The San Jose Sharks Should Wear Golden Seals Throwbacks

The San Jose Sharks aren’t the first NHL team to call the Bay Area home. They should honor their predecessor by wearing California Golden Seals jerseys.

Relatively speaking, the San Jose Sharks are one of the NHL’s newer team. Since joining the league in 1991, even without a Stanley Cup championship, the team has achieved tremendous success. Still, they lack the lengthy and storied history of teams such as the Montreal Canadiens and New York Rangers.

While the Sharks may not be old, the legacy of NHL hockey in the Bay Area extends a few decades before the black and teal ever hit the ice. The area was home to the California Golden Seals during the NHL’s initial expansion to double in size in 1967. The team later relocated to Cleveland Ohio to become the Cleveland Barons before folding completely.

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While the Golden Seals rather infamous legacy is forgotten by most, public interest has begun to take a second look at the NHL’s first venture into San Francisco hockey. This is no small part to Mark Greczmiel’s 2016 documentary on the subject. Instead of running from it and ignoring it, the present-day San Jose sharks should embrace it.

One of the most noteworthy aspects of the original Seals franchise was their uniforms. The flamboyant combo of green and yellow has found its own place in hockey lore.

With the Sharks begging to pay nod to their predecessor, including a tribute to former Seals players two seasons ago, perhaps it’s time to bring back the Seals uniform as a throwback.

Yes, that includes the much-hated white skates the Seals became famous for. Throwbacks have become a popular feature for today’s NHL teams. Many teams use it as their third jersey option to pay tribute to the past. Even this past year the Carolina Hurricanes began wearing Hartford Whalers throwbacks, to great success.

While most of the Sharks current fan base probably hasn’t heard of the Seals, it’d be a great way to honor the history of hockey in the region. Just image Joe Thornton and his glorious beard skating around the ice with a flashy pair of white skates paired with a Seals jersey. It would definitely be something different, but it’d be sure to make waves.

The problem for the Sharks is that they currently have a third jersey and a very nice one at that. If they actually wanted to pursue Seals throwbacks that would mean the demise of the Sharks black alternate jersey. Then again, the NHL has looser rules for jerseys only worn during the pregame warm-ups, so maybe Seals jerseys can only make a cameo appearance.

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Hockey is a sport rooted in history and in tradition. That’s what blends the fans of old and young and keeps players named Gordie Howe just as relevant and revered as players named Sidney Crosby. The Sharks are successful now, but it was a long way coming for successful Bay Area hockey in a jersey that started with the Golden Seals. The Sharks should remind their fans were It all started.

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