Introduction of Gerry Mahoney, presented by Pat Norton, Tufts Men's Hockey Head Coach

In its 1954-55 season preview for the Tufts men’s ice hockey team, the Tufts Weekly described the Jumbos as “the most promising hockey team in the history of Tufts College.” That created some rather lofty expectations, but the team somehow managed to exceed them. 

In that era of college sports, Tufts had a better hockey team than current Division I powerhouses. In fact, the Jumbos beat the Boston University Terriers twice during that 1954-55 season. 

Our next Hall of Fame honoree - Gerry Mahoney - co-captained the team to a 16-3 record that also included wins over larger schools like Northeastern, Providence and New Hampshire. 

Prior to Tufts, Gerry played at Boston Latin School and earned MVP honors in the Boston Hockey Conference. His twin brother Frank went to play hockey for Harvard, but being the wiser of the two siblings, Gerry chose to be a Jumbo.  The Tufts head coach at that time was Charles “Hafey” Arthur, a former player and coach at Dartmouth College, and he was eager to turn the Jumbos into a hockey power. When Gerry joined the team as a first-year in 1951, Coach Arthur knew the Jumbos were headed nowhere but up. 

The fastest skater on the team, Gerry quickly became a prolific scorer for the Jumbos. As a sophomore in 1952-53, Gerry was the leading scorer in all of New England with 32 goals and 25 assists for a total of 57 points. 

As a junior, in a 16-1 rout over UMass, Gerry somehow managed to score eight goals and hand out five assists for a total of 13 points – an incredible performance that set an NCAA record for points in a game that still stands today.

Unfortunately, Gerry was injured shortly after that UMass game and would battle nagging injuries for the remainder of his career. But after missing a few games that season, Gerry was back on the ice for the team’s second game against BU. Tufts won that game 10-5, with Gerry contributing one goal and five assists.

Gerry continued to have extraordinarily productive games during his senior season, including six goals and five assists in a Tufts victory over Bowdoin. 

In total, Gerry finished his four years at Tufts with 99 goals and 93 assists for 192 total points. His career goals and points still stand as all-time records at Tufts. And the 16-3 record that he and co-captain John O’Brien helped engineer in 1954-55 still stands as the highest winning percentage for a season in program history.  

As the head coach of the Jumbos, it’s a great honor for me to recognize and celebrate Gerry Mahoney as the first ice hockey player to be inducted into the Tufts Athletics Hall of Fame. 

Please help me welcome Gerry’s daughter, Alison O’Brien, to the stage to accept the Hall of Fame Award on Gerry’s behalf.