Mourning the Loss of Teacher, Mentor, Friend & Hockey Legend Meehan

The UB Center for the Advancement of Sport and the UB School of Law community mourns the loss of UB Law graduate and former Buffalo Sabres General Manager and Captain Gerard M. Meehan ’82.  Gerry passed away June 5, 2026 following illness.  A former adjunct instructor at both the Law School and the School of Engineering & Applied Sciences, Gerry was a phenomenal teacher, mentor and friend.  He will be sadly missed.  The image above is the author with Gerry upon his induction into the Buffalo Niagara Sports Hall of Fame in November, 2023.

 

One person can make a tremendous difference in another’s life by a simple act of kindness. I was fortunate to be the recipient of such an act when Gerry Meehan agreed to supervise the independent study project of a random second year law student.

The youngest of six kids, and the first in my family to enter a professional program, I was working hard to pay the bills and somehow keep the dream of working in sports law a reality.  UB Law professors Dianne Avery and Fred Konefsky cared enough to learn about that dream, and facilitate a connection – before the world of email – to Gerry.  Gerry not only read the typewritten request, he answered it.  And so, a world opened up for me that I otherwise would never have entered.

I recall a warm summer September 9^th, 1986, leaving work downtown headed for Sabreland – the ice facility in North Tonawanda where the Sabres then held training camp.  I was invited to attend to meet with Gerry, and I also met Sabres legends and childhood heroes Don Luce and Craig Ramsay.  It was my 23^rd birthday, and I was in heaven.  That meeting began a professional and personal connection that lasted for decades.  Gerry introduced me to Bob Swados, co-owner and counsel to the Sabres.  I was hired by Bob’s law firm, and a career began.

No woman had ever represented the NHL or the Sabres in a legal matter in the mid 1980s.  That didn’t matter to Gerry. I became his go-to person at the firm for Sabres legal matters, including the epic moment when Alexander Mogilny defected from the USSR.  Under his direction, I not only gained invaluable experience, but I also learned negotiation strategy, and was part of an epic Sabres management team that went undefeated in salary arbitrations in an era when clubs rarely prevailed in that realm.

In that pre-digital era, I was frequently tasked with delivering hard copy to Gerry’s home while he traveled extensively on behalf of the team.  That gave me the opportunity to meet and become friendly with his dear wife, Mirella, and his wonderful children, Danny, Adam and Katie.  It is a time I will always cherish.

Years passed, our career and personal paths diverged, and then happily converged again when he returned to Western New York and began teaching with me at the Law School and, later, the School of Engineering & Applied Sciences.  It was such a pleasure to work with Gerry, Dr. E. Bruce Pitman, Lisa Stephens, Amy Moore and Jim Michalowski crafting a program to provide elite athletes with career path transition options.  I am grateful for the opportunity to spend extended time with Gerry again.

Now, while I mourn the loss of an outstanding mentor and dear friend, I remain incredibly grateful for the kindness he extended, simply because he was a good guy, to a young, aspiring law student.  What a world of difference that made, in 1986, that started me on a career path of 40 plus years.  Thank you, Gerry.  And, in the words of our shared Irish heritage:

 

May the road rise to meet you.
May the wind be always at your back.
May the sun shine warm upon your face,
the rains fall soft upon your fields,
and, until we meet again,
may God hold you in the palm of His hand.