The Boston Olympics are a defunct ice hockey team which operated as a farm team for the Boston Bruins. They began play during the 1940–41 Eastern Amateur Hockey League season. The Olympics were often referred to by the shortened name the ‘Pics and the franchise remained active until the 1951–52 season.
Franchise history
Founded by Hockey Hall of Fame builder Walter A. Brown, the ‘Pics were an amateur club for the talent around Boston, joining the EAHL for the 1940–1941 season. Not long after joining the EAHL the Olympics were facing a diminished talent pool with World War II beginning in Europe. In order to secure talent for his club Brown worked out an agreement with the Boston Bruins to be their farm team. It was a major success for the Olympics and led to them winning the league championship (Boardwalk Trophy) four consecutive years from 1944 to 1947 and a total of five during their 12 year existence. The Olympics success would not translate to a league wide success and by the beginning of the 1948 season only two teams (the Olympics and the New York Rovers) were able to field teams forcing the EAHL to shut down for the season. Both teams would join the Quebec Senior Hockey League (who the EAHL had interleague games with for a few seasons) for the 1948–1949 season with disastrous results. On 17 December 1948 citing poor attendance at home games and being unable to compete in a league just a step below pro the Boston Olympics withdrew from the QSHL in midseason. The Olympics would return to the EAHL for the 1949–1950 season, but the league would not last for much longer. Following the 1951–1952 season and losing money thanks to the 1949 Midwest expansion of EAHL the Boston Olympics folded.
Season-by-season results
| Season | League | Games | Won | Lost | Tied | Points | Goals For |
Goals Against | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1940–41 | EAHL | 65 | 23 | 36 | 6 | 52 | 203 | 242 | |||||||||
| 1941–42 | EAHL | 60 | 34 | 20 | 6 | 74 | 263 | 218 | |||||||||
| 1942–43 | EAHL | 46 | 24 | 21 | 1 | 49 | 186 | 184 | |||||||||
| 1943–44 | EAHL | 45 | 39 | 4 | 2 | 80 | Statistics unavailable | ||||||||||
| 1944–45 | EAHL | 48 | 32 | 13 | 3 | 67 | Statistics unavailable | ||||||||||
| 1945–46 | EAHL | 52 | 32 | 12 | 8 | 72 | 258 | 162 | |||||||||
| 1946–47 | EAHL | 56 | 25 | 26 | 5 | 55 | 284 | 273 | |||||||||
| 1947–48 | EAHL* | 48 | 14 | 29 | 5 | 33 | 139 | 177 | |||||||||
| 1947–48 | QSHL* | 47 | 12 | 35 | 0 | 24 | 178 | 289 | |||||||||
| 1948–49 | QSHL | 26 | 7 | 18 | 1 | 15 | 99 | 166 | |||||||||
| 1949–50 | EAHL | 43 | 16 | 20 | 7 | 39 | 146 | 169 | |||||||||
| 1950–51 | EAHL | 54 | 25 | 24 | 5 | 55 | 187 | 191 | |||||||||
| 1951–52 | EAHL | 66 | 38 | 27 | 1 | 77 | 246 | 240 | |||||||||
- - played a split season between the Eastern Hockey League and Quebec Senior Hockey League during the 1947-48 season.
All-time franchise leaders
Games Played - 174 by Ty Anderson
Goals - 101 by Eddie Barry
Assists - 86 by Bob Schnurr
Points - 161 by Bob Schnurr
PIMs - 272 by Eddie Barry
- Career information may be inaccurate due to incomplete data made available by the league.
References
- ^ "FROM ATLANTIC CITY TO TORONTO: The Boardwalk Trophy and the Eastern Hockey League" (PDF). Chuck Miller. Retrieved February 16, 2010.
- "1940s Boston Olympics". HA.com. Retrieved February 16, 2010.
- ^ "Bo". Hockey A-Z Encyclopedia.com. Archived from the original on 2010-06-30. Retrieved February 16, 2010.
- "Boston Olympics Abandon Hockey". Spokane Daily Chronicle - Dec 17, 1948. Retrieved February 16, 2010.