( Photo Credit: Picard Family Collection )

By: Mark Allred | Follow me on Twitter / X @BlackAndGold277 @AmesburyMaples

On the night of Monday, December 28th, the Amesbury Maples hockey organization opened its seventh season with a first-game battle against the visiting Hampton Town Hockey Team. The 1931-32 season opener was held at the Lemoine Memorial Rink behind the original St. Jeans Baptiste Club on Friend Street, with the Maples skating around Hampton for the 12-1 victory. Maples forwards Archie Clouteir and Chewy Williams provided the Amesbury offense, scoring six goals each.

This was a great start to the year, as the Amesbury Maples were coming off an 18-2-1 record in the 1930-31 winter season, ending as Essex County Champions with first-year Manager William Trottier and Head Coach Wilbrod Picard. That year, the Maples organization first appeared in the New England Amateur Athletic Union (NEAAU) tournament held in the spring of 1931 at the Providence, Rhode Island Auditorium. That spring, the Maple team lost to the West Point AC team out of Nashua, New Hampshire, in the semi-finals.

After beating Hampton on this day over 92 years ago, the Maples would finish another solid season with a record of 17-4-1. Amesbury won another Essex County Championship, good enough for another invite to the NEAAU spring tournament back in Providence, Rhode Island, in the spring of 1932. With the management of Trottier and the line orchestrating effort of coach Picard, this Maples team was building a dynasty in the 1930s, the most successful decade in the organization’s history.