Gerry Geran

Geran was the first player from the United States to make the NHL, starting with the Montreal Wanderers in the NHL's inaugural season, 1917–18. The Wanderers arena, the Westmount Arena, burnt down on January 2, 1918, and with no alternative the team folded after six games; Geran had played in four of them.[1]

In 1921–22 Geran signed with Français Volants, a team based in Paris, becoming the first American to play in France. He scored 88 goals in 8 games there.[1] He returned to the US and spent the next several years playing in Boston in the United States Amateur Hockey Association, and in 1925 went back to the NHL as he signed with the Boston Bruins. The manager of the Bruins was Art Ross, who had been Geran's teammate on the Wanderers and a good friend.[1] Geran played 33 games in 1925–26, scoring 5 goals and 1 assist, and left the league after that. In 37 career NHL games, he scored 5 goals and six points. He joined the St. Paul Saints 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 before retiring. Geran was the last player from the Wanderers still active upon his retirement. 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.[1]

Geran was named to the American national team for the 1920 Summer Olympics in Antwerp, Belgium, the first Olympics to feature ice hockey, and helped them win the silver medal, scoring a hat trick against Sweden. 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, but never joined the team, though it is not clear why.[1]

• Biographical information and career statistics from Eurohockey.com, or Hockey-Reference.com, or Legends of Hockey, or The Internet Hockey Database