This Day in Hockey History – August 3, 1896 – Geran Has Mass Appeal

George “Gerry” Geran got around. He skated in the U.S., Canada, France, and at the Olympics held in Belgium. He played at the collegiate, amateur, international, and professional levels. All this was accomplished, not by a Canadian, but by a player born at Holyoke, Massachusetts on August 3, 1896.

Geran’s biggest claim to fame came from being the first U.S.-born skater to play in an NHL game. During the NHL’s inaugural season, the center signed with the Montreal Wanderers. He played that historic first game on December 19, 1917. Although he had come into the game “with the reputation being a second Hobey Baker,” the Montreal Gazette reported afterwards, “The Wanderers tried out a new man, Geran, who played a year ago with Boston, and from what he showed he is not fast enough for professional hockey.” Geran commented, “The first thing that stood out in the professional game was the resourcefulness of the players. Amateur players are inclined to be too mechanical, but a pro sizes up a situation at a glance and depends on his initiative to go through.” Unfortunately, the Wanderers only played three more games that season before their rink burned down on January 2, forcing them to fold. Geran did not score any points in those four opportunities. When he rejoined the NHL for the 1925-26 season, he played as the last active member of the Wanderers.

Having played with multiple Boston-based amateur teams, Geran later signed with the Boston Bruins on November 23, 1925. He had tried out with the team at a local camp to earn his contract. Three days later, he became the first American to play for a U.S.-based NHL team. When he scored twice on December 11th, he became the first U.S.-born player to score in the NHL. During his sole season with the Bruins, Geran scored five goals and one assist in 33 games.

Geran played the majority of his career as an amateur. While attending Dartmouth College, he played for them through two seasons between 1915 and 1917. Around the four games he played for the Wanderers, Geran played eleven for Boston Navy Yard. During the 1920-21 season, he played six games for the Boston Shoe Trades of the new United States Amateur Hockey Association (USAHA). After a couple seasons abroad, Geran returned to the USAHA to play three seasons for the Boston Athletic Association Unicorns. He was one of five Massachusetts men on the team. After a March 1923 series against St. Paul, the press noted, “Geran should be classed as the outstanding player of the series chiefly because it was through his sole effort that two games were won for the Boston team.” On November 4, 1926, the Unicorns traded Geran to the St. Paul Saints of the American Hockey Association (AHA). He played 12 games there before retiring in 1927.

Thanks to his return to amateur status after 1917, Geran joined Team U.S.A. for the 1920 Summer Olympics at Antwerp. Naturally, this made him the first NHLer to play in the Olympics. They won the silver that summer. Afterwards, Geran continued to play in Europe, as the first NHLer to play in a European League. During the 1921-22 season, he played eight games for the France Club des Patineurs de Paris, called the Volants. In that time, he scored a whopping 88 goals. He returned to America with the nickname “Duke of Paris.”

After retiring in 1927, Geran did some scouting for the New York Rangers. There in New York in 1941, he formed the Association of Professional Hockey Players of America, and the top officers all hailed from the Rangers. This was one of the first attempts to form a players’ association that planned to raise money by staging annual all-star games. Geran’s letter to players explained that the association was “strictly for benevolent purposes, operated on a non-profit basis and at no time will it take part in club-player contract disputes or otherwise interfere with the management of league affairs.” Meanwhile, he wrote to Frank Calder hoping for NHL cooperation and received the response that Calder would take the suggestion to the Board of Governors. With World War II ramping up, the association received little support.

Geran led quite the life, on ice and off. He was “a slow skater but great stickhandler and playmaker.” According to Bruins owner Weston Adams, “He wore spats and a derby. Those were his trademarks.” He was also adventurous, even bullfighting in Spain. After 72 years of living life to the fullest, Geran died on Christmas in 1968.

Additional Sources:

• https://www.hockey-reference.com/players/g/gerange01.html
• https://www.nhl.com/player/gerry-geran-8446580
• https://www.hhof.com/LegendsOfHockey/jsp/SearchPlayer.jsp?player=12704
• http://bruinslegends.blogspot.com/2010/12/george-geran.html
• Bob Duff, The First Season: 1917-18 and the Birth of the NHL(Biblioasis, 2017), kindle edition.
• Roger A. Godin, Before the Stars: Early Major League Hockey and the St. Paul Athletic Club Team(Minnesota Historical Society Press, 2005), 119-127.
• Kevin Allen, Star-Spangled Hockey: Celebrating 75 Years of USA Hockey(Triumph Books, 2011) kindle edition.
• https://thepinkpuck.com/2019/04/26/this-day-in-hockey-history-april-26-1920-ice-in-summer/
• “Hockey Men Asked to Join New Group,” Montreal Gazette, 20 March 1941, p. 17.
• “New Group is Formed,” Montreal Gazette, 12 May 1941, p. 20.