Gerry Meehan
Encyclopedia
Gerard Marcus Meehan is a retired Canadian
professional ice hockey
left winger
and the former general manager
and Senior Vice President
of the Buffalo Sabres
.
in the 1963 NHL Amateur Draft
, fourth round, 21st overall. He played for the National Hockey League
's Toronto Maple Leafs, Philadelphia Flyers
, Buffalo Sabres
, Vancouver Canucks
, Atlanta Flames
, Washington Capitals
, as well as the Ontario Hockey Association
's Toronto Marlboros
, American Hockey League
's Rochester Americans
, CPHL
's Tulsa Oilers
, Western Hockey League
's Phoenix Roadrunners
, Seattle Totems
, and the World Hockey Association
's Cincinnati Stingers
. He served as captain for both the Sabres and Capitals.
One of Meehan's career highlights as a Sabre remains a lowlight to Flyers fans. In the last game of the 1971–72 regular season, the Flyers needed a win or a tie against the Sabres to beat out the Pittsburgh Penguins
for the final playoff spot. The score was tied, but with just four seconds on the clock, Meehan took a shot from 80 feet away that somehow got by Flyers goalie Doug Favell
– ending the Flyers' season.
in Buffalo, he graduated from the University at Buffalo School of Law in 1982. He practiced sports, corporate, and immigration law with the firm Cohen, Swados, Wright, Hanifin, Bradford and Brett, including working on player contracts with Scotty Bowman
, then the Sabres' coach and general manager.
, the Sabres finished the season in last place overall that year, but rebounded the next year as NHL's most improved team, with a record of 37–32–11 – and 21 points higher in the standings.
Meehan's years as a general manager were marked by the addition of a number of top-caliber players, including No. 1 draft pick Pierre Turgeon
, Soviet defector Alex Mogilny, Dale Hawerchuk
, Pat LaFontaine
, and Dominik Hašek
. In 1993, Meehan was named executive vice president of sports operations, taking a more active role in the organization's business and legal affairs. He resigned his position in December 1994.
Canada
Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
professional ice hockey
Ice hockey
Ice hockey, often referred to as hockey, is a team sport played on ice, in which skaters use wooden or composite sticks to shoot a hard rubber puck into their opponent's net. The game is played between two teams of six players each. Five members of each team skate up and down the ice trying to take...
left winger
Winger (ice hockey)
Winger, in the game of hockey, is a forward position of a player whose primary zone of play on the ice is along the outer playing area. They typically work by flanking the centre forward. Originally the name was given to forward players who went up and down the sides of the rink...
and the former general manager
General manager
General manager is a descriptive term for certain executives in a business operation. It is also a formal title held by some business executives, most commonly in the hospitality industry.-Generic usage:...
and Senior Vice President
Vice president
A vice president is an officer in government or business who is below a president in rank. The name comes from the Latin vice meaning 'in place of'. In some countries, the vice president is called the deputy president...
of the Buffalo Sabres
Buffalo Sabres
The Buffalo Sabres are a professional ice hockey team based in Buffalo, New York. They are members of the Northeast Division of the Eastern Conference of the National Hockey League .-Founding and early success: 1970-71—1980-81:...
.
Playing career
He was drafted by the Toronto Maple LeafsToronto Maple Leafs
The Toronto Maple Leafs are a professional ice hockey team based in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. They are members of the Northeast Division of the Eastern Conference of the National Hockey League...
in the 1963 NHL Amateur Draft
1963 NHL Amateur Draft
The 1963 NHL Amateur Draft was held on June 5 at the Queen Elizabeth Hotel in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. It was the first NHL Amateur Draft and consisted of 16-year-old players....
, fourth round, 21st overall. He played for the National Hockey League
National Hockey League
The National Hockey League is an unincorporated not-for-profit association which operates a major professional ice hockey league of 30 franchised member clubs, of which 7 are currently located in Canada and 23 in the United States...
's Toronto Maple Leafs, Philadelphia Flyers
Philadelphia Flyers
The Philadelphia Flyers are a professional ice hockey team based in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. They are members of the Atlantic Division of the Eastern Conference of the National Hockey League...
