1955

18 Bert Peer

The Ice Hockey World citation on Bert Peer’s induction to the Hall of Fame stated, “possibly the greatest right winger in the history of senior amateur (sic) hockey…If he had taken his hockey more seriously in North America, there is no doubt he would have made the NHL.”

Bert Peers was born in Port Credit, Ontario, on November 12th 1910. Peer played for the juvenile inter-church champions of the province, then the intermediate winners, joining the senior ranks in 1934 with the British Consuls of the Toronto League and the Oakville Villans of the OHA circuit.

The newly formed Harringay Racers in north London lured him across the Atlantic in 1936 and he made an immediate impact. As the Racers finished runners-up in the English National League, Peer finished as the third highest scorer with 60 points and an All Star A-team selection. Amazingly, Peer refused offers to turn professional in North America in order to return to Harringay for the 1937/38 campaign, where despite him missing several weeks through injury in the early part of the season, the Racers won the league and he was selected to the All Star B-team. Those two seasons saw him amass 107 points made up of 57 goals and 30 assists with 78 penalty minutes.

From 1938, the 5’11” winger, whose deceptive changes of pace and swerve mystified other players, plied his trade in North America. A season with the Valleyfield Braves in the Quebec PHL was followed by a winter split between the senior Ottawa Senators and the Omaha Knights of the American Hockey Association, sandwiching in one game in the National hockey League for the Detroit Red Wings.

Whilst with the Fort Worth Rangers in the AHA for the 1941/42 season, his 85 points gained him an All Star B-team ranking. The following season saw him serving with the Canadian Navy, but still find the time to ice ten games for their Toronto squad in the OHA Senior League. He returned full-time to the ice in 1945 for three more seasons, finishing his career in the OHA-SL with the Hamilton Tigers.

Compiled with research, provided by Martin C.Harris – July 1999