Sam LoPresti

Who was Sam LoPresti?

Samuel Leo LoPresti was an American ice hockey goaltender. He played several senior and professional seasons between 1937 and 1951, including two seasons in the National Hockey League for the Chicago Black Hawks. He was named an American Hockey Association all-star in 1939–40 and the most valuable player of the United States Hockey League in 1949–50. He is best known for his performance with the Black Hawks on March 4, 1941, when he set an NHL record by facing 83 shots in a regulation game against the Boston Bruins. He was inducted into the United States Hockey Hall of Fame in 1973.

LoPresti left the NHL during the Second World War to join the United States Navy where he served on board the SS Roger B. Taney. The ship was torpedoed during a crossing of the Atlantic Ocean and sunk in 1943; LoPresti was one of 29 sailors who survived 42 days lost at sea in a single lifeboat before being rescued off the coast of Brazil. LoPresti was credited with saving the lives of his shipmates by killing a dolphin with a sheath knife, providing nearly the only food they had during their ordeal.