Shortly after the Ottawa Senators and Philadelphia Flyers left the building after their game on Saturday afternoon, both organizations got the bad news that Mel Bridgman had passed away at the age of 70.
Bridgman had strong ties to both organizations. He was the first GM in Senators history, but was better known for his playing career, starting with the Flyers. who chose him first overall in the 1975 NHL Draft. That was unusual since they’d just won back-to-back Cups. They acquired the pick by trade, and it was the only time in history that the Flyers have picked first overall.
Bridgman went on to play his first 462 NHL games in a Flyers sweater, and also played for the Calgary Flames, New Jersey Devils, Detroit Red Wings, and Vancouver Canucks. He finished his career with 701 points across 977 regular-season games from 1975 to 1989. Bridgman also never backed down from a scrap and took on all comers, a perfect fit for the Broad Street Bullies, posting 1,625 career penalty minutes.
Two years after retiring as a player, that’s when Ottawa entered the picture.
Without much experience at all, the Senators hired him as their first GM. With expansion draft rules much different from what they are now, new teams in those days were set up to fail with a 100 percent guarantee. In fact, with Bridgman only two years removed from playing, he could have jumped into action with the Sens and wouldn’t have been their worst player.
Some expansion draft day issues also hampered Bridgman and the Senators, as the club famously had laptop troubles. But Bridgman’s only NHL entry draft went better, yielding the very talented Alexei Yashin, still the only Senator in history to be nominated for the Hart Trophy.
The Senators issued this statement on social media:
The Ottawa Senators are saddened to learn that Mel Bridgman has passed away.
After a stellar playing career in the NHL, Mel served as our first general manager when we returned to the NHL for the 1992-93 season. He presided over our inaugural entry draft, where the club selected Alexei Yashin with the second overall selection.
The Ottawa Senators organization sends its deepest sympathies to Mel’s loved ones at this difficult time.
The Flyers also issued a statement:
The NHL Alumni Association announced Bridgman’s death on Saturday. The cause of death was not disclosed.
