Bobby Sheehan, a center who spent part of the 1976-77 season with the Detroit Red Wings and earlier won a Stanley Cup with the Montreal Canadiens, died Saturday in Massachusetts at age 77.
The Weymouth native passed away at his home in the Boston area, according to team and family reports. He was 77.
Sheehan appeared in 34 games for the Red Wings that season, recording five goals and four assists for nine points while posting a minus-10 rating. The Wings were in the midst of a long stretch of rebuilding years at the time, and his stint in Detroit was brief before he moved on.
Across eight NHL seasons he played 310 regular-season games, scoring 48 goals and adding 63 assists for 111 points. He also contributed four goals and seven points in 25 playoff games.
His NHL stops included the Canadiens from 1969 to 1971, the California Golden Seals in 1971-72, the Chicago Blackhawks in 1975-76, the Red Wings, the Colorado Rockies from 1979 to 1981 and a four-game appearance with the Los Angeles Kings in 1981-82.
Montreal selected him in the third round, 32nd overall, of the 1969 NHL Draft out of the Ontario Hockey Association’s St. Catharines Black Hawks. He had earlier played junior hockey in Halifax after leaving Massachusetts as a teenager.
Sheehan was part of the Canadiens team that defeated Chicago in seven games to capture the 1971 Stanley Cup, the only championship of his career. He appeared in six playoff games that spring.
His most productive NHL season came the following year with the Golden Seals, when he scored a career-high 20 goals and finished with 46 points in 78 games.
He also played four seasons in the World Hockey Association between 1972 and 1978, suiting up for the New York Raiders, New York Golden Blades/Jersey Knights, Edmonton Oilers and Indianapolis Racers. Sheehan was selected for the WHA All-Star Game in both 1973 and 1974.
After returning to the NHL with Chicago, he spent the 1976-77 campaign partly with Detroit and the American Hockey League’s Rhode Island Reds before another WHA stop.
Later he helped the New York Rangers reach the 1979 Stanley Cup Final, centering a line in the playoffs and posting four goals and three assists in 15 games. He then finished his NHL time with the Rockies and Kings.
Internationally, Sheehan represented the United States at the 1981 World Championship, recording one goal and one assist in eight games.
After retiring following a final AHL season with the Binghamton Whalers in 1982-83, he returned to Weymouth and taught youth hockey in the area where he grew up.
He is survived by his five children and two siblings. His cousin, Charlie Coyle, is in his 15th NHL season with the Columbus Blue Jackets.
For the Red Wings, Sheehan’s brief time in Detroit was one stop in a long, well-traveled professional career that spanned both the NHL and WHA and included a Stanley Cup. The organization and the broader hockey community noted his passing this week.
