Louis Pieri
Louis Arthur Raymond Pieri (February 23, 1897 – June 16, 1967) was an American basketball and ice hockey executive and coach.
Ice hockey
In 1929 he was named general manager of the Providence Reds. The team became a charter member of the American Hockey League in 1936. Under his leadership, the Reds won eight AHL division titles and four Calder Cup championships (1938, 1940, 1949, 1956).[1]
The
Basketball
During the 1918–19 season, Pieri was the head coach of the Brown Bears men's basketball team.
Pieri was the owner of the Providence Steamrollers, a Basketball Association of America team that operated from 1946 to 1949.
From 1950 to 1964 he was a minority owner of the Boston Celtics.[2] Following the death of owner Walter A. Brown on September 7, 1964, Pieri became co-owner of the team with Brown's widow, Marjorie Brown.[3] They sold the club to the Ruppert Knickerbocker Brewing Company, a subsidiary of Marvin Kratter's National Equities.[4]
Other ventures
Pieri was the longtime owner and manager of the Rhode Island Auditorium. In 1940 he and eight other arena managers founded the Ice Capades.[5]
In 1951, Pieri got involved with broadcasting. He purchased a Providence radio station, WDEM.[6] The station's call letters were subsequently changed to WICE; Pieri sold the station in 1956.[7]
Death
On June 16, 1967, Pieri died of a heart attack.[8]
References
- ^ "American Hockey League Hall of Fame". American Hockey League Hall of Fame. The American Hockey League. Archived from the original on 15 March 2012. Retrieved 13 March 2012.
- ^ Managements and Captains, nba.com/celtics. Retrieved December 16, 2010.
- ^ "Celtics For Sale, Says Owner". The Miami News. Feb 11, 1965. Retrieved 2010-03-14.
- St. Petersburg Times. June 25, 1965. Retrieved 2010-03-14.
- ^ Hamilton, F. F. Jr. (1974). Ice Capades "years of entertainment". Washington, DC: Penchant Publishing Company, Ltd.
- ^ "Seeks to Buy WDEM." Providence Journal, August 2, 1951, p. 4.
- ^ "Files Plea With FCC." Providence Journal, June 22, 1956, p. 29.
- ^ "RI AUDITORIUM". Rirocks.net. Retrieved 21 December 2017.