Sam LoPresti, born in Elcor but raised in Eveleth, was one of two American hockey players to have his name written into National Hockey League record books (at the time of his Induction). One of the pages in that NHL book was a Category: "Most Shots, One Team, One Game", followed by a page about the Boston Bruins, March 4, 1941 at Boston where Boston defeated Chicago 3-2. Chicago Goaltender was Sam LoPresti. On that night in Boston, with fellow Evelethian and Hall of Famer Frank Brimsek in the opposing net, LoPresti turned aside 27 saves in the first period, 31 in the second, and 22 in the last. After the game, the late Johnny Crawford, a Bruin forward, summed it up best when asked if LoPresti was really good or just lucky: "He was good alright... if he hadn't been, he wouldn't be alive now."

Another of Legendary Eveleth Cliff Thompson's protégé's, he took over the goalie's job in his second year out for the high school team. In 1936, LoPresti played in the nets for the Eveleth Junior team, also coached by Cliff Thompson, and the club had one of its most successful seasons. After a year at St. Cloud Teacher's College, he returned to play for the Junior College. Thompson felt he was a natural in the nets. LoPresti never got flustered when in the midst of a shower of pucks as his record breaking performance proved.

In the fall of 1939, the St. Paul Saints sent a scout to Eveleth to dig up some goalie talent. The scout contacted Thompson who promptly recommended LoPresti. From St. Paul, which played in the American Hockey Association, it wasn’t long before he found himself in the Chicago nets when Paul Goodman retired. LoPresti played through the end of the 1941-42 seasons, when he entered the U.S. Navy. He was aboard a merchant ship that was torpedoed in February 1943 and spent 42 days in a lifeboat before being rescued.

After the war, LoPresti played senior amateur hockey in Northeastern Minnesota before retiring from the game. Sam was inducted into the U.S. Hockey Hall of Fame in 1973. His son, Pete, also went on to prominence as a goaltender, later starring for the hometown Minnesota North Stars in the 1970s.