Programs & Magazines

To read profiles from 1968-1979 team media guides (Maple Leafs, Sabres, Flames, and Capitals), click here.

1965 Playoff Program, Toronto Marlboros vs. Montreal Jr. Canadiens


Seattle Totems Program, 1970 vs. Portland Buckaroos

Programs for playoff games between the Seattle Totems and Portland Buckaroos on April 12 and 15, 1970. Gerry Meehan is incorrectly identified as "Gary" on both the photo page and the roster. The Totems lost these games 5-0 and 8-1 and ended up losing the series 4 games to 2.

See more game programs (Sabres, Flames, Capitals).

Hockey World, October 1971, pages 50-54, "A New Sabre Who Made It Big." Read the full article.


Hockey World, May 1973, pages 56-59, "Meehan Wants to Make It...So He Did!" Read the full article.


The Hockey News, Nov. 5, 1971: "Gerry Meehan: New Leader of Sabres." Read article, "Injuries Compound Imlach's Defensive Woes."

The Hockey News, Jan. 5, 1975: "Gerry Meehan Hottest Thing on Ice." Read article, "Meehan Streak Overshadows Sabres' 'French Line'."

Buffalo ’72: Maple Leaf Gardens Sports Magazine, vol. 4, no. 2, Oct. 16, 1971


On the cover of the 1971-72 Buffalo Sabres Yearbook. Look inside this and other media guides from 1968 to 1979.


Buffalo Sabres Hockey Magazine, Buffalo Sabres vs. Philadelphia Flyers, Sept. 30, 1972


Goal magazine (Buffalo and Chicago versions, same cover):
Program for Buffalo Sabres at Chicago Black Hawks, March 20, 1974 (see profile titled "Meet the Enemy") and program for Minnesota North Stars at Buffalo Sabres, March 31, 1974

See more game programs (Sabres, Flames, Capitals).

Action Photos

Original photo by Robert Shaver (1934-2010), photographer for the Buffalo Sabres from their inception in 1970 to the early 1990s. This photo shows Gerry Meehan and Terry Crisp of the St. Louis Blues and has the following note handwritten on the back: "This photo was 70-71 season. Won 3rd prize in NHL Hall of Fame contest." It was also used for the cover of the 1971-72 Sabres yearbook.

From the 1973-74 Sabres calendar (March 1974 page)

Original photo by Robert Shaver of Meehan trying to hold up Yvan Cournoyer of the Montreal Canadiens.

Original photo by Robert Shaver of Meehan being blocked by the Los Angeles Kings' Bob Woytowich during the 1971-72 season. Handwriting on the back says "Winnepeg" (sic), but Woytowich didn't play for the WHA's Winnipeg Jets until he left the Kings, and the uniform on the left is clearly the Kings.

1971 photo from the original negative obtained from the photographer, Ron Riesterer. Gerry Meehan with Wayne Muloin (4) and goalie Gary Smith.

As an Atlanta Flame, Meehan is upended against the Los Angeles Kings. The culprit appears to be Kings defenseman Neil Komadoski.

View a slideshow of 23 action photos taken by legendary Buffalo photographer Robert L. Smith (1930-2020). Smith worked for the Buffalo News from 1956 to 1995 and was the official photographer for the Buffalo Bills from 1960 to 2001. He was also the photographer for the Buffalo Braves of the NBA. These photos, most of them signed, are original prints from negatives and were acquired from his family. 

Original photo by Robert Shaver showing Meehan facing off against Chicago Blackhawk great Stan Mikita.

Original photo by Steve Sutton, whose name is written in red on the back side. Meehan is chasing center Walt Tzaczuk of the New York Rangers. 

Original photo obtained from the Boston Globe. As an Atlanta Flame, Meehan is pictured with Andy Savard, Dallas Smith, and Gilles Gilbert of the Boston Bruins, Oct. 21, 1975. 

Autographed 8x10 photo, by Robert Shaver

Original 5x7 photo from 1976 by Jerry Wachter. In the background is goalie Bernie Wolfe.

