Gerry Meehan
Gerry Meehan was drafted by the Toronto Maple Leafs in 1963, and was a member of the Memorial Cup champion Toronto Marlboros in 1964 and 1967, and was selected to the OHA Junior A All-Star First Team in 1966-67. He made his NHL debut with the Leafs in 1968-69 before being traded to the Philadelphia Flyers prior to the end of that season.
Meehan joined the expansion Buffalo Sabres and played in the first game in Buffalo Sabres history on Oct. 10, 1970, at Pittsburgh and registered the first assist and the first minor penalty in Sabres history. In that season, Meehan earned votes for the Hart Trophy (MVP) after scoring 24 goals and 55 points. Meehan later served as the team’s captain for three seasons (1971-74), before being traded to the Vancouver Canucks. Meehan retired following the 1979 season with 180 goals and 423 points in 670 games.
Following his retirement, Meehan completed his undergraduate degree at Canisius College in 1979, then earned his law degree from the University at Buffalo School of Law in 1982. He practiced sports, corporate, and immigration law at Cohen Swados et al where he worked on player contracts with Sabres’ coach and general manager, Scotty Bowman.
In 1984, Bowman hired Meehan to serve as the team’s assistant general manager, and he was promoted to GM when Bowman stepped down during the 1986–87 season.
As the team’s GM, Meehan was able to acquire 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 the executive vice president of sports operations.
In 1996, Gerry left the Sabres organization and co-founded Cardinal Consultants Ltd., which provided a wide variety of sports consulting services.
Gerry returned to the Western New York scene in 2019 as Special Counsel to the University at Buffalo (UB) School of Law’s Center for the Advancement of Sport, which has partnered with UB’s School of Engineering and Applied Sciences to develop a microcredential in Sports Law and Data Analytics.
He is also Special Counsel to Mattice Legal LLC, a Buffalo-based entertainment and sports law firm, which acts as US benefits counsel to the Professional Hockey Players Association (PHPA).
