleur with the first pick in the draft. For the next several seasons, the Seals would finish at or near last place, further frustrating owner Charlie Finley. By 1973, Finley had grown tired of losing season after losing season, and decided to sell the club. After attempting to sell the Seals to an ownership group who wanted to relocate the team to Indianapolis, the move was blocked by the other NHL owners. In February 1974 after no new viable ownership group who wished to keep the team in the bay area emerged, Finley sold the Seals back to the NHL for $6.5 million dollars. With the sale of the team back to the league, this marked the beginning of the end of the Seals time in the San Francisco Bay Area.

In the middle of the 1974-75 season, rumors began to circulate that both the Seals and the Pittsburgh Penguins would be relocated to new cities at the start of the 1976-77 season. The Seals would move to Denver, while the Penguins, who at the time were also struggling financially and had to declare bankruptcy, would get a fresh start in Seattle. These plans however, were contingent on the league finding new ownership groups in both cities. The NHL also stated that if they couldn’t find a suitable buyer for the Seals in the Denver area, they would potentially fold the team. During the summer of 1975, a new ownership group headed by San Francisco hotel magnate Melvin Swig swooped in and bought the Seals with the intention of keeping the team in the bay area. Swig wanted the team to move into a proposed new arena in San Francisco. Unfortunately, plans for the new arena fell through after the election for mayor of San Francisco in November of that year. With no new prospects of a future arena getting built anytime soon, an exasperated NHL at this point threw their hands up and essentially greenlight owner Swig the option to relocate out of the Bay Area. 

Relocation and Merger

The Seals minority owners, George and Gordon Gund convinced Swig to move the team to their hometown in Cleveland, Ohio. On April 4, 1976 the last ever California Golden Seals game took place, with a 5-2 win over the Los Angeles Kings. That summer the NHL formally approved of the Seals relocation to Cleveland, where they would rebrand as the “Cleveland Barons”. With the approval, and move done so hastily, the club had little time to set up a marketing campaign in Cleveland to announce their presence. After yet another last place finish, and Melvin Swigs inability to cover in basic necessities like the team’s payroll, he decided to sell his ownership stake to the Gund Brothers for $5.3 million after the 1976-77 season. During this same time, the Minnesota North Stars and the Kansas City Scouts were both also having serious financial difficulties of their own. And it looked as though the NHL would have not one, but multiple teams on the brink of collapse, which would be incredibly embarrassing for the league. The Gund Brothers wanted desperately to make the Barons work in Cleveland, but low attendance combined with pouring huge sums of money into the franchise just to keep afloat was not going to be sustainable. So the Gund Brothers pitched the idea of merging the Barons with the North Stars franchise, which the NHL reluctantly went along with. The league’s thinking was, it was better to have one team to essentially fold than to have both teams disappear. The deal was formalized on June 14, 1978, with the North Stars absorbing the Barons, with the Gund brothers taking over as the new owners of the North Stars.

The Gunds would continue to be the owners of the North Stars for the next 13 years, and later tried to move the North Stars to the Bay Area. The NHL blocked the move, but as a compromise, awarded an expansion franchise in the Bay Area (who’d become the San Jose Sharks) to the Gunds. As part of the deal, the Gunds sold their ownership in the North Stars to a new ownership group which included the former part owner of the Calgary Flames, Norman Green. Just a few years later, in 1993 Green moved the North Stars to Dallas, where they became the Dallas Stars. About ten years after the Sharks came into the league, the Gunds sold their remaining ownership shares to a local investment group. Throughout their brief existence, the California Golden Seals left an indelible mark on the NHL. In 2022, as part of Adidas’ Reverse Retro jersey series, the Sharks even honored Bay Area hockey history with a California Golden Seals inspired design. Despite their struggles, the Seals boasted talented players such as Joey Johnston, Reggie Leach, and goalie Gilles Meloche, who showcased their skills and resilience in the face of adversity. Today, the California Golden Seals remain a nostalgic reminder of a bygone era in hockey, serving as a testament to the enduring passion and enduring allure of the sport.

So what did you guys think about the Golden Seals moving to Cleveland and becoming the Barons, and then eventually being folded into the Minnesota North Stars? And should the San Jose Sharks do more to honor the old California Golden Seals teams? Let me know in the comments below!