George Geran

George Geran only played in 34 NHL games, but is a man of a few historic NHL firsts.

First off, Geran became the first American born player to participate in the National Hockey League. Born in Holyoke, Massachusetts in 1896, Geran was playing as an amateur in Boston when the Montreal Wanderers signed him to a professional contract. Geran only played in one game that season. In fact the Wanderers only played in 6 games in total. On January 2, 1918 the Wanderers arena burned to the ground forcing the team to withdraw from the NHL.

Geran returned to Boston where he resumed his amateur career in Boston. By 1920 he represented the United States at the Olympic Games in Antwerp Belgium. By doing so, Geran became the first player with National Hockey League experience to appear in Olympic hockey competition.

After the Olympics, the man known as Duke returned to Boston to continue his amateur career. His career was mostly with the Boston Amateur Athletic Association of the USAHA, but he did play 8 games in the 1921-22 season in Paris, France. In those 8 games Geran record 88 goals! No, that's not a misprint! He scored 88 goals in just 8 games.

In 1925-26, Geran returned to the National Hockey League as he won a spot on the Boston Bruins roster. The Bruins held a try-out camp for local players and Geran impressed them enough to sign him to a contract. Geran appeard in 33 games scoring 5 goals and assisting on another.

The 5'9" 180lb center retired after spending the 1926-27 season with the St. Paul Saints of the AHA.