Paul Wieland, original Sabres public relations staffer, passes away at 84

Paul Wieland, an original member of the Buffalo Sabres' public relations department, passed away Thursday at the age of 84.
He joined the franchise prior to the team's first season in 1970. He became the team's Director of Public Relations starting in 1971-72 and then served as the Director of Communicatons from 1981-82 until he left the organization in 1995.
He had a hand in hiring Hall-of-Fame play-by-play announcers Ted Darling and Rick Jeanneret, and was Jeanneret's broadcast partner for several years.

Contributing to the young organization's all-hands-on-deck philosophy, Wieland would even suit up and play goalie during team practices in the early days.

Notorious for his propensity to pull pranks, especially on the team's broadcasts, Wieland was perhaps best known for his role in Buffalo selecting Taro Tsujimoto of the Tokyo Katanas in the 11th round of the 1974 NHL Draft.
That year's draft was conducted by phone and by the second day, the Sabres front office was exasperated at how long the process was taking. To spice things up, Wieland suggested they select a player that didn't exist.

"We vowed to not tell anyone that it was a joke," Wieland recounted back in 2019.
That extended to ownership at the time.
"We never told the Knoxes there was no player," Wieland said. "They kept asking, 'Is the Japanese player coming to camp?'"
The joke was eventually revealed, but not before a stall for Tsujimoto was set up in the Sabres locker room at the start of training camp. Tsujimoto is still listed in the team's media guide as the 183rd pick that year.

He also formed the first incarnation of the Buffalo Sabres Hall of Fame committee and was part of the electorial body that inducted the Hall of Fame's first 14 members.
Wieland was instrumental in starting the Sabres' local cable broadcasts of home games on the Niagara Frontier Sports Network. He served as the director and executive producer of all Sabres local TV broadcasts for many years on WNYB, WUTV and the Empire Sports Network.
He taught journalism and TV production at St. Bonaventure University, his alma mater, from 2002 until his retirement in 2017.
He was also the author of several books about the Sabres, including "Then Perreault Said To Rico…: The Best Buffalo Sabres Stories Ever Told" and "Taro Lives!: Confessions of the Sabres Hoaxer," which was published in 2019.
Wieland is survived by his wife and three daughters.