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

ice hockey Ice hockey (or simply hockey in North America) is a team sport played on ice skates, usually on an Ice rink, ice skating rink with Ice hockey rink, lines and markings specific to the sport. It belongs to a family of sports called hockey. Tw ...

player. The first American-born player in the

National Hockey League The National Hockey League (NHL; , ''LNH'') is a professional ice hockey league in North America composed of 32 teams25 in the United States and 7 in Canada. The NHL is one of the major professional sports leagues in the United States and Cana ...

(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 1930, which operated an amateur league from 1920 to 1925. The league was filled with predominantly Canadian-born players, but ...

. 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 (NHL), Atlantic Division in the Eastern Conference (NHL), Eastern Conference. The 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 (; ; ), officially known as the Games of the VII Olympiad (; ; ) and commonly known as Antwerp 1920 (; Dutch language, Dutch and German language, German: ''Antwerpen 1920''), were an international multi-sport event held i ...

, 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 is considered the first arena designed expressly for ice hockey. Opened in 1898, ...

, 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 city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, largest city of France. With an estimated population of 2,048,472 residents in January 2025 in an area of more than , Paris is the List of ci ...

, 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 Howey Ross (January 13, 1885 – August 5, 1964) was a Canadian professional ice hockey player and corporate officer, executive from 1905 until 1954. Regarded as one of the best defenders of his era by his peers, he was one of the first t ...

, 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 previ ...

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 multi-sport 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 at the Bois ...

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 (; ; ) is a City status in Belgium, city and a Municipalities of Belgium, municipality in the Flemish Region of Belgium. It is the capital and largest city of Antwerp Province, and the third-largest city in Belgium by area at , after ...

, 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 mechan ...

against

Sweden Sweden, formally the Kingdom of Sweden, is a Nordic countries, Nordic country located on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. It borders Norway to the west and north, and Finland to the east. At , Sweden is the largest Nordic count ...

. 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 () and commonly known as Chamonix 1924 (), were a winter multi-sport event which was held in 1924 in Chamonix, France. Originally held in association with the 1924 Summer ...

, 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