Sabres vs. Flyers

See original AP wire photos from the Sabres and Flames.

Photos: Sabres General Manager and EVP

In 1984, Meehan became the first former Buffalo Sabre to take a front-office position with the team, when he was hired as assistant general manager under general manager Scotty Bowman. Twelve games into the 1986-87 season, the team fired Bowman and promoted Meehan to general manager. In 1993, Meehan was named executive vice president of sports operations, and he resigned in December 1994.


This is the original, authenticated 5x7 photo used for the Sporting News Hockey Guide (see crop marks from the printer). It was taken in 1986 and is from the Sporting News Collection.


This is an original, authenticated 8x10 photo from the Sporting News Collection. It was taken by Bruce Bennett in 1993, when Meehan was general manager of the Sabres.

Meehan Inducted to Buffalo Sports Hall of Fame

In recognition of his impact as an original Buffalo Sabre, the team's second captain, and general manager for 12 seasons, Gerry Meehan was inducted into the Greater Buffalo Sports Hall of Fame on Nov. 8, 2023. As his bio on the Hall of Fame's website notes, Meehan played in the Sabres' first-ever game on Oct. 10, 1990 -- and scored the team's first assist and took the team's first penalty. He then served as captain from 1971 to 1974. In 1984, then-coach and general manager Scotty Bowman hired Meehan as assistant general manager, and Meehan replaced Bowman n as GM when Bowman stepped down during the 1986-87 season. As GM, he helped acquire players such as Pierre Turgeon, Soviet defector Alex Mogilny, Dale Hawerchuk, Pat LaFontaine, and Dominik Hasek.

In advance of the induction dinner, Howard Simon of WGR 55 Sports Radio interviewed Meehan - which starts at 50:40 in the Week 3 segment. 

Meet the full Class of 2023.

Meehan Shares Memories as Sabres Mark 50 Years

As the Buffalo Sabres celebrated their 50th anniversary at the beginning of the 2019-20 season, Dan Dunleavy interviewed Gerry Meehan. In this interview, he talks about memories including being the first Sabre to record a multi-point game and how he came to replace Scotty Bowman as general manager of the team. See some great footage of the first years of the Sabres, one of the first former players to become an NHL executive.

Meehan Enters Newmarket Sports Hall of Fame

Gerry Meehan, softball pitcher Dr. Robin Mackin, and Bernie Salter of the Newmarket Soccer Club.

Gerry Meehan was inducted into the Newmarket Sports Hall of Fame on Nov. 4, 2018. Meehan's family moved from Toronto to Newmarket in 1953, and he reflected on his time growing up playing on local rinks and frozen fields. "You have to understand there were no officials, no rules," he said. "You had nothing but your own skills and character to get you by. There were bullies out there too, but you had to survive somehow."

While growing up in Newmarket, Meehan attended St. Michael's College School, which had ended its junior hockey team (the Toronto St. Michael's Majors) after its 1961-62 season. The team transferred to the Toronto Neil McNeil Maroons, operated by Neil McNeil Catholic Secondary School in Scarborough, Ontario, and Meehan played seven games for that team, which finished first in the Metro Junior A League. However, that league folded in 1963, and Meehan and seven other Maroon players transferred to the Toronto Marlboros, with their coach, Jim Gregory. The 1964 team was one of the top teams in Canadian junior history, and the team won the Memorial Cup in 1967.

Read "Newmarket Sports Hall of Fame Says Hello to Three Newest Members," from YorkRegion.com.

Gerry Meehan and the Defection of Alexander Mogilny

Gerry Meehan was recently featured in a documentary called "Defector," about Alexander Mogilny, the first Russian hockey player to defect and play in the NHL. At the time, Meehan was the general manager of the Buffalo Sabres. On May 10, 2016, Meehan participated in a discussion on the topic at the Robert H. Jackson Center. It's 50 minutes long and well worth watching.


