By: Mark Allred | Follow me on Twitter / X @BlackAndGold277 @AmesburyMaples
On January 1st, 1936, the Amesbury Maples hosted the Arlington Cubs at the Lemoine Memorial Rink on Friend Street in downtown Amesbury to continue the 1935-36 winter season. Maples Manager Wilbrod Picard announced the details of the New Year’s Day battle between Amesbury and traveling Arlington on December 31st, 1935, to the local sports media in attendance.
The game was set for a 2:30 pm puck drop at the 150 by 85-foot rink at the rear of the original St. Jeans Club. The visiting Arlington Cubs knew that the Maples were a competitive organization through word of mouth around the hockey community in the northeast, so they loaded up before traveling north to Amesbury.
Arlington reached out to Harvard University hockey player Mike Hovenian, who had a stellar collegiate career for the Crimson in the previous two seasons. A few more local college hockey players in the Boston area with last names, such as Leveroni and Dutton, joined the Arlington team to bolster their Cubs lineup.
Before the New Year’s game against Arlington, the Amesbury Maples started the 1935-36 season on a two-game winning streak. Amesbury beat the Gloucester Town Team by the score of 11-4 in the season’s first contest to beat the Lowell AC team 11-4 later. Player-coach Eddie Nichols had three offensive lines, three defensive pairings, and an extra defenseman.
During the 1935-36 winter season, the Amesbury Maples heavily relied on two offensive lines for success that year. The “kid line,” made up of Alphonse Picard, Harold Roche, and Gerard Roy, would work as a trio, producing 53 goals and 34 assists, leading the Maples’ offense. The “veteran line,” or Amesbury’s second line of Harland “Chewie” Williams, Aurel Picard, and Hercule Cloutier, were no slouches on the ice, providing leadership and experience while producing a respectable 37 goals and 28 assists as a group.
Amesbury’s Albie Roy, Newburyport’s Henry Graf, and Exeter’s Ernie Burnham made up the third offensive line for the Maples and were tasked with the grinding efforts of shutting down their opponent’s top offensive lines. John Reddy and Jules “Zoot” Roy were in goal during this particular season. Reddy played for the majority of the year, with Roy filling in when needed.
The Amesbury Maples would go on to finish the 23-game 1935-36 season with a 14-8-1 record, scoring 140 goals while giving up 104. As a member of the NEAAU and standout regular season, the Maples were invited to the annual end-of-season tournament held at the original Boston Garden. In this tournament, the Maples defeated the Cambridge University City Club and the Wollaston Sports Club but, in later rounds, lost to the Melrose Hockey Club and the Medford Hockey Club, finishing the hockey competition that year.
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