Gilbert Stein, former city and Flyers official, NHL president, lawyer, and adjunct law professor, dies at 94

Gilbert Stein, 94, of Gladwyne, a Philadelphia lawyer who became the city’s deputy city controller, deputy district attorney, and executive director of the housing authority; former executive vice president and chief operating officer of the Flyers hockey team; past president of the National Hockey League; and onetime special counsel to U.S. Sen. Arlen Specter and adjunct professor of sports law at Villanova University, died Thursday, March 24, of atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease at Lankenau Medical Center.

Called a “proud Philadelphian” in a tribute by NHL commissioner Gary Bettman, Mr. Stein grew up during the Great Depression in West and South Philadelphia and graduated from Temple University. He worked in city government from 1958 to 1973 and wore two Stanley Cup championship rings as team owner Ed Snider’s confidant, counselor, and then COO with the “Broad Street Bullies” Flyers in 1977.

“I know my strengths,” Mr. Stein told The Inquirer in 1992 when he became president of the NHL. “My strengths are, I won’t sit still. It’s like a man who only has a few years to live. I have no idea how long my interim will last. I have to go and do as much as I can.”

After a tumultuous year as NHL president, from June 1992 to July 1993, and a few more as a league consultant, Mr. Stein went on to serve as counsel to the U.S. Select Committee on Intelligence in 1995 and on a presidential commission that studied weapons of mass destruction in 1998 and 1999.

He worked for Specter from 1997 to 1999, published Power Plays: An Inside Look at the Big Business of the National Hockey League in 1997, and taught at Villanova law school from 2000 to 2016.

“He lived a blessed life,” said his son Andy. “And most importantly, he shared his blessings with everyone so they felt blessed as well.” The Flyers said they “are mourning the passing of Philadelphia native and former team executive Gil Stein.”

A basketball player and fan as a young man, Mr. Stein was introduced to hockey by Snider when the Flyers joined the NHL in 1967. “In three or four weeks, I started getting bored with basketball,” he told The Inquirer. “And remember, that was a time when we had some great [basketball] teams in Philadelphia, and I started to become a die-hard hockey fan.”

After working as counsel to the Flyers in 1972 and then COO from 1976 to 1977, he became the NHL’s vice president and general counsel from 1977 to 1992. His 13 months as league president featured, among other things, the addition of two new teams over protests from existing teams, his own controversial induction and subsequent withdrawal from the Hockey Hall of Fame, and a new labor agreement with the players.

He was replaced by Bettman, the new commissioner, in 1993 and told reporters: “No one asked me to step down except my wife.” He was awarded the 1993 Lester Patrick Trophy by the NHL and USA Hockey for outstanding service to hockey in the United States.

Born Jan. 11, 1928, Mr. Stein served two years in the Army after high school and was discharged in 1947 as a sergeant. He earned a bachelor’s degree at Temple and a law degree from Boston University School of Law in 1952.

He met Barbara Alderman, a student at Vassar College, through a cousin. They married in 1958, lived in Villanova, and had son Andy, daughter Holly, and son John. “Ed Snider called him a lion in public, but he was a pussycat,” said his wife. “A most generous husband. Always a positive thinker, every job was the best job.”

Ever on the lookout for a new challenge, he was the Philadelphia regional director of the Pennsylvania Labor Relations Board in the late 1950s, an adjunct professor of business law at Drexel University in 1967, and a litigation partner for five years in the 1970s with Blank, Rome, Comisky & McCauley, now Blank Rome.

A whiz at card tricks, Mr. Stein liked to clown around at home and was tough to beat at hearts and checkers. He enjoyed family vacations at his beach house in Long Beach Island, and former students from Villanova often said hello when they saw him at Flyers games.

Most recently, he was the industrious editor of the Waverly Window, the monthly publication at his Waverly Heights retirement community. “He treated everyone with genuine respect,” said his son Andy. “Wherever he went, there was joy, laughter, and camaraderie for all.”

In addition to his wife and children, Mr. Stein is survived by nine grandchildren, two great-grandchildren, a sister, and other relatives. A sister died earlier.

A service was held Monday, March 28.

Donations in his name may be made to the endowed Gilbert and Barbara Stein Scholarship Fund at Cooper Medical School of Rowan University, Shpeen Hall, 201 Mullica Hill Rd., N.J. 08028, and Waverly Heights Foundation, Attn: Thomas Garvin, President, 1400 Waverly Rd., Gladwyne, Pa. 19035.