, Buffalo Sabres
Buffalo Sabres
The Buffalo Sabres are a professional ice hockey team based in Buffalo, New York. They are members of the Northeast Division of the Eastern Conference of the National Hockey League .-Founding and early success: 1970-71—1980-81:...
, Vancouver Canucks
Vancouver Canucks
The Vancouver Canucks are a professional ice hockey team based in Vancouver, :British Columbia, Canada. They are members of the Northwest Division of the Western Conference of the National Hockey League . The Canucks play their home games at Rogers Arena, formerly known as General Motors Place,...
, Atlanta Flames
Atlanta Flames
The Atlanta Flames were a professional ice hockey team based in Atlanta, Georgia, USA from 1972 to 1980. The team, a member of the National Hockey League , was relocated to Calgary, Alberta, Canada for the start of the 1980–81 NHL season and were re-named the Calgary Flames. The NHL returned to the...
, Washington Capitals
Washington Capitals
The Washington Capitals are a professional ice hockey team based in Washington, D.C. They are members of the Southeast Division of the Eastern Conference of the National Hockey League . Since their founding in 1974, "The Caps" have won one conference championship to reach the 1998 Stanley Cup...
, as well as the Ontario Hockey Association
Ontario Hockey Association
The Ontario Hockey Association is the governing body for the majority of Junior and Senior level ice hockey teams in the Province of Ontario. The OHA is sanctioned by the Ontario Hockey Federation along with the Northern Ontario Hockey Association. Other Ontario sanctioning bodies along with the...
's Toronto Marlboros
Toronto Marlboros
The Toronto Marlborough Athletic Club, commonly known as the Toronto Marlboros, was founded in 1903. It operated a junior ice hockey team in the Ontario Hockey Association and Ontario Hockey League from 1904 to 1989...
, American Hockey League
American Hockey League
The American Hockey League is a 30-team professional ice hockey league based in the United States and Canada that serves as the primary developmental circuit for the National Hockey League...
's Rochester Americans
Rochester Americans
The Rochester Americans are a professional ice hockey team in the American Hockey League, and a top affiliate of the Buffalo Sabres. The team plays its home games in Rochester, New York, at the Blue Cross Arena at the War Memorial...
, CPHL
CPHL
CPHL may refer to:*Central Hockey League , a minor pro ice hockey league that operated in North America*Canadian Professional Hockey League, a minor pro league that operated predominantly in Canada from 1926 through 1929...
's Tulsa Oilers
Tulsa Oilers (hockey team)
The Tulsa Oilers are a professional ice hockey team in the Central Hockey League. The Oilers played their home games at the Maxwell Center until 2008, when they moved into the new BOK Center. For many years, the Tulsa Oilers name was shared with Tulsa's former minor-league baseball team that...
, Western Hockey League
Western Hockey League (minor pro)
The Western Hockey League was a minor pro ice hockey league that operated from 1952 to 1974. Managed for most of its history by Hockey Hall of Fame member Al Leader, it was created out of the merger of the Pacific Coast Hockey League and the Western Canada Senior Hockey League...
's Phoenix Roadrunners
Phoenix Roadrunners (WHA)
The Phoenix Roadrunners were a team in the now defunct World Hockey Association from 1974 to 1977. They played at Arizona Veterans Memorial Coliseum in Phoenix, Arizona...
, Seattle Totems
Seattle Totems
The Seattle Totems were a professional ice hockey franchise in Seattle, Washington. They were a member of various minor professional and semi-professional leagues between 1945 and 1975. They played their home games in the Mercer Arena and later at the Seattle Center Coliseum...
, and the World Hockey Association
World Hockey Association
The World Hockey Association was a professional ice hockey league that operated in North America from 1972 to 1979. It was the first major competition for the National Hockey League since the collapse of the Western Hockey League in 1926...
's Cincinnati Stingers
Cincinnati Stingers
The Cincinnati Stingers was an ice hockey team based in Cincinnati, Ohio, that played in the World Hockey Association from 1975 to 1979. Its home arena was Riverfront Coliseum and it was the only major-league hockey team ever to play in Cincinnati.-History:The Stingers franchise was awarded in...
. He served as captain for both the Sabres and Capitals.
