1973–74 California Golden Seals season explained

The 1973–74 California Golden Seals season was the Seals' seventh season in the NHL. With the continuing depletion of talent due to the World Hockey Association and a lack of interest from owner Charles O. Finley who put the team up for sale, the Seals had a miserable season and sank to a franchise low 36 points. In January 1974, the NHL bought the Seals from owner Charlie Finley for $6.585 million.^[1] With the league takeover, the players immediately returned to wearing black skates. The Seals would conclude the season with the worst record in the league.^[2]

Offseason

Amateur draft

See main article: 1973 NHL amateur draft.

Round	Pick	Player	Nationality	College/Junior/Club team
3	34.	Jeff Jacques		St. Catharines Black Hawks (OHA)
4	50.	Ron Serafini		St. Catharines Black Hawks (OHA)
5	66.	Jim Moxey		Hamilton Red Wings (OHA)
6	82.	Willie Trognitz		Thunder Bay (Junior)
7	98.	Paul Tantardini		Downsview Beavers (OPJHL)
8	114.	Bruce Greig		Vancouver Nats (WCHL)
9	130.			Braintree Hawks (NEJHL)
10	145.	Doug Mahood		Sault Ste. Marie Greyhounds (OHA)
11	160.	Angie Moretto		University of Michigan (NCAA)

