One of the last surviving members of McGill University's 1945-46 team that won the Queen's Cup as champions of the Senior Intercollegiate Hockey League, Peirson became the fifth of nine McGill products to skate in the NHL when he made his debut with the Bruins at the Montreal Forum on Jan. 4, 1947. He spent his entire 11-year NHL career with Boston, was twice named an NHL All-Star (1950 and 1951) and finished his NHL career with 153 goals, 326 points and 309 penalty minutes in 544 regular season games.

Also an avid golfer, he competed as an amateur in a number of tournaments in both the United States and Canada, including the Canadian Open in 1950.

Born on July 21, 1925 in Winnipeg, Man., Peirson moved to Montreal with his family at the age of 10, where he spent the rest of his childhood. At the age of 18, he played for the Montreal Junior Canadiens. He volunteered to serve with the Canadian Army during World War II and was stationed in Europe.

After the war, the 5-foot-11 right-winger enrolled at McGill in 1945 for one season, part of a team that was later inducted to the McGill Sports Hall of Fame. He once scored five goals and added a pair of assists in a 10-4 McGill victory over the Montreal Carabins on Jan. 18, 1946. 

Peirson starred on a high-scoring forward line at McGill with left-winger Danny Porteous and centre Jimmy O'Connor.  He finished third in the league scoring race in 1945-46 with 18 points, including 13 goals, in just six games. He tallied the insurance marker and added an assist in a 4-1 upset victory over Toronto in the Queen's Cup championship game played on March 15, 1946 before a capacity crowd of 12,000 at the old Montreal Forum. It proved to be McGill's last Cup for more than six decades until winning again in 2008.

By season's end, Peirson was signed by the Bruins and was assigned to the Boston Olympics, their farm team in the Eastern Hockey League, where he tallied 15 points, including five goals in only 10 games. He was then called up to the Hershey Bears in the American Hockey League before making the jump to the NHL.

Peirson hit the 20-goal plateau four times in the NHL, including in 1949-50 when he notched a career high 27 goals (fifth in the NHL) and 52 points (eighth). He helped the Bruins reach the Stanley Cup final three times (1952-53, 1956-57, and 1957-58).