The New York Rangers are mourning the loss of former forward Bobby Sheehan, whose unexpected playoff surge helped propel the club to the 1979 Stanley Cup Final.
Sheehan died Saturday, November 7, at his home in Massachusetts at the age of 77. A cause of death has not been disclosed.
In a statement, the Rangers said: “We join the hockey community in mourning the loss of Bobby Sheehan, who played an integral role in helping the Rangers advance to the Stanley Cup Final in 1979. Our thoughts are with Bobby’s family, friends, and former teammates during this difficult time.”
The speedy, undersized center never appeared in a regular-season game for the Blueshirts.
Instead, he spent the 1978-79 campaign with the AHL’s New Haven Nighthawks, where he posted 33 goals and 48 assists.
After the Rangers dropped Game 1 of their quarterfinal series to the Philadelphia Flyers, coach Fred Shero summoned Sheehan from the minors and placed him between Pat Hickey and Ron Duguay.
The move paid immediate dividends. New York reeled off four straight wins to eliminate Philadelphia, with Sheehan scoring in his third game of the series.
Against the rival Islanders in the semifinals, he tallied in each of the first three contests, helping the Rangers seize control of the series en route to a six-game upset.
He finished the postseason with four goals and three assists in 15 games as the Rangers advanced to the Final, where they fell to the Montreal Canadiens in five games.
Former Rangers forward Don Maloney later described Sheehan’s impact.
“He was just that shot in the arm, that energy, that speed he brought,” Maloney said.
“All of a sudden, you throw him in the lineup and it just kind of opened up time and space for all of us. It was a great move, a great addition at that time. That speed was second to none back then. He had a really good run.”
Sheehan, a native of Weymouth, Massachusetts, had earlier won the Stanley Cup with Montreal in 1971 and enjoyed a long professional career that also included stops in the NHL and WHA.
For Rangers fans, however, he will forever be linked to that unforgettable spring of 1979, when a call-up from New Haven became a central figure in one of the franchise’s most memorable playoff journeys.
