Former Sabres captain, general manager Gerry Meehan dies

Buffalo, N.Y. (WGR Sports Radio 550) - Gerry Meehan was one of the original Buffalo Sabres, and assisted on the first goal in team history scored by Jim Watson on Oct. 10, 1970 in Pittsburgh against the Penguins.

Meehan passed away on Friday at the age of 79.

Buffalo took Meehan in the expansion draft from the Philadelphia Flyers, where he had only played 12 games. Meehan had one 30-goal season when he netted 31 for the Sabres during the 1972-73 campaign.

He only played three games for Buffalo in the 1974-75 season when before being traded, along with Mike Robitaille, to the Vancouver Canucks for Jocelyn Guevremont and Bryan McSheffrey.

Meehan played 306 games for Buffalo, scoring 94 goals and registering 114 assists for 208 points. He had one assist in six playoff games for the Sabres.

Meehan also played for the Toronto Maple Leafs, Atlanta Flames and Washington Capitals before retiring during the 1978-79 season with 670 NHL games, scoring 180 goals and 243 assists for 423 points. He also played two games in the WHA for the Cincinnati Stingers that season.

Floyd Smith was the Sabres' first captain, but only played in the team's inaugural season. Meehan was next in line, taking over as captain starting in 1971.

After playing, Meehan decided to become a lawyer, but the pull to hockey was too much. In 1984, Meehan was hired by Scotty Bowman to be an assistant general manager, and early in the 1986-87 season, he took over as general manager for the fired Bowman.

There were plenty of big swings taken by Meehan while running the team, bringing in the likes of Pat LaFontaine, Dominik Hasek and Dale Hawerchuk.

But his biggest swing could've cost him his life.

In 1988, Meehan took a chance and drafted Alex Mogilny in the fifth round of the NHL Draft, knowing that Russian players had to defect to play in the NHL.

Mogilny was playing at the World Championship in Sweden in 1989, and got word to Meehan that the Russian speedster wanted to come to the NHL. The Sabres general manager and director of player development Don Luce went to Sweden, knowing they'd be pursued, and likely killed by the KGB if they were caught. Several back alleys, trains and cars later, Mogilny, Meehan and Luce made it safely back to Buffalo and the Sabres had a future Hockey Hall-of-Famer.

In six seasons with the Sabres, Mogilny netted 211 goals in 381 games. That included one season in Buffalo where he scored 76 goals and 127 points.

Mogilny played 990 career NHL games, scoring 473 goals with the Sabres, Vancouver Canucks, New Jersey Devils and Toronto Maple Leafs.

Meehan was general manager until 1993 when he was named executive vice president of sports operations, taking an active role in legal and business work done by the team. He remained in his role through the 1995-96 season.

Meehan remained an active member with the organization in the years following. He was part of the Sabres Alumni Association, and was also inducted into the Greater Buffalo Sports Hall of Fame in 2023.

Meehan is survived by his wife, Mirella; their children Dan, Adam, and Kate; and their grandchildren Christian, Alexander, Nathan, and Juniper.