Louis Arthur Raymond Pieri (February 23, 1897 – June 16, 1967) was an American

basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular Basketball court, court, compete with the primary objective of #Shooting, shooting a basketball (ball), basketball (appr ...

and

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 ...

executive and coach.

Ice hockey

In 1929 he was named general manager of the

Providence Reds The Providence Reds were a hockey team that played in the Canadian-American Hockey League (CAHL) between 1926 and 1936 and the American Hockey League (AHL) from 1936 to 1977, the last season of which they played as the Rhode Island Reds. The t ...

. The team became a charter member of the

American Hockey League The American Hockey League (AHL) is a professional ice hockey league based in the United States and Canada that serves as the primary Minor league#Ice hockey, developmental league for the National Hockey League (NHL). Since the 2010–11 AHL se ...

in 1936. Under his leadership, the Reds won eight AHL division titles and four

Calder Cup The Calder Cup is the trophy awarded annually to the playoff champions of the American Hockey League. It was first presented in 1937 to the Syracuse Stars. The cup is made of sterling silver mounted on a base of Brazilian mahogany. In its curr ...

championships (1938, 1940, 1949, 1956). The

presents the

Louis A.R. Pieri Memorial Award The Louis A. R. Pieri Memorial Award is an American Hockey League (AHL) trophy awarded annually to the most outstanding coach during the season, as voted upon by members of the AHL media. The award is named for Louis Pieri, a long-time contributo ...

annually to its outstanding coach. Pieri was inducted into the American Hockey League Hall of Fame in 2009 and the Rhode Island Hockey Hall of Fame in 2018.

Basketball

During the 1918–19 season, Pieri was the head coach of the

Brown Bears men's basketball The Brown Bears men's basketball team is the basketball team that represents Brown University, located in Providence, Rhode Island. The school's team currently competes in the Ivy League. Postseason results NCAA tournament results The Brown B ...

team. Pieri was the owner of the

Providence Steamrollers The Providence Steamrollers were a Basketball Association of America team based in Providence, Rhode Island. As of 2022, the Steamrollers were the last professional sports franchise from one of the Big Four leagues to be based in Rhode Island. ...

, a

Basketball Association of America The Basketball Association of America (BAA) was a professional basketball league in North America, founded in 1946. Following its third season, 1948–49, the BAA absorbed most of National Basketball League (NBL) and rebranded as the National Ba ...

team that operated from 1946 to 1949. From 1950 to 1964 he was a minority owner of the Boston Celtics.Managements and Captains
nba.com/celtics. Retrieved December 16, 2010. Following the death of owner

Walter A. Brown Walter Augustine Brown (February 10, 1905 – September 7, 1964) was the founder and original owner of the Boston Celtics, as well as an important figure in the development of ice hockey in the United States. Life He was born in Hopkinton, Ma ...

on September 7, 1964, Pieri became co-owner of the team with Brown's widow,

Marjorie Brown Marjorie Dennison Hall Brown (born April 20, 1911, died November 23, 2000 in Sarasota, Florida) was the owner of the Boston Celtics following the death of her husband Walter A. Brown. After the death of Walter A. Brown, the Celtics' ownership was ...

. They sold the club to the Ruppert Knickerbocker Brewing Company, a subsidiary of

Marvin Kratter Marvin Kratter (born November 9, 1915, in Brooklyn, died October 24, 1999, in Encinitas, California) was a New York-based real estate developer who was the head of the Kratter Corporation, National Equities, Countrywide Realty, Knickerbocker Brewe ...

's National Equities.

Other ventures

Pieri was the longtime owner and manager of the

Rhode Island Auditorium Rhode Island Auditorium was an indoor arena in Providence, Rhode Island, at 1111 North Main Street. It hosted the NBA's Providence Steamrollers from 1946 until 1949, and the Providence Reds ice hockey team until the Providence Civic Center (now t ...

. In 1940 he and eight other arena managers founded the

Ice Capades The Ice Capades were traveling entertainment shows featuring theatrical ice skating performances. Shows often featured former Olympic and US National Champion figure skaters who had retired from formal competition. Started in 1940, the Ice Cap ...

. In 1951, Pieri got involved with broadcasting. He purchased a Providence radio station, WDEM. The station's call letters were subsequently changed to WICE; Pieri sold the station in 1956. In June 1967, Pieri died of a heart attack.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Pieri, Louis 1897 births 1967 deaths Brown Bears men's basketball coaches Boston Celtics owners Ice hockey executives