Overview

Samuel Leo LoPresti (January 30, 1917 – December 11, 1984) was an American professional ice hockey goaltender best known for his time in the National Hockey League and for an extraordinary survival story during World War II. He played in the NHL for the Chicago Black Hawks and spent additional seasons in the American Hockey Association with teams such as the Chicago Black Hawks organization-affiliated clubs and the St. Paul Saints.

Playing career and notable records

LoPresti reached the highest level of North American hockey as a netminder in the early 1940s. While his NHL tenure was relatively brief, one game etched his name into league history: on March 4 in a contest against the Boston Bruins, he faced an unprecedented volume of shots, setting a record for most shots on goal by an opposing team in a regulation 60-minute game. Beyond the NHL he also appeared for the St. Paul Saints and played several games with the Kansas City Americans in the AHA, demonstrating the sort of journeyman career common among professional players of the period.

Military service and the sinking of SS Roger B. Taney

At the height of World War II LoPresti left professional hockey to serve in the United States Navy; he enlisted as a naval crewman and was assigned as a gunner's mate aboard the Liberty ship SS Roger B. Taney. During an Atlantic crossing in February 1943 the vessel was torpedoed and sunk by an enemy submarine, an event that initially left LoPresti and many of his shipmates listed as missing in action. The sinking occurred during the wider Battle of the Atlantic, a critical and dangerous theater of naval operations in World War II.

Survival at sea

After the sinking, LoPresti and 28 other survivors occupied a single crowded lifeboat. With scant provisions they drifted for 42 days and traveled nearly 2,500 miles before being discovered and rescued off the coast of Brazil. Their regimen for survival was austere: they collected rainwater when possible, rationed food to tiny amounts of biscuits and small pieces of bakers chocolate, and at times subsisted on only a few ounces of water per day. The ordeal tested endurance, navigation, and morale and required improvisation to remain alive.

A defining moment from the lifeboat experience involved LoPresti's initiative. Observing dolphins swimming nearby, he improvised a weapon by lashing a sheath knife to a boat hook and dove into the sea. He was able to catch a large dolphin, estimated at around 35 pounds, which became the only substantial fresh food the party had during the voyage. The survivors used the animal to supplement their meager diet, describing the consumption of its blood and cooked flesh prepared in a metal container warmed with rags and fuel. That catch has frequently been credited with helping sustain the group through the final weeks until their rescue.

Later life and legacy

After the war LoPresti returned to civilian life and remained associated with hockey communities in the United States. In recognition of his contributions to the sport and the remarkable story of survival that accompanied his life, he was inducted into the United States Hockey Hall of Fame in 1973. He passed away on December 11, 1984, in Eveleth, Minnesota, from a heart attack. His life is remembered both for his athletic achievements in ice hockey and for the courage and resourcefulness he displayed under extreme conditions at sea.

Notable facts

  • LoPresti's NHL record-setting performance involved an extraordinary workload for a single regulation game and remains a frequently cited example of goaltender endurance (rationing and resource constraints in survival narratives are often compared to athletic stamina).
  • His wartime service on a merchant ship placed him in the hazardous convoy system of the Atlantic, where Liberty ships like the SS Roger B. Taney were vital to Allied logistics.
  • The survival episode included methods and supplies typical of lifeboat emergencies—rainwater collection, strict food rationing, and improvised fishing or hunting techniques (emergency rations, marine life encounters).

For additional context about LoPresti's era, the development of professional hockey leagues, and wartime merchant marine service, see resources on the history of the American Hockey Association, biographies of players who served in WWII, and general accounts of the Eveleth, Minnesota hockey community where he spent his final years. Further reading and archival material can be found through sports history collections and national military archives that document maritime losses and survivor accounts (biographical and sports research guides).

LoPresti's story continues to surface in discussions about athlete veterans, survival psychology, and the intersections between professional sport and military service in the mid-20th century. His combined legacy as an accomplished goaltender and as a survivor of one of the more dramatic lifeboat narratives of WWII preserves his place in both sports history and wartime oral history.

Further hyperlinks and detailed records may be consulted through specialized sports halls, veteran organizations, and historical repositories that catalogue the contributions of athletes like LoPresti to both their sport and their country's war effort (player profiles, league records, and team histories).

Additional references and archival links: team archives, naval service files, WWII campaign summaries, and personal histories collected by regional museums and hall of fame exhibits (service roles, MIA notes, rescue reports, honors).