O'Neill, late NHL executive, 'was everything to the League'

MONTREAL --Family and friends of longtime NHL executive Brian O'Neill gathered for a memorial mass in the church he helped restore Saturday.

O'Neill, the former NHL Executive Vice President of Hockey Operations, died at the age of 94 on July 21. NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman and deputy commissioner Bill Daly attended the funeral at Saint Patrick's Basilica. The eulogists were O'Neill's daughter Sandy and NHL.com columnist Dave Stubbs.

"That was very meaningful," said O'Neill's daughter, Nancy O'Neill Paul. "Having Mr. Bettman and Mr. Daly here just sort of reaffirms that he had an impact in the NHL world and was well thought of. They've been very, very kind with their time, especially since things are ramping up now, if they ever ramp down for them.

"It's a world that has meant a lot to this family and Dad loved his work. He just lived and breathed the NHL."

Brian O'Neill in an NHL portrait, and at home with his wife, Jean, their daughter, Sandy, and the Stanley Cup, circa 1969. Hockey Hall of Fame (Photo courtesy: O'Neill family)

O'Neill, who worked for the NHL for 52 years, was hired for the newly created post of Director of Administration in 1966 and oversaw the League expansion that doubled the number of NHL teams from six to 12 beginning with the 1967-68 season.

The NHL Amateur/Entry Draft became O'Neill's responsibility after he was appointed an executive director of the League in 1971, and he was named the NHL's Executive Vice President after then-President Clarence Campbell retired in 1977, taking over all player disciplinary cases while administering the NHL Montreal office and supervising League security.

"He was a brilliant administrator but he was also, and this is the hockey thing, the ultimate people person," NHL Executive Vice President Gary Meagher said. "He was my mentor, he hired me in 1981, and he showed so many people the NHL way and what a privilege it was to work in the League. We were an operation of probably a few dozen people at the time, and he was everything to the League. A lot of people kind of owe him an incredible debt of gratitude for showing us the way."

O'Neill was appointed a trustee of the Stanley Cup in 1988 and was inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame as a Builder in 1994. In 2016, his work was celebrated in Montreal with a 50th anniversary luncheon attended by Commissioner Bettman and many League executives.

The coffin of Brian O'Neill is carried into Montreal's St. Patrick's Basilica on Sept. 2, 2023 for his funeral mass. (Photo by Sean Farrell/NHL.com)

Despite the demands of the job, O'Neill made it a point to be present in his family's life.

"I think he was an early adopter of life-work balance," O'Neill Paul said. "We had a very blessed family life and childhood. Dad was very supportive of all our endeavors."

And his sense of humor was always at hand.

"Oh, he had a very dry wit, we called it," O'Neill Paul said. "It was almost like he'd throw in these zingers when you'd least expect it and it would have the most impact. He always tried to see the bright side of things and bring levity perhaps to sometimes serious moments."

Longtime Montreal Canadiens physician Dr. David Mulder had fond memories of a lifetime of encounters with O'Neill.

"He was amazing," Mulder said. "In the latter part of his career he was assigned to look after the doctors, and whenever we had a meeting he arranged all the particulars, the schedule, the talks, the dinners, usually with a game of golf on the side.

"He had a tremendous sense of humor and was a great storyteller. He was an incredible guy."

Top photo courtesy: O'Neill family