On December 31st, 1924, the Amesbury Maples hockey team traveled to the Frog Pond (Bartlet Mall) in Newburyport, Massachusetts, to face the Crescents Sports Club. This was the first official game for the Maples organization as former managers Armand Hudon and Emilien “Mickey” Jutras assembled the best players from the Amesbury, Massachusetts area.
( Photo Credit: Digital Commonwealth )
The road game vs. Newburyport was described as fast, rough, and interesting as this border war for sports dominance continued with the addition of this winter sports activity. After skating to a 5-5 tie in regulation, the visiting Maples and Crescents needed overtime to settle the score on the cold New Year’s Eve near the Newburyport Superior Court.
( Photo Credit: Digital Commonwealth )
The Maples came away with a 6-5 victory over the host Newburyport Crescents, setting the tone for the Amesbury hockey organization to move forward, seeking competitive competition at home or taking their talents on the road. The Maples roster for this game featured center Eddie Nichols, right-wing Aurel Picard, left-wing Armand Roy, right-defenseman Gerard Proulx, left-defenseman Exie Martel, and goaltender Issie Lessard.
On December 31st, 1934, the Amesbury Maples played the Maynard Hockey Club at the Lemoine Memorial Rink on Friend Street in downtown Amesbury, Massachusetts. It was a cold and windy Monday night, but that didn’t stop the hundreds of fans in attendance at the facility located at the rear of the St. Jeans Club.
Amesbury started the opening period up on the scoreboard 2-0 courtesy of an unassisted goal from John Lucy and Gerard Roy, who scored a goal assisted by Alphonse Picard. The visiting Maynard team turned up their offensive pressure, scoring three straight goals to end the period leading 3-2.
( Photo Credit: Picard Family Collection )
In the second period, Maples forward Albie Roy tied the game at three apiece, assisted by Alphonse Picard. The Maples would take a 4-3 lead when Gerard Roy scored his second goal of the game, assisted by Albie Roy. Alphonse Picard and Albie Roy both played intense games physically and were leaders offensively, both posting multi-point games vs. Maynard.
In the third period, Maples forward Harold “Chewie” Williams would extend the Amesbury lead to 5-3 with a goal assisted by Archie Cloutier, who was playing well and helping the Maples hold down the lead. Cloutier would figure in the final Maple goal when he set up forward Aurel Picard, giving Amesbury a 6-3 lead in the final frame. Maynard would get one more goal in the final minutes of the third period, but it wasn’t enough in this contest, as the home Maples defeated the visiting Maynard team by the score of 6-4.
This was a significant victory for the Amesbury Maples, who were previously on a three-game losing streak, dropping games to the North Cambridge Hockey Club, the Lafayettes out of Haverhill, Mass., and St. Dominic’s from Lewiston, Maine. The Maples would end the 1934-34 winter hockey season with a 13-6-3 record and back in the NEAAU postseason tournament for another year held at the original Boston Garden.
As a hockey enthusiast and historian, when it comes to the Maples hockey organization, it’s always fun to gather stats and information about a particular player or hockey season. In countless hours of research, I also find it gratifying to learn more about a player’s career and how they impacted the Amesbury, Massachusetts community throughout their lives.
While honorable mentions can be given to Amesbury hockey legends Albie Roy, Eddie Nicols, Fred Fournier, Leo Dupere, and George Dodier for their uncanny ability to develop the next generation, nobody did it better than Alphonse Picard. The former Thompson Street resident was born and bred into the game of hockey with close family relations pretty much owning the upper Thompson Street location.
Picard’s brothers Aurel and Everett learned the game of hockey on the nearby lakes, ponds, and rivers safe enough to play before joining the Amesbury Maples organization in the mid-1920s. Alphonse was in good hands when learning the game at a young age because of the knowledge passed down from his elder brothers and other family members who participated every winter.
Back in those days, Amesbury didn’t have a youth program, so having artificial rinks in the backyard or taking advantage of the sheets of ice in our local areas such as Clarks Pond, Lake Gardner, and Patten’s Pond was imperative. If young men wanted to get into the competitive side of the game, they’d have to wait until their High School years to play organized hockey with a limited travel schedule.
( Photo Credit: Amesbury Public Library / Amesbury High School Yearbook 1932 )
As seen above, the legend once known as “Peco” started his Amesbury High School hockey career in his sophomore year in 1929. The High School athletic program started in the 1924-25 winter season under the forward-thinking of the leading organizer and former Maples player Albie Roy. Later, In the 1939-40 season, Albie Roy was given an NEAAU award for his dedication to promoting the sport of hockey among boys of high school age.
During Picard’s three seasons with the Amesbury High School team, he had enough talent to join the adult Amesbury Maples club when an extra body was needed on the ice. It must’ve been an unbelievable honor to join his brothers Aurel and Everett and their brother Wilbrod who coached the Maples for several seasons.
In his first “rookie” games as a member of the Maples organization, Alphonse would play alongside a stacked team with names such as Charley Broderick, Eddie Nicols, Harlon “Chewie” Williams, Tom “Ike” Wall, Gerard Proulx, and goaltender Raoul “Chiefie” Lemoine.