Regular season

Record vs. opponents

Schedule and results

No.	R	Date	Score	Opponent	Record
1	W	October 10, 1973	2–1	St. Louis Blues (1973–74)	1–0–0
2	W	October 12, 1973	3–2	Chicago Black Hawks (1973–74)	2–0–0
3	L	October 17, 1973	1–5	Philadelphia Flyers (1973–74)	2–1–0
4	L	October 20, 1973	3–5	@ Pittsburgh Penguins (1973–74)	2–2–0
5	L	October 21, 1973	2–11	@ Detroit Red Wings (1973–74)	2–3–0
6	W	October 24, 1973	7–3	Detroit Red Wings (1973–74)	3–3–0
7	L	October 26, 1973	1–3	Atlanta Flames (1973–74)	3–4–0
8	L	October 28, 1973	1–2	@ Philadelphia Flyers (1973–74)	3–5–0
9	L	October 31, 1973	2–3	@ Buffalo Sabres (1973–74)	3–6–0
10	L	November 1, 1973	2–7	@ Atlanta Flames (1973–74)	3–7–0
11	L	November 3, 1973	2–6	@ Montreal Canadiens (1973–74)	3–8–0
12	L	November 4, 1973	1–4	@ Boston Bruins (1973–74)	3–9–0
13	T	November 7, 1973	1–1	Chicago Black Hawks (1973–74)	3–9–1
14	W	November 9, 1973	6–3	Buffalo Sabres (1973–74)	4–9–1
15	L	November 14, 1973	1–4	Toronto Maple Leafs (1973–74)	4–10–1
16	L	November 16, 1973	1–2	Philadelphia Flyers (1973–74)	4–11–1
17	W	November 18, 1973	2–0	@ Buffalo Sabres (1973–74)	5–11–1
18	L	November 21, 1973	0–3	@ New York Rangers (1973–74)	5–12–1
19	L	November 24, 1973	3–6	@ Minnesota North Stars (1973–74)	5–13–1
20	L	November 25, 1973	2–3	@ Detroit Red Wings (1973–74)	5–14–1
21	W	November 28, 1973	5–1	Minnesota North Stars (1973–74)	6–14–1
22	L	December 1, 1973	2–3	@ Toronto Maple Leafs (1973–74)	6–15–1
23	L	December 2, 1973	1–5	@ Philadelphia Flyers (1973–74)	6–16–1
24	T	December 5, 1973	3–3	Atlanta Flames (1973–74)	6–16–2
25	W	December 7, 1973	4–3	Pittsburgh Penguins (1973–74)	7–16–2
26	L	December 9, 1973	3–6	@ New York Rangers (1973–74)	7–17–2
27	L	December 11, 1973	3–6	@ New York Islanders (1973–74)	7–18–2
28	L	December 12, 1973	1–9	@ Pittsburgh Penguins (1973–74)	7–19–2
29	T	December 14, 1973	2–2	Montreal Canadiens (1973–74)	7–19–3
30	L	December 16, 1973	3–5	@ Boston Bruins (1973–74)	7–20–3
31	L	December 18, 1973	1–4	@ Montreal Canadiens (1973–74)	7–21–3
32	L	December 19, 1973	3–5	@ Toronto Maple Leafs (1973–74)	7–22–3
33	T	December 23, 1973	2–2	Minnesota North Stars (1973–74)	7–22–4
34	L	December 26, 1973	4–6	@ Vancouver Canucks (1973–74)	7–23–4
35	T	December 28, 1973	4–4	New York Islanders (1973–74)	7–23–5
36	L	December 30, 1973	1–8	Boston Bruins (1973–74)	7–24–5
37	W	January 2, 1974	5–2	Los Angeles Kings (1973–74)	8–24–5
38	L	January 5, 1974	1–4	@ St. Louis Blues (1973–74)	8–25–5
39	L	January 6, 1974	4–9	@ Chicago Black Hawks (1973–74)	8–26–5
40	W	January 9, 1974	8–6	St. Louis Blues (1973–74)	9–26–5
41	L	January 11, 1974	2–3	Vancouver Canucks (1973–74)	9–27–5
42	L	January 13, 1974	2–7	New York Rangers (1973–74)	9–28–5
43	T	January 16, 1974	5–5	Toronto Maple Leafs (1973–74)	9–28–6
44	L	January 18, 1974	2–6	@ Atlanta Flames (1973–74)	9–29–6
45	L	January 20, 1974	4–6	@ Buffalo Sabres (1973–74)	9–30–6
46	L	January 22, 1974	3–4	@ New York Islanders (1973–74)	9–31–6
47	L	January 23, 1974	2–6	@ Detroit Red Wings (1973–74)	9–32–6
48	L	January 25, 1974	0–5	Philadelphia Flyers (1973–74)	9–33–6
49	T	January 27, 1974	2–2	Minnesota North Stars (1973–74)	9–33–7
50	L	January 30, 1974	4–6	@ St. Louis Blues (1973–74)	9–34–7
51	L	January 31, 1974	1–2	@ Chicago Black Hawks (1973–74)	9–35–7
52	L	February 2, 1974	1–3	@ Los Angeles Kings (1973–74)	9–36–7
53	W	February 3, 1974	4–2	New York Islanders (1973–74)	10–36–7
54	W	February 6, 1974	4–2	Vancouver Canucks (1973–74)	11–36–7
55	L	February 8, 1974	2–7	Buffalo Sabres (1973–74)	11–37–7
56	L	February 13, 1974	6–9	Boston Bruins (1973–74)	11–38–7
57	L	February 16, 1974	3–7	@ Pittsburgh Penguins (1973–74)	11–39–7
58	L	February 17, 1974	1–7	@ Minnesota North Stars (1973–74)	11–40–7
59	L	February 20, 1974	0–3	@ Chicago Black Hawks (1973–74)	11–41–7
60	L	February 22, 1974	3–4	New York Rangers (1973–74)	11–42–7
61	T	February 27, 1974	2–2	St. Louis Blues (1973–74)	11–42–8
62	W	March 2, 1974	4–3	@ Montreal Canadiens (1973–74)	12–42–8
63	L	March 3, 1974	2–8	@ New York Rangers (1973–74)	12–43–8
64	L	March 5, 1974	1–2	@ Los Angeles Kings (1973–74)	12–44–8
65	T	March 6, 1974	3–3	Chicago Black Hawks (1973–74)	12–44–9
66	W	March 10, 1974	6–2	Boston Bruins (1973–74)	13–44–9
67	L	March 13, 1974	2–5	Detroit Red Wings (1973–74)	13–45–9
68	L	March 15, 1974	1–6	Pittsburgh Penguins (1973–74)	13–46–9
69	L	March 19, 1974	3–6	@ Minnesota North Stars (1973–74)	13–47–9
70	L	March 21, 1974	3–6	@ Los Angeles Kings (1973–74)	13–48–9
71	L	March 22, 1974	2–3	Toronto Maple Leafs (1973–74)	13–49–9
72	L	March 24, 1974	1–7	Los Angeles Kings (1973–74)	13–50–9
73	T	March 27, 1974	2–2	New York Islanders (1973–74)	13–50–10
74	L	March 29, 1974	3–4	Montreal Canadiens (1973–74)	13–51–10
75	L	March 31, 1974	0–7	@ Vancouver Canucks (1973–74)	13–52–10
76	L	April 2, 1974	3–5	@ St. Louis Blues (1973–74)	13–53–10
77	L	April 3, 1974	1–4	Vancouver Canucks (1973–74)	13–54–10
78	L	April 5, 1974	2–4	Atlanta Flames (1973–74)	13–55–10

