Flamboyant Sheehan Was Briefly With Red Wings

November 9, 2026 · Yahoo Sports

Around the time that speedy forward Bobby Sheehan joined the Detroit Red Wings, he probably could have also been cast alongside a couple of specific Saturday Night Live characters portrayed by Steve Martin and Dan Aykroyd.

That’s because in NHL circles, Sheehan, who died Saturday at the age of 77, was known as a wild and crazy guy.

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Former Red Wings forward Sheehan liked to live life in the fast lane. He did so on the ice, where he was among the speediest skaters in the NHL.

The NHL Alumni Association is saddened to learn that Bobby Sheehan has passed away at the age of 77.

From Weymouth, Massachusetts, Bobby played junior hockey with the Halifax Junior Canadiens and the St. Catharines Black Hawks before being selected by the Montreal Canadiens in… pic.twitter.com/nMqcktgrLg

— NHL Alumni (@NHLAlumni) November 9, 2026

Off the ice, Sheehan often preferred a fast pace to his lifestyle. And that’s why, as he was moving his way through many stops along his pro hockey career, his reputation often preceded him.

“Some of the stories about me were kind of built up,” Sheehan claimed in a 1979 interview with the Worcester Telegram. “I was never really that bad.”

Oh?

What about when Sheehan went on a road trip without a change of clothes? Or the time he went streaking in Edmonton, only to end up locked outdoors in the midst of a cold, Canadian prairie winter, buck naked?

With the California Golden Seals, Sheehan tossed some teammates’ clothes out a hotel window. The teammates responded by hanging Sheehan by his ankles out the same window, several stories above ground.

Red Wings Signed Sheehan in 1976

“I couldn’t have been that bad,” Sheehan said. “In Chicago, they even called me The Bishop. Yeah, I was Bishop Sheehan out there.”

Sheehan did have talent. He won a Stanley Cup with the Montreal Canadiens in 1970-71. Eight years later, he scored four goals in 13 playoff games for the New York Rangers. Sheehan would help the Rangers reach the 1978-79 Stanley Cup Final.

1979. Semi-final. Game 1. Bobby Sheehan turns it back up ice and then Pat Hickey drops it for Ron Duguay and Duguay lets it rip. The Rangers go up 3-1 in a game they would win 4-1 and a series they would win 4-2. pic.twitter.com/yn6UQb7jj5
— The Hockey Samurai 侍 (@hockey_samurai) August 10, 2023

In between those stints, hockey nearly came to an end for Sheehan. Following the 1975-76 season, he was not offered a new contract by the Blackhawks, even though he’d scored 11 goals for Chicago.

That fall, he was shockingly cut from the USA team for the inaugural Canada Cup.

“That was the lowest point in my career,” Sheehan said. “Here I was, a veteran of the NHL, and I couldn’t even make a team that even had some young college kids on it.

“It hurt badly, and I did some pretty deep thinking. If I still had any hockey left, I better get my mind and body straight.”

Sheehan cut back on his drinking, and the Red Wings threw him a lifeline. They signed him in late October 1976. Counting 4-5-9 totals in 34 games for Detroit, Sheehan would post an impressive 11.1% shooting percentage in his lone season with the Red Wings.

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