A GREAT SAINT TEAM EARNS A UNIQUE HONOR

As 1955 dawned there was little doubt that St. Lawrence was once again among the East’s –– and the nation’s –– hockey elite. The powerful Larries of Coach Ollie Kollevol were bidding fair to out-do the 1953-54 squad that had gone 18-3-1 and had barely (some said unfairly) missed selection to play in the NCAA Championships at the Broadmoor in Colorado Springs.

The 1954-55 team looked even stronger. By early January their record stood at 6-2, with only losses against Michigan State and Harvard, and a string of wins against Eastern foes, several by lopsided margins.

Some of the veterans on the team were local legends: high-scoring forwards Brian McFarlane, Bill Meehan, and Ed Zifcak; defensive stalwarts Mickey Walker and Chuck Lundberg; the peerless goalie Bill Sloan. Added to these was a formidable new force: the sophomore “Ottawa Line” of Joe McLean, Ron O’Brien, and Lee Fournier. Eight games into the season and the trio was scoring at a torrid pace. Could this line be the final piece in the puzzle that would gain St. Lawrence the national grail?

It certainly looked possible. Following a 3-3 early-January tie with University of Toronto, the Scarlet went on a 13-1 tear, pouring in 101 goals opponents’ 38 during the stretch. By the end of the regular season there was no doubt whatever: St. Lawrence would enter the lists at the Broadmoor in Colorado Springs, defending the honor of the East against the best of the West. Co-representing the East was Harvard, coached by former NHL great Ralph “Cooney” Weiland and spearheaded by everyone’s All-American, Bill Cleary.

It would be nice to say that the Saints emerged victorious in Colorado, but such was not the case. With Captain McFarlane limping and at less than his best, the Larries dropped a 2-1 decision to Colorado College in a game marked by goalie Sloan’s heroic play, and were unable to bounce back in the consolation game, losing 6-3 to Harvard. Still, a 17-5-1 season’s mark was pretty neat in any book, and St. Lawrence was well represented on the post-season teams. It had been a vintage year.

But an uncommon honor came to St. Lawrence Hockey that same season. The lead article of the February 21, 1955 was devoted to US college hockey, and guess what school received the main focus of the article? At the top was a banner photo of the 1954-55 team, in “civvies” but wielding sticks and accompanied by girlfriends, walking across campus, supposedly on the way to practice. A smaller photo of McFarlane in uniform followed later in the article; Brian remembers that SI’s staff photographer shot the pics on what must have been the coldest day of the winter.

Oh, and elsewhere in the magazine there was an article on swimwear fashions for 1955, which gave St. Lawrence Hockey a unique distinction: inclusion in Sports Illustrated’s very first Annual Swimsuit Issue!