Goodbye Detroit Hello Prague
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Hope High All-Stater George "Pud" Quirk of Providence was playing for the Detroit Holzbaughs of the Michigan-Ontario Hockey League (MOHL) in the 1937-38 season. Quirk and teammate Art Bogue deserted their club in January, along with seven other players from United States amateur league teams, and sailed to Prague, Czechoslovakia to compete for the United States in the 1938 World Championships. This caused quite a controversy with the MOHL and U.S.A.H.A. "We voted to suspend for life any player who leaves his club without permission. If Bogie and Quirk have left, they will never play hockey with any amateur league connected with the U.S.A.H.A.", said Louis J. Giffels, who represented the MOHL at a special meeting of the U.S. Amateur Hockey Association in Atlantic City. The United States, sparked by the front line of Bogue, Quirk and Laurier Charest, beat Norway 7-1 with Quirk tallying 2 goals. They finished 3-2-1 in seventh place in the thirteen-nation field. In the 1939 World Championships in Basel/Zurich, Switzerland, Quirk once again represented the United States and was an offensive force. The United States finished 7-2-0 and won the Silver Medal among fourteen teams. Quirk scored seven goals in nine contests including an over-time winner against Czechoslovakia and two goals against Switzerland. Quirk would remain in Europe barnstorming with the United States team before returning to the states in the 1939-40 season with the Detroit Pontiac Chiefs in the MOHL after being reinstated.
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