1968-1969 Oakland Seals: Bay Area Hockey Beginning

June 20th, 2026
By Marneen Zahavi
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Sometimes sports history isn’t so flattering, and some of the most unique parts of sports history come from teams that don’t last long as professional clubs. One such example is the last franchise to officially fold from American professional sports, a team that had high hopes of making a splash in the National Hockey League when it was granted the opportunity to play as an expansion team in the 1967-1968 NHL season.

The original plan was to award the city of San Francisco, California an NHL expansion team as part of the league’s attempt to grow the game in the late 1960’s. However, team owner Barry Van Gerbig was never able to build a new arena to replace the aging Cow Palace, so his team would call Oakland home instead, playing their home games at the Oakland-Alameda County Coliseum Arena, which is now known as the Oracle Arena. This team was originally known as the Oakland Seals.

In the 1968-1969 NHL season the Oakland Seals went 29-36-11, finishing 19 points behind the St. Louis Blues in the NHL West division. The Seals did hold up well at home as they went 17-12-7 at home, but it wasn’t nearly the same case on the road as they went 12-24-4. In head-to-head play the Seals went 5-1 against the Chicago Blackhawks (then known as the Black Hawks), 4-3-1 against the Minnesota North Stars, 3-2-1 against the Montreal Canadiens, and 4-2-2 against the Philadelphia Flyers and the Pittsburgh Penguins.

Right winger Norm Ferguson had 34 goals and 20 assists for 54 points with 7 power play goals and 3 game-winning goals off 217 shots. Center Ted Hampson was the Captain of the Seals and he had 26 goals and 49 assists for 75 points with 9 power play goals, 13 power play assists and 3 game-winning goals off 189 shots. Right winger Bill Hicke had 25 goals and 36 assists with 4 power play goals, 4 power play assists and 3 game-winning goals off 171 shots. Left winger Gary Jarrett had 22 goals and 23 assists for 45 points with 5 power play assists off 201 shots. Right winger Gerry Ehman had 21 goals and 24 assists for 45 points with 4 power play goals, 8 power play assists and 3 game-winning goals off 160 shots.

Center Mike Laughton had 20 goals and 23 assists for 43 points with 3 power play goals and 5 game-winning goals off 103 shots. Defenseman Carol Vadnais had 15 goals and 27 assists for 42 points with 4 power play goals, 9 power play assists and 4 game-winning goals off 274 shots. Center Brian Perry had 10 goals and 21 assists in 61 games. Center Joe Szura had 9 goals and 12 assists off 102 shots in 70 games. Left winger Earl Ingarfield had 8 goals and 15 assists with 3 power play assists in 26 games. Left winger Bob Dillabough had 7 goals and 12 assists in 48 games.

Penalty minutes were taken mainly by 2 Seals players. Carol Vadnais spent 151 minutes in the penalty box while fellow defenseman Bryan Watson spent 97 minutes in the penalty box.

Goaltender Gary Smith went 21-24-7, allowing 148 goals in 2993 minutes, recording a 2.97 goals against average and 4 shutouts. Goaltender Charlie Hodge went 4-6-1, allowing 48 goals in 781 minutes, recording a 3.69 goals against average. Goaltender Chris Worthy went 4-6-3, allowing 54 goals in 786 minutes, recording a 4.12 goals against average.

In just their 2^nd year of existence the Oakland Seals qualified for the playoffs and it appeared that they would easily handle the Los Angeles Kings in the NHL Quarterfinals. However, the Kings had other ideas as it would be the Kings who would prevail in the 7-game series, winning 4 games to 3. In Game 1 on April 2 at the Oakland-Alameda County Coliseum Arena the Kings beat the Seals 5-4 in overtime. In Game 2 on April 3 the Seals secured a 4-2 victory. In Game 3 on April 5 at the Great Western Forum, the Seals beat the Kings 5-2. In Game 4 on April 6 the Kings won 4-2. In Game 5 on April 9 back at the Coliseum Arena, the Seals won 4-1. Returning to the Great Western Forum for Game 6 on April 10, the Kings edged out the Seals 4-3. Finally in Game 7 on April 13 at the Coliseum Arena, the Kings outlasted the Seals, beating them by the score of 5-3.

In the playoffs Earl Ingarfield had 4 goals and 6 assists with 1 game-winning goal. Ted Hampson had 3 goals and 4 assists. Mike Laughton had 3 goals and 3 assists. Bob Dillabough had 3 goals, with one of them being a game-winning goal. Gary Jarrett had 2 goals and 1 assist with 1 game-winning goal.

The Oakland Seals eventually changed their name to the California Golden Seals, and the franchise would only spend 9 seasons in the NHL before relocating to Cleveland, Ohio where they would become the Barons. The Barons only lasted 2 seasons, suffering from the same problems the Seals went through when it came to a lack of adequate fan attendance. Charles O. Finley oversaw the operations of the Seals from 1970 to 1974, but he would lose his patience with consistent losing as opposed to the consistent World Series Championship winning he experienced with the Oakland Athletics of Major League Baseball from 1972 to 1974.

The early 1990’s saw the official return of professional hockey in the Bay Area when the San Jose Sharks became a new expansion team, and soon the memories of the Seals losing on the ice would be forgotten. However, the Seals laid out the blueprint of how to build and how not to build a strong hockey fan base.