Watch the 23-minute film, "Defector," here:

50 Years Later, Toronto Marlies Reflect on 1967 Championship

If you ask most Toronto hockey fans about May 1967, they'll probably remember it as the last time the Toronto Maple Leafs won the Stanley Cup. But in that same month, another local team, the Toronto Marlies of the Ontario Hockey League, also won the Memorial Cup. In April 2017, the team recently celebrated the 50th anniversary of that winning team. Gerry Meehan led that 1966-67 team with 68 points in 48 games. "I just remember a very busy, energetic team," Meehan said at the reunion. "I think 80 to 90 percent of us were attending university or high school while playing." Read "Looking Back on the 1967 Toronto Marlboros" from the Toronto Sun.

Meehan Enters Etobicoke Hall of Fame

On Oct. 26, 2010, Gerry Meehan was inducted into the Etobicoke Sports Hall of Fame. He was inducted with fellow NHL star Brendan Shanahan. According to an article from InsideToronto.com:

"After a solid playing career, Meehan became general manager of the Buffalo Sabres and selected Pierre Turgeon with the first overall pick in the 1987 entry draft, instead of highly touted prospect Brendan Shanahan. Meehan said that choosing between the playmaking Turgeon and the power forward from Mimico was 'the toughest decision I ever made in my life... I think we made the right choice, but I can't be sure.'

" 'Growing up in Toronto and being a big Maple Leafs fan, I hated the Buffalo Sabres,' Shanahan later told Meehan, as the crowd chuckled. 'You made the right pick.' "

In this photo, Meehan is the next to last on the right, next to Shanahan who's on the end. Read more at the Hall of Fame's website.

"...Bring Back Meehan"?

On his Buffalo Sabres Now blog, blogger "Moto" reflects on his "first real memory as a Sabres fan, and one of the greatest...when captain Gerry Meehan scored the game-winning goal with :04 left. Buffalo had eliminated Philadelphia from the playoffs with a 3-2 victory. I can still remember the excitement I felt, running around the kitchen 'Meehan! Meehan!'" (See post below for more on that historic goal.)

In an April 24 post titled "Maybe It's Time to Bring Gerry Meehan Back into the Fold," Moto reflects on his successful run as GM -- the team made the playoffs all seven years he was in charge -- and wonders if he'd consider a return. "Bringing in Meehan could certainly help this organization on a number of levels," he suggests. "First off, hiring Meehan would further enhance [owner Terry] Pegula's reputation for healing strained relations with former players. One only need look at Rene' Robert coming back into the fold, and the French Connection reunion at his first home game as owner, as a major step towards bringing all Sabres together....Pegula needs a trusted voice to be the face of his hockey operations. A voice they can connect with once again. It's not uncommon for an owner to go after a former player. The player, of course, knows the culture of the team and the area and also has a finger on the pulse of both the fans and media.

"Meehan has had fairly recent success and his roots in Buffalo stretch all the way back to the Sabres formative years with Punch Imlach. It also encompasses the genesis of Pegula's love of hockey dating back to the 70's, initially with the Broad Street Bullies, then with the French Connection soon after. Those are the roots of Buffalo Sabres hockey. Meehan also has ties with and/or bridges three exciting times for the franchise, from the French Connection to the offensive juggernaut of Lafontaine and Mogilny to 'the hardest working team in hockey.' "

"Even if his career as a lawyer is still going strong, maybe there's a sense of unfinished business in hockey, and more specifically with the Sabres. And with Buffalo in need of a hockey guy, I don't think there's a Sabres fan anywhere who would dislike Meehan coming back into the fold and taking the reigns of the hockey department. Wonder if he's interested?"

The Historic Goal That Made Meehan a "Flyer Killer"

Today's New York Times featured an interview with Ed Snider, owner of the Philadelphia Flyers. One of the reporter's questions was this painful reminder:
"In 1972, Gerry Meehan of the Buffalo Sabres scored a goal with four seconds left in the season finale that knocked your team out of the playoffs. Clarke told me you went down into the dressing room after the game and told the players, 'Don’t worry, we’ll be the stronger for this.' True story?"

You can read the interview and his response here -- but more important, watch Meehan's most historic goal in this video: