BIRTHPLACE: Boston, Mass.

BORN: October 21, 1880

DIED: October 17, 1937

TEAMS/ASSOCIATIONS: Boston Athletic Club, Boston Arena, Boston Gardens

In 1910 the Boston Arena was built and with it the Boston Athletic Association (BAA) hockey team.  George Brown was the driving force behind this team which played top amateur clubs in the Eastern United States as well as leading Canadian and college teams. When the Arena burned down in 1918, Brown formed the corporation which constructed the new Arena.  He then managed both the new building as well as continuing the BAA team.  This club formed the basis of the 1924 United States Olympic Team with seven of the ten players BAA members.  The United States finished second, losing only to Canada 6-1 in the finals. 

Brown was not initially involved in professional hockey, but once Boston secured a National Hockey League franchise, the first United States city to do so, it was not long before he was part of the professional scene.  When the Bruins moved into the new Boston Gardens in 1928 he helped organize the Canadian-American League, a forerunner to the present American Hockey League, and entered the Boston Tigers in the league.  Brown became general manager of both the Arena and Boston Gardens in 1934.  Continuing his roll as an American hockey pioneer, he continually boosted the game at all levels. 

Tom Hines the founder of the Massachusetts State High School Hockey Tournament recalls Brown’s great foresight regarding high school hockey.  “I told George V. Brown....when he was in charge of the Boston Arena we didn’t make very much money in that first go.  He said not to worry about it.  He felt high school hockey would someday fill Boston Arena.  I guess he was right.  It’s now filling Boston Gardens.”

Brown continued in his positions with the Arena and Gardens until his death in 1937.  He was selected as a member of the Hockey Hall of Fame in Toronto in 1961.