fight, and games between the two routinely attracted crowds of 8,000 or more. The Blades were another rival; Cow Palace crowds loved to hate defenseman "Big Burly Bill Burega." After finishing 44-25-1 in the 1962–63 regular season, the Seals eliminated Los Angeles in three games in the first round of the playoffs, then outlasted the Buckaroos in seven rugged semifinal contests, taking the seventh and final game 3-1 at Portland. In the 1963 Lester Patrick Cup finals, the Seals faced the Totems, with all seven games played at the Cow Palace due to scheduling conflicts in Seattle. Trailing 3 games to 1, the Seals came back to win the last three games – the last two in overtime – and captured San Francisco's first pro hockey championship. Kurtenbach scored the Cup-winning goal 4 minutes into overtime of the Seals' 4-3 Game 7 victory. Even though the WHL contracted in 1963–64 – Edmonton and Calgary both requested a leave of absence following the playoffs – the Seals finished a distant fourth during the regular season behind the Denver Invaders, who had relocated from Spokane. But superb play from forward Al Nicholson and goalie Bob Perreault helped the Seals win the final three games of their first-round playoff series against Portland. The Seals would go on to become the first team to win back-to-back Patrick Cup titles, defeating the Blades in six games in the only all-California final. Around this time Hall sold the team to a 25-man group led by Mel Swig. Move to Oakland and transition to the NHL In 1965, while the Seals were en route to missing the playoffs for the only time in their existence, the NHL announced that it planned to expand through the creation of a second six-team division – a move prompted by the desire for a new U.S. television contract, as well as rumors that the WHL and American Hockey League were considering merging to form a rival major league. The WHL and AHL played an interlocking schedule in 1965–66, but by then the NHL had made up its mind. In February 1966, the NHL selected San Francisco-Oakland as one of the six expansion markets, along with Los Angeles, Pittsburgh, Philadelphia, Minneapolis–St. Paul and St. Louis. Rather than build a brand new expansion club, Barry Van Gerbig purchased the team from the Swig group, with intent of bringing the club into the NHL