I was listing some 1976-77 O-Pee-Chee hockey cards on eBay the other day and came across an error that I have yet to see documented. The California Seals moved to Cleveland for the 1976-77 season.
However, because the deal wasn’t finalized until the end of August, 1976, O-Pee-Chee and Topps were left scrambling to make adjustments to their upcoming hockey card sets. In fact, Topps didn’t bother, leaving the team as the Seals.
O-Pee-Chee tried to make ammends by printing the team name as the Barons with all the players still dressed in their Seals jerseys in the photos. Printed on the front of the cards was ‘Team transferred to Cleveland’. At least on most.
To confuse the confuseables at O-Pee-Chee, the Kansas City Scouts became the Colorado Rockies at the same time. The message on the front of those cards was ‘Team transferred to Colorado’.
The Error
The 1976-77 O-Pee-Chee number 176 card of goaltender Gary Simmons featured a slip up. Simmons is pictured in a Seals jersey and the top of the card says Barons but the message on the front says ‘Team transferred to Colorado’.
Grab our free uncorrected error guide e-book PDF!
For Simmons, being transferred to the Rockies might have been a blessing. It turns out, the goalie that played a significant role with the Seals for the past two seasons would only play 15 games for the Barons in 1976-77 and 18 more games with the Los Angeles Kings before his National Hockey League career came to an end.
The Player
Gary Simmons played pro hockey from 1965-66 to 1978-79. He played in the NHL from 1974-75 with the Seals, Barons and Kings. He didn’t play his first NHL game until he was 30 years old. With the Seals, he shared duties with Gilles Meloche, appearing in 34 games in 1974-75 and 40 in 1975-76. According to the back of his 1976-77 O-Pee-Chee card, his first NHL game was a 3-0 shutout over the Atlanta Flames.
Gary Simmons Collection
By the time he got to Cleveland, Meloche was becoming a dominant goaltender in the NHL. It didn’t get better in Los Angeles, having to sit on the bench as Rogie Vachon played the bulk of the games for the Kings. Simmons was bounced to the Springfield Indians for the 1978-79 season, where he played just five games before retiring.
His most successful season in professional hockey came in 1973-74 with the Phoenix Roadrunners of the Western Hockey League. The team 
finished first overall in the six team league during the regular season with Simmons playing 49 of 78 games. In the playoffs, Gary played all of Phoenix’s nine games as they captured the championship. In the semi-finals, the Roadrunners swept the San Diego Gulls in four games. In the finals, Phoenix defeated the Portland Buckaroos in five games. Simmons allowed just nine goals in the series and the first two games were shutouts.
Far from a Hall of Fame player, Simmons does have a spot in the shrine. Nicknamed ‘The Cobra’, Gary wore a mask with a snake woven across the front. That mask is in the Hockey Hall of Fame.
The Gary Simmons rookie card appears as number 371 in the 1974-75 O-Pee-Chee set. His first Topps card came out the following year.
Gary Simmons NHL Stats
| Season | Team | GP | A | PIM | SO | GAA |
| 1974-75 | California Seals | 34 | 1 | 26 | 2 | 3.67 |
| 1975-76 | California Seals | 40 | 0 | 18 | 2 | 3.33 |
| 1976-77 | Cleveland Barons | 15 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 3.64 |
| 1976-77 | Los Angeles Kings | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4.00 |
| 1977-78 | Los Angeles Kings | 14 | 0 | 6 | 0 | 3.81 |
| NHL Totals | 107 | 1 | 50 | 5 | 3.56 |