( Photo Credit: Alphone Picard and Family Collection )
Alphonse would continue to bounce in and out of the Amesbury Maples lineup while continuing his high school career. Picard would join the Maples full-time during the 1932-33 season and would be a massive asset for a Maples team that saw the organization’s best decade in recorded history. Picard and the Maples organization’s best season was during the 1939-40 campaign that saw the Amesbury club become New England Hockey Champions at the original Boston Garden and make their way to Lake Placid, New York, to take on the heavily stacked University of Minnesota in the National AAU elimination series.
During the 1939-40 season, the Maples combined a regular-season record of 19-3-2, and in those games, at the time, Alphonse was playing center and was almost a point-per-game player posting 7-13-20 numbers in 24 games. This was also a big year for Amesbury’s Picard as he and Maples goaltender Wilfred Stuart were invited to try out for the Boston Olympics, a team owned and operated by Boston Garden General Manager Walter Brown.
( Photo Credit: Alphonse Picard & Family Collection )
The Boston Olympics started operations in the 1940-41 season and played in the Eastern Amateur Hockey League, ultimately ceasing those operations 12 years later after the 1951-52 season. The following Maples season Picard earned his first point-per-game season where he posted 14-6-20 in 20 games played in the 1941-42 campaign.
Picard’s hockey career with the Maples would start off and on in 1928-29 and would end with legendary status 30 years later after the 1957-58 season. Alphonse wouldn’t stray far from the game after his retirement from playing. Picard would immediately stay close to his beloved Maples club and become the team’s Head Coach in the 1958-59 season.
As a first-year Head Coach, Alphonse guided the Maples organization to a 19-8-2 record and a roster that saw players such as Leo Dupere, Hercule “Archie” Cloutier, Armand Roy, Joe Lariviere, Dickie Michaud, and Dale Cressy. Picard would go on to be the head coach for the next few seasons before giving up his bench boss duties to fellow Amesbury Maples Legend Freddie Fournier in the 1960-61 season as Fournier took over as player/coach and manager of the organization.
( Photo Credit: Alphonse Picard and Family Collection )
After stepping away from the Maples organization and coaching duties, Picard again went back to hockey, but this time his community effort pointed in a different direction. Amesbury Youth Hockey programs started ramping up in the early 1960s, and Alphonses’ son Randi was one of the original players in said youth systems. Picard was instrumental in the early success of youth development in the Amesbury area and had quite a story when talking about its growth.
As son Randi was coming up through youth hockey to the Amesbury High School level, Alphonse was always close by as an assistant coach to lean on for advice on and off the ice. One of my favorite stories heard in a recent interview Frank Gurzack, and I did with Picard’s son Randi on our Remember the Maples Hockey Podcast seen below is his passion in later years to give back.
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The stories Randi told us and we heard a few times from Picard’s daughter Tammi and even Frank Gurzack’s personal experience living close by at the lower location of Thompson Street was how dedicated to the everyone can play initiative. For years Alphonse would collect older hockey equipment and store the stuff that people no longer wanted.
Hockey’s an expensive sport no matter what generation people around here grew up in. Outdoor ice was accessible and manageable back in the day, but the equipment was expensive. This is where Alphonse showed his class and determination to keep kids’ dreams alive and play the game that so many in this area learned and loved. Even skate sharpening was a little too much for some families to afford regularly; that didn’t stop a founding member of the Amesbury Youth Program. Picard bought a skate sharpening machine and resurfaced edges for years in the family’s basement.
In the above YouTube video, son Randi told Frank and me about the thousands of pieces of hockey equipment his father kept over the years, and daughter Tammi who currently lives in the original Picard household said it was like a sporting goods store down there when it was finally time to clean out the area.
They certainly don’t make them like Mr. Picard anymore. Alphonse was the epitome of hard work and perseverance and will forever be known as one of the leading pioneers of developing some of the best hockey talent back in the day. He left a lasting impression on today’s youth hockey movement, which looks to gain traction with the new Maples Crossing facility at the South Hunt Road location. It’s been over 40 years since our area of Amesbury had a home rink. This future multi-rink training facility will be one of the best in North America and continue the tradition so many like Picard set in place.
( Photo Credit: Alphonse Picard and Family Collection )
I want to thank all the folks who took the time to read this inaugural article on our new rememberthemaples.com website. I look forward to doing more writeups like these about some of the Maples founding members and ones that made a lasting impression in our community.
To keep these informative articles coming, we encourage Amesbury residents who either played for the Maples or a family member that wants to share images or related information to reach out. Even if someone what’s to do their own write-up of a family member and talk about a moment in a former player’s career, please send us an email to blackngoldproductionsllc@gmail.com
If you’d like to join Frank Gurzack and me for a future episode of the Remember the Maples Hockey Podcast, please email us, and we’ll work on an appearance schedule. We provide audio content via worldwide podcast platforms, and video content on the official Remember the Amesbury Maples YouTube Channel.
Traditionally we’d like to do remote recordings at a time of your convenience but are also available for in-person interviews with the utmost safety during these pandemic times. If you have a laptop with webcam access, a high-quality audio external/internal microphone, and a strong internet connection (Ethernet Hardwire to Router is Highly Recommended), let’s talk some Maples hockey!
