At McGill University, forward Ralph St. Germain excelled at both ice hockey and Canadian football, leading both teams to championships during his tenure. His first season in football was 1925 and, in 1928, the team won the Yates Cup, then awarded to the Senior Intercollegiate Football League regular season champions. He captained the McGill Redmen ice hockey team from 1926 through 1928 and, with them, won the intercollegiate championship in 1930. He nearly died in 1928 when, against his doctor’s orders, he played a match with a severe case of tonsillitis and a fever of 103, causing him to collapse on the ice during the third period. He graduated in 1931 with a Bachelor’s Degree in Commerce and turned down an offer to play professional hockey with the Montreal Canadiens. Instead he continued a hockey career that he had begun with the Montreal Amateur Athletic Association, playing with them from 1930 through a name change to the Montreal Royals, and into 1936. When the Port Arthur Bearcats were selected to represent Canada in hockey at the 1936 Winter Olympics, the Royals protested and eventually St. Germain, along with teammates Hugh Farquharson and Dave Neville. At the tournament, he played in five games, scored six goals, and took home a silver medal with the team. After the Olympics he coached junior varsity hockey at McGill and played with the Ottawa “Senior” Senators from 1937-1940, when they were a part of the Quebec Amateur Hockey League. He also played football with the Montreal Amateur Athletic Association. He was made a member of the McGill Sports Hall of Fame in 2000 and the Lisgar Collegiate Institute Sports Hall of Fame in 2009.
Canada