Pierce George "Gerry" Geran (August 3, 1896 – September 8, 1981) was an American

ice hockey Ice hockey (or simply hockey) is a team sport played on ice skates, usually on an ice skating rink with lines and markings specific to the sport. It belongs to a family of sports called hockey. In ice hockey, two opposing teams use ice hock ...

player. The first American-born player in the

National Hockey League The National Hockey League (NHL; french: Ligue nationale de hockey—LNH, ) is a professional ice hockey league in North America comprising 32 teams—25 in the United States and 7 in Canada. It is considered to be the top ranked professional ...

(NHL), he appeared in four games with the

Montreal Wanderers The Montreal Wanderers were an amateur, and later professional, ice hockey team based in Montreal. The team played in the Federal Amateur Hockey League (FAHL), the Eastern Canada Amateur Hockey Association (ECAHA), the National Hockey Association ...

in the NHL's first season, 1917–18. He would later play one season in France, the first American to do so, and spent several years playing in the

United States Amateur Hockey Association The United States Amateur Hockey Association (USAHA) was an ice hockey governing body in the United States from 1920 to 1925, which operated at an amateur level. The league was filled with predominantly Canadian-born players, but struggled to ach ...

. He returned to the NHL in 1925–26 with the

Boston Bruins The Boston Bruins are a professional ice hockey team based in Boston. The Bruins compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Atlantic Division in the Eastern Conference. The team has been in existence since 1924, making t ...

, and finished his career one season later in the American Hockey Association. Internationally Geran played for the American national team at the

1920 Summer Olympics The 1920 Summer Olympics (french: Jeux olympiques d'été de 1920; nl, Olympische Zomerspelen van 1920; german: Olympische Sommerspiele 1920), officially known as the Games of the VII Olympiad (french: Jeux de la VIIe olympiade; nl, Spelen van ...

, the first Olympics to feature ice hockey, and won a silver medal.

Playing career

Geran was the first player from the United States to make the NHL, starting with the

in the NHL's inaugural season, 1917–18. The Wanderers arena, the

Westmount Arena The Montreal Arena, also known as Westmount Arena, was an indoor arena located in Westmount, Quebec, Canada on the corner of St. Catherine Street and Wood Avenue. It was likely one of the first arenas designed expressly for hockey, opening in 18 ...

, burnt down on January 2, 1918, and with no alternative the team folded after six games; Geran had played in four of them but recorded no points. In 1921–22 Geran signed with

Français Volants Français Volants is an ice hockey team in Paris, France. They are currently playing in FFHG Division 2, the third level of French ice hockey. History The club was founded in 1933 by Jacques Lacarrière, a French ice hockey player. Volants regu ...

, a team based in

Paris Paris () is the capital and most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), making it the 30th most densely populated city in the world in 2020. S ...

, becoming the first American to play in France. He scored 88 goals in eight games there. He returned to the US and spent the next several years playing in Boston in the

, and in 1925 went back to the NHL as he signed with the

. The manager of the Bruins was

Art Ross Arthur Howe Ross (January 13, 1885 – August 5, 1964) was a Canadian professional ice hockey player and executive from 1905 until 1954. Regarded as one of the best defenders of his era by his peers, he was one of the first to skate with the puck ...

, who had been Geran's teammate on the Wanderers and a good friend. Geran played 33 games in 1925–26, scoring five goals and one assist, and left the league after that. In 37 career NHL games, he scored five goals and six points. Geran's first two goals as a Bruin came in the same game, his team's 5-3 loss to the Pittsburgh Pirates on December 11, 1925. He joined the

St. Paul Saints The St. Paul Saints are a Minor League Baseball team of the International League and the Triple-A affiliate of the Minnesota Twins. They are located in Saint Paul, Minnesota, and have played their home games at CHS Field since 2015. They prev ...

of the new American Hockey Association, and spent one year there. He returned to France in 1932 and played a final season of hockey with

Racing Club de France Racing Club de France, also known as RCF, is a French Sports club, omnisport club that was founded on 20 April 1882 under the name Racing Club. Racing Club changed its name to Racing Club de France (RCF) on 21 November 1885. The club is located a ...

before retiring. After retiring he took part in a 1941 effort to unionize hockey players, but that did not lead to anything, and his last known work was in 1962 as a federal worker in New York City.

International career

Geran was named to the American national team for the

Antwerp Antwerp (; nl, Antwerpen ; french: Anvers ; es, Amberes) is the largest city in Belgium by area at and the capital of Antwerp Province in the Flemish Region. With a population of 520,504,

, Belgium, the first Olympics to feature ice hockey, and helped them win the silver medal, scoring a

hat trick A hat is a head covering which is worn for various reasons, including protection against weather conditions, ceremonial reasons such as university graduation, religious reasons, safety, or as a fashion accessory. Hats which incorporate mecha ...

against

Sweden Sweden, formally the Kingdom of Sweden,The United Nations Group of Experts on Geographical Names states that the country's formal name is the Kingdom of SwedenUNGEGN World Geographical Names, Sweden./ref> is a Nordic country located on ...

. In spite of this professional obstacle, he was nevertheless allowed to play in the Olympic Games. He was named to the American team for the

1924 Winter Olympics The 1924 Winter Olympics, officially known as the I Olympic Winter Games (french: Iers Jeux olympiques d'hiver) and commonly known as Chamonix 1924 ( frp, Chamôni 1924), were a winter multi-sport event which was held in 1924 in Chamonix, France ...

, but never joined the team, though it is not clear why.

Career statistics

Regular season and playoffs

International

References

Citations

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Geran, Gerry 1896 births 1981 deaths American men's ice hockey centers Boston Athletic Association ice hockey players Boston Bruins players Dartmouth Big Green men's ice hockey players Français Volants players Ice hockey players at the 1920 Summer Olympics Ice hockey players from Massachusetts Medalists at the 1920 Summer Olympics Montreal Wanderers (NHL) players Olympic silver medalists for the United States in ice hockey St. Paul Saints (AHA) players Sportspeople from Holyoke, Massachusetts