|
Roy Storey,
Circa 1970s
Bill King in 1966 |
 San
Francisco Seals
vs. Seattle Totems
KFRC Radio 61
Monday, May 6, 1963
In the days before the expansion of the National Hockey League
beyond its original six teams, the Western Hockey League was quite
nearly as "major league" as any minor league could be. In fact, when
the NHL began considering expanding in the 1960s, much consideration
was given to simply annexing the WHL to quickly extend the league's
reach to western North America.
During the 1962-63 WHL season, the San Francisco Seals played their home
schedule before packed houses at the Cow Palace in Daly City. Coached by
Bud Poile and led on the ice by Nick Mickoski, Orland Kurtenbach, Eddie
Panagabko, Gary "Duke" Edmundson and Dan Belisle, with Jimmy McLeod in
goal, the Seals finished the regular season with a 44-25-1 record and 89
points, good for second place behind the Portland Buckaroos (92 points)
in the WHL's Southern Division.
Moving through the WHL playoffs, the Seals rode into the finals on the
back of goaltender McLeod, who had led the league in regular-season wins
with 43 and would end up with the playoff highs in wins (10) and
shutouts (3).
In the finals against the Seattle Totems — who had finished the regular
season in second place in the Northern Division with 72 points — the
Seals battled their opponents for seven games, four of which went into
sudden-death overtime, including the deciding finale.
For the radio broadcast on RKO General's KFRC (610 AM)
in San Francisco, we join our Seals commentators,
Roy Storey and Bill King, for
the dramatic conclusion of the seventh game, which will determine the
winner of the WHL's Lester Patrick Cup.
Widely considered as one of the top sportscasters in the
Bay Area during this era, Storey later made it to the NHL as voice of
the California Golden Seals in 1970-71 and 1971-72 (on San Jose's KEEN)
before heading down south with the Los Angeles Kings for the 1972-73
season. Storey was elected to the Bay Area Radio Hall of Fame in 2008.
King, who had also begun working as the lead announcer
for the newly-arrived San Francisco Warriors in 1962-63, would become
the first — and, to this date, the only — broadcaster to call a World
Series, Super Bowl, NBA Championship and professional hockey
championship as a voice of the winning team. In 2006, Bill King was
elected to the Bay Area Radio Hall of Fame as a member of the first
class to be inducted.
RELATED EXHIBITS:
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The Bay Area Radio
Museum extends its gratitude to Len Shapiro
for providing us
with this rare broadcast recording from his personal
collection. |
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