Former Canadiens Forward Bobby Sheehan, 1971 Stanley Cup Champion, Dies at 77

Former Montreal Canadiens forward Bobby Sheehan has died at the age of 77, the Canadiens announced on Monday, November 9, 2026.

"The Montreal Canadiens are saddened to learn that former forward Bobby (Robert Richard) Sheehan passed away Saturday at his home in Weymouth, Massachusetts, at the age of 77," the team said in its statement. The NHL Alumni Association also announced Sheehan's death on Monday, Daily Faceoff reported.

A Stanley Cup in Montreal

Sheehan was a native of Weymouth, Massachusetts, and Montreal selected him in the third round of the 1969 NHL Draft. He began his professional career in 1969 and played 45 games with the Canadiens, recording eight goals and six assists. In 1971 he helped Montreal win the Stanley Cup, the championship that ties his name to one of the most successful clubs in hockey history.

His time as a regular came after Montreal. In total, Sheehan played eight seasons in the NHL and totaled 310 games with six teams: the Canadiens, the California Golden Seals, the Chicago Blackhawks, the Detroit Red Wings, the Colorado Rockies and the Los Angeles Kings. He scored 48 goals and 111 points in the regular season, and four goals and seven points in 25 playoff games.

His best NHL season

Sheehan's strongest NHL season came with the California Golden Seals in 1971-72, right after the Stanley Cup year in Montreal. He scored 20 goals and added 26 assists for 46 points in 78 games that season, numbers no other season of his NHL career matched. The Seals gave him the full-time role that Montreal, with its deep roster, never had open for him.

He also spent four seasons, from 1972 to 1978, in the World Hockey Association, the rival league that ran alongside the NHL through most of the 1970s. Between the two leagues, his professional career stretched across more than a decade, from his 1969 debut to his final NHL stop with the Kings.

Back home in Weymouth

After retiring as a player, Sheehan returned to his hometown of Weymouth, where he worked as a minor hockey instructor, teaching the game in the town where he grew up. He is survived by his five children, the Canadiens said in their statement.

The announcements on Monday closed the record on a career that started with a draft call from Montreal in 1969, peaked with a Stanley Cup two years later, and produced 310 NHL games across six teams.