Player statistics

Skaters

Note: GP = Games played; G = Goals; A = Assists; Pts = Points; PIM = Penalties in minutes

			Regular season						Playoffs
Player			GP	G	A	Pts	PIM		GP	G	A	Pts	PIM
	22		78	27	40	67	67		–	–	–	–	–
	9		78	25	31	56	22		–	–	–	–	–
	8		63	23	29	52	14		–	–	–	–	–
	7		78	22	24	46	34		–	–	–	–	–
	18		76	14	21	35	16		–	–	–	–	–
	15		76	18	12	30	39		–	–	–	–	–
	14		59	10	20	30	17		–	–	–	–	–
	17		64	11	18	29	48		–	–	–	–	–
	20		77	9	17	26	33		–	–	–	–	–
	23		72	4	20	24	62		–	–	–	–	–
	2		50	2	16	18	24		–	–	–	–	–
	21		58	9	7	16	10		–	–	–	–	–
	24		65	7	7	14	14		–	–	–	–	–
	3		72	2	12	14	49		–	–	–	–	–
	11		23	3	10	13	0		–	–	–	–	–
	5		58	0	12	12	48		–	–	–	–	–
	25		18	1	9	10	4		–	–	–	–	–
	12		51	2	6	8	4		–	–	–	–	–
	6		47	2	5	7	69		–	–	–	–	–
	4		21	0	4	4	12		–	–	–	–	–
	4		36	1	2	3	39		–	–	–	–	–
	12		2	2	0	2	2		–	–	–	–	–
	15		4	1	0	1	2		–	–	–	–	–
	1		14	0	1	1	4		–	–	–	–	–
	27		47	0	1	1	2		–	–	–	–	–
	17		1	0	0	0	0		–	–	–	–	–
	17		1	0	0	0	0		–	–	–	–	–
	28		1	0	0	0	4		–	–	–	–	–
	17		1	0	0	0	0		–	–	–	–	–
	19		2	0	0	0	0		–	–	–	–	–
	24		2	0	0	0	0		–	–	–	–	–
	2		2	0	0	0	2		–	–	–	–	–
	15		4	0	0	0	0		–	–	–	–	–
	30		5	0	0	0	0		–	–	–	–	–
	28		17	0	0	0	0		–	–	–	–	–

Goaltenders

Note: GP = Games played; TOI = Time on ice (minutes); W = Wins; L = Losses; T = Ties; GA = Goals against; SO = Shutouts; GAA = Goals against average

			Regular season									Playoffs
Player			GP	TOI	W	L	T	GA	SO	GAA		GP	TOI	W	L	GA	SO	GAA
	30		5	177	1	1	1	10	0	3.39		–	–	–	–	–	–	-.--
	1		14	780	1	10	1	51	0	3.92		–	–	–	–	–	–	-.--
	27		47	2800	9	33	5	198	1	4.24		–	–	–	–	–	–	-.--
	28		17	923	2	11	3	80	0	5.20		–	–	–	–	–	–	-.--

Transactions

The Seals were involved in the following transactions during the 1973–74 season:

Trades

May 11, 1973	To California Golden Seals Gary Coalter	To New York Rangers cash
June 10, 1973	To California Golden Seals Ted Tucker	To Atlanta Flames cash

Additions and subtractions

Additions Player Former team Via Intra-league Draft (1973–06–12) Intra-league Draft (1973–06–13) Port Huron Wings (IHL) free agency (1973–09) Rochester Americans (AHL) free agency (1973–09) Amqui Aces (QSHL) free agency (1973–09) San Diego Gulls (WHL) free agency (1973–11)

Subtractions Player New team Via Reverse Draft (1973–06–13) San Diego Gulls (WHL) Reverse Draft (1973–06–13) Chicago Cougars (WHA) free agency (1973–09)

References

• Golden Seals on Hockey Database
• Golden Seals on Database Hockey

Notes and References

1. Charlie Finley: The Outrageous Story of Baseball's Super Showman, p.201-2, G. Michael Green and Roger D. Launius. Walker Publishing Company, New York, 2010,
2. Charlie Finley: The Outrageous Story of Baseball's Super Showman, p.169, G. Michael Green and Roger D. Launius. Walker Publishing Company, New York, 2010,