Hi everyone! This week, we’re going back to 1969, and to a night when the mighty Chicago Black Hawks were in Oakland to take on the surging Seals. For some reason or another, the Hawks were the Seals’ prey all season long sputtering to an unflattering 1-5 record, a partial reason why Chicago missed the playoffs that year, a very rare occurrence indeed. This was a team led by all-time greats Stan Mikita and Bobby Hull, and which also featured such standouts as Dennis Hull, Pat Stapleton, Pit Martin, and Jim Pappin, among others. Despite scoring the second most goals in the league, the Hawks finished just one game over .500. Sure, 77 points would have placed them second in the West Division, but they wouldn’t be part of that group for another year and a half, so last in the East is where the Hawks ended up.

On the night of February 19, 1969, the Hawks were not at their best, while the Seals certainly were. To be precise, the line of Brian Perry, Norm Ferguson, and Mike Laughton was simply awesome, putting up five goals (all five goals in the Seals’ 5-2 win) and three assists. Most of you probably don’t realize that Brian Perry was on an absolute tear in the second half of this season, putting up an incredible nine goals and 28 points in his final 28 games, but this game against Chicago may have been his finest moment as an NHL player. As for the rest of the Seals there wouldn’t be many moments like this where they simply dominated an opponent (an Original Six team no less!), but no one really knew that at the time. Check out this week’s very unique and truly interesting game recap here. Thanks to Bob Marceau for suggesting this week’s article!

Until next time, stay gold!