The San Francisco Seals were a minor league hockey team which played in the Western Hockey League from 1961 to 1967. Pro hockey returns to California After his Spokane Comets were eliminated from the 1960–61 WHL playoffs, owner Mel Smith announced that he was considering moving the Comets to either San Francisco or Los Angeles. Los Angeles Sports Arena general manager Bill Nicholas had already told the National Hockey League that he would affiliate with the WHL if he were not awarded an NHL expansion franchise by the summer of 1961. As a result, WHL president Al Leader visited both the Cow Palace in Daly City and the Sports Arena to evaluate their availability for WHL play. On April 23, 1961, the WHL granted an expansion franchise for San Francisco to former Vancouver Canucks owner Coleman (Coley) Hall, on the condition that an ice surface be installed in the Cow Palace. At the same time, the WHL approved the relocation of the Victoria Cougars to Los Angeles, where they were renamed the Los Angeles Blades. The San Francisco franchise, named the "Seals" in honor of the city's former minor league baseball team, and Blades were California's first pro hockey teams since the San Francisco Shamrocks and Los Angeles Monarchs left the Pacific Coast Hockey League, as the WHL was then known, in 1950. Under coach Max McNab, the Seals debuted on Oct. 13, 1961 with an 8-3 road loss to the Seattle Totems at Civic Arena. Their first home game at the Cow Palace took place a month later, with the Seals losing 5-3 to the Edmonton Flyers on Nov. 17. The Seals finished 29-39-2 in their first season and were eliminated by Spokane two games to none in their first-round playoff series. Championship years (1962–63 and 1963–64) Following McNab's departure to take over the Vancouver Canucks, the Seals lured coach and general manager Norman "Bud" Poile south from the defending champion Flyers. Poile had won three championships in eight seasons at Edmonton; with the Seals, he would add two more. Poile's teams generally led the league in penalty minutes, and his 1962–63 Seals fit the mold. Led by hard-nosed players such as Orland Kurtenbach, Larry McNabb, Nick Mickoski and Charlie Burns, the Seals developed a fierce rivalry with the Portland Buckaroos, perennial WHL front-runners. For the next two seasons, Portland-San Francisco games had the atmosphere of a heavyweight title