One of Meehan's career highlights as a Sabre remains a lowlight to Flyers fans. In the last game of the 1971–72 regular season, the Flyers needed a win or a tie against the Sabres to beat out the Pittsburgh Penguins
Pittsburgh Penguins
The Pittsburgh Penguins are a professional ice hockey team based in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. They are members of the Atlantic Division of the Eastern Conference of the National Hockey League . The franchise was founded in 1967 as one of the first expansion teams during the league's original...
for the final playoff spot. The score was tied, but with just four seconds on the clock, Meehan took a shot from 80 feet away that somehow got by Flyers goalie Doug Favell
Doug Favell
Douglas Robert Favell is a retired Canadian professional ice hockey goaltender, most notably for the Philadelphia Flyers of the National Hockey League. He was also a box lacrosse player.-Playing career:...
– ending the Flyers' season.
Retirement
While Meehan scored a respectable 423 points in 670 regular season games during his playing career, he has also made a name for himself off the ice. After completing his undergraduate degree from Canisius CollegeCanisius College
Canisius College is a private Roman Catholic college in Buffalo, New York, United States. The college was founded in 1870 by members of the Society of Jesus from Germany and is named after St. Peter Canisius. The college is one of 28 institutions in the Association of Jesuit Colleges and...
in Buffalo, he graduated from the University at Buffalo School of Law in 1982. He practiced sports, corporate, and immigration law with the firm Cohen, Swados, Wright, Hanifin, Bradford and Brett, including working on player contracts with Scotty Bowman
Scotty Bowman
William Scott "Scotty" Bowman is a retired National Hockey League head coach. He holds the record for most wins in league history, with 1,244 wins in the regular season and 223 in the Stanley Cup playoffs. He coached the St. Louis Blues, Montreal Canadiens, Buffalo Sabres, Pittsburgh Penguins, and...
, then the Sabres' coach and general manager.
General Manager and VP
In 1984, the team made Meehan the first former Sabre to serve in a front-office position, as assistant general manager under Bowman. During the 1986–87 season, Bowman stepped down, and Meehan was promoted to general manager. With the departures of Bowman and superstar Gilbert PerreaultGilbert Perreault
Gilbert Perreault is a retired Canadian professional ice hockey centre who played for seventeen seasons with the Buffalo Sabres of the National Hockey League. He was inducted to the Hockey Hall of Fame in 1990. Known for his ability to stickhandle in close quarters, he was regarded as one of the...
, the Sabres finished the season in last place overall that year, but rebounded the next year as NHL's most improved team, with a record of 37–32–11 – and 21 points higher in the standings.
Meehan's years as a general manager were marked by the addition of a number of top-caliber players, including No. 1 draft pick Pierre Turgeon
Pierre Turgeon
Pierre Turgeon is a retired Canadian professional ice hockey player who played in the National Hockey League for the Buffalo Sabres, New York Islanders, Montreal Canadiens, St. Louis Blues, Dallas Stars and the Colorado Avalanche...
, Soviet defector Alex Mogilny, Dale Hawerchuk
Dale Hawerchuk
Dale Hawerchuk is a retired Canadian professional ice hockey centre who played in the National Hockey League for 16 seasons. He won the NHL's Calder Memorial Trophy as the league's Rookie of the Year in 1982 and was elected to the Hockey Hall of Fame in his second year of eligibility in 2001...
, Pat LaFontaine
Pat LaFontaine
Patrick Michael LaFontaine is an American former ice hockey center in the National Hockey League who spent his entire career playing for the league's New York-based teams; LaFontaine skated for the New York Islanders from 1983 until 1991, the Buffalo Sabres from 1991 until 1997, and the New York...
, and Dominik Hašek
Dominik Hašek
Dominik Hašek is a Czech ice hockey goaltender who is currently with HC Spartak Moscow of the KHL.In his 16-season National Hockey League career, he played for the Chicago Blackhawks, Buffalo Sabres, Detroit Red Wings, and the Ottawa Senators. During his years in Buffalo, he became one of the...
. In 1993, Meehan was named executive vice president of sports operations, taking a more active role in the organization's business and legal affairs. He resigned his position in December 1994.