Peirson played one season of university hockey with the McGill Redmen and was part of their Queen's Cup-winning side in 1946.

He was signed by the Boston Bruins and played for two of their minor league affiliates until 1947 when he made his NHL debut.

After spending eight seasons with the organization and making two All-Star appearances and the 1953 Stanley Cup Finals, he briefly retired in 1954 before returning the following year.

Peirson scored a goal and had an assist in the championship game, in which the Redmen defeated the Toronto Varsity Blues 4–1 in an upset.

Peirson, who was keen to earn some extra money for his education, accepted the opportunity and intended to return to school if his hockey career did not work out.

[4][5] He began his career with the Boston Olympics, the Bruins farm team that were members of the Eastern Hockey League.

His "legs sort of disappeared",[4] and he had earlier suffered a broken right jaw in December 1952,[8] which kept him sidelined for three weeks and necessitated his wearing a steel protective mask upon his return.

[1] After retiring from professional hockey, Peirson was initially employed at the furniture manufacturing plant owned by his father-in-law.

He first worked on WBZ radio in 1969 alongside Fred Cusick, with whom as a player he had done a TV demonstration during one of CBS-TV's short-lived weekly NHL telecasts.

[7][11] The pair would work together in that capacity for 18 years and notably covered the first four games of the Summit Series for American viewers.