Francis Cornelius SULLIVAN

Frank “Sully” Sullivan probably had the longest ice hockey career of any of the members of the Canadian delegation the 1952 Winter Olympics. A native of Saskatchewan, he began playing as a center with the Regina Christies of the Regina Junior Hockey League in 1935 but, after three games, he transferred to the Regina Aces, where he played four games before being promoted to the Aces’ senior-level team for one match. He played with the Aces for a full year beginning in 1936, before switching to the Yorkton Terriers of the Southern Saskatchewan Senior Hockey League for the next three seasons. During that time he also played one game with the Tulsa Oilers of the American Hockey Association. He spent the next two seasons with British Columbia’s Kimberley Dynamiters before joining the Ottawa RCAF for 1943-1944 and the Ottawa Uplands HQ for 1944-1945, both of the Ottawa National Defense Hockey League. He branched out again for one match in the latter season, when he played for the Seattle Ironmen of the Pacific Coast Senior Hockey League. He rejoined the Dynamiters in 1945 and stayed with them through 1954, captaining the team from 1946 through 1951, and once again for the 1953-1954 season.

It was during this time that Sullivan got the invitation to join the Edmonton Mercurys for their Olympic tour, but he declined it four times, not wanting to risk his job at the Cominco Mine in British Columbia. He finally relented when convinced by his wife that it was a good opportunity, and he was quickly named manager of the team. At the tournament he scored five goals in eight games and helped his country take home their last gold medal in the sport for five decades. He took the 1952-1953 season off from Canadian hockey to coach the national team of Switzerland and was given the title of Swiss Government Supervisor of hockey. Upon his return he had his final year with the Dynamiters and spent the next with the Kimberley Legionaires. He took one more year off before finishing his playing career as a player/coach with the Cranbrook Selkirks of the Alberta-British Columbia-Montana League from 1956-1957. His son, Danny Sullivan, was a goaltender with the World Hockey Association and the Western International Hockey League. As a member of his Olympic team, he was inducted into the Alberta Sport Hall of Fame Museum in 1968.