St. Marys Sports Wall of Fame 2025 class enshrined at PRC

Pictured are players and family members representing players from the 1962-1963 St. Marys Lincolns team, as well as Rick Fifield (left) and Mike Craig (right). Fifield, Craig and the ‘62-‘63 Lincolns were honoured at the Pyramid Recreation Centre on Nov. 1 as the 2025 class inducted into the St. Marys Sports Wall of Fame.

By Spencer Seymour

Rick Fifield, Mike Craig and the 1962-1963 St. Marys Lincolns all-Ontario championship team were honoured as inductees in the second class of the St. Marys Sports Wall of Fame on Nov. 1 at the Pyramid Recreation Centre (PRC).

Fifield’s achievements span multiple sports, showcasing outstanding dedication and excellence. In hockey, he served as captain and Most Valuable Player for the St. Marys Lincolns during the 1972-1973 season, playing a total of four seasons and amassing 405 points. In golf, his accolades include winning the Ontario Father/Son Championship in 1999 with Derek Fifield, the Ontario Father/Daughter Championship in 2001 with Katie Fifield and the Ontario Senior Better Ball Championship in 2012 with Jim Craigmile.

Over 23 seasons, Craig played professional hockey across the National Hockey League (NHL), American Hockey League (AHL) and various international leagues. Craig is a two-time World Junior Hockey gold medalist and has earned multiple awards and championships at both amateur and professional levels of competition.

The 1962-1963 St. Marys Lincolns was the first Lincs team to be crowned Ontario Hockey Association (OHA) Junior B Champions, the first of many successful runs for the local hockey club. Impressively, this team included eight local players who had competed together from Pee-Wee through junior levels, showcasing their remarkable unity and dedication to the sport.

Rick Fifield was the first inductee recognized during the ceremony, and after an introduction by Mayor Al Strathdee, who acknowledged the achievements of each inductee, Rick Fifield’s longtime friends, Scott Graham and Pat Payton, introduced him as a multi-sport legend.

“Rick (Fifield) is one of those athletes who, when he picks up a hockey stick, a golf club, a tennis racquet, a curling stone, or a ball bat, it doesn’t seem to matter; whatever he picks up, get ready for some magic,” Graham said. “His amazing hand-eye coordination and natural feel continue to leave people in awe to this day. You sprinkle in a healthy dose of mental toughness and passion, and you get what you get with Rick.”

Payton, who saw plenty of great athletes in his 40-year career as the sports reporter for St. Marys Independent Newspaper and Journal Argus, had high praise for Rick Fifield in his introduction.

“When I think of Rick Fifield, I think of a truly gifted and humble athlete, and someone who is more than worthy of being inducted into the St. Marys Sports Wall of Fame,” said Payton. “I believe Rick has been the best all-around athlete in this town since he came to St. Marys over 50 years ago.”

Payton described Rick Fifield’s litany of accomplishments and impacts on the St. Marys sports community and described listening to one of his many great moments in a St. Marys Lincolns’ jersey as a teenager.

“I was about 15 at the time, and it was a Friday night in the Spring of 1971,” Payton recounted. “We were gathered around the radio at the old St. Marys Pool Hall downtown, listening to Game 7 from Sarnia. The score was tied 5-5 late in the third period when Rick broke into the clear. The excited play-by-play man blurted out that a big Sarnia defenceman was draped all over (Rick) Fifield. But you know what happened? Rick still put the puck in the top corner. It was the winning goal in an 8-5 St. Marys victory, giving the Lincs a berth in the league final. With the game on the line, great players step up and come through for their team. They rise to the occasion. To me, that was Rick.”

Rick Fifield displayed the humble nature Payton alluded to as he accepted the induction into the Sports Wall of Fame.

“Obviously, it’s a great honour,” Rick Fifield said. “To get this kind of recognition, it means the world to me and my family. Fifty-seven years later, I’m proud to call St. Marys my home, and there is no better place to live.”

Fifield added being inducted and hearing Graham and Payton talk so glowingly about his sports career in St. Marys filled him with emotion.

“It chokes you up, that’s for sure,” said Rick Fifield. “I didn’t realize a lot of those stories were coming out because I had not talked to them about that, but it was neat to listen to those guys talk about it. I’m proud of what I did, but I’m just speechless. This is really just a great day.”

Next up to be inducted was Craig, who began by emotionally discussing some of the most important people who joined him for his induction.

“A lot of folks have been looking for an explanation of where the heck I’ve been for the last 30 years,” laughed Craig. “I’ve been on that hockey highway throughout Ontario, east- and west-coast Canada, across that big pond numerous times, and every major city in the U.S. And there was that one little pit stop in Minnesota I made, and I laid eyes on a little blondie with a smile, and I settled into the land of the 10,000 lakes. So, it brings me great honour to share this experience and bring back with me my son, Colton, my daughter, Mackenzie, and that same little blondie, Chrissy, my wife of 31 years.”

Craig detailed, despite all the places hockey has taken him and the accolades he’s amassed, how few things have surpassed one of his earliest hockey experiences.

“You can make a run to the Stanley Cup Finals, you can put the Memorial Cup above your head and you can wear that Team Canada jersey with a gold medal around your neck. You can even go to Europe and have success with a couple of teams and even win the championship. And you can stare off at the Swiss Alps with your Spengler Cups. But I will never forget the spring of 1984 when we rolled Alliston here, and we jumped on that fire truck, with that all-Ontario Pee-Wee B championship trophy, and we went downtown St. Marys. We felt like we were on top of the world.”

Craig once again was filled with emotion as he thanked his mother for making his life and career in hockey possible.

“Mom,” Craig said, his voice quivering as his eyes welled up, “you’re the reason my name and picture are going on the wall today. Me and you, we rode hundreds of times together on that seven-mile stretch south of St. Marys on that gravel road leading to the farm, in the middle of the winter. I’ll never forget, we’re blasting through snow drifts and that old car would putter out and the dash lights would be blinking and flashing, and you’d be pumping the gas, and the car would pick up again, and we’d hit that damn other snow drift again.

“You did absolutely everything to get me to that front door curbside, and I’ll never forget, every time, your pregame speech was, ‘Have fun and work your butt off.’ And I’ll never forget, you never got out from behind the wheel. You always made me get my bag, get my stick, walk it into the rink and tie up my own skates. You did your part and it was up to me to put on a performance that paid you back, and I can’t thank you enough for everything you’ve done.”

Jacques Cousineau, a member of the 1962-1963 Lincolns’ squad inducted into the Sports Wall of Fame, delivered remarks on behalf of the team. Cousineau paid homage to every player on the team, with present-day Lincolns’ players Vaughn Barr, Ryan Hodkinson and Chase McDougall helping to present the Wall of Fame plaques to the players or family members in attendance.

In addition to all the players and staff who made up the team, Cousineau paid tribute to the team’s head coach, Stan Moore.

“Stan came to St. Marys and he was one of the first people to push for this junior team to be in St. Marys,” Cousineau said. “He also started Junior B hockey in Strathroy, and later revived the old Tillsonburg team that eventually moved to Aylmer.”

Cousineau also remembered the team’s general manager, Barry Nairn, with a story of how Nairn refused to allow the Lincolns to be shunned at a league awards event.

“I will never forget at the award banquet for the league, we had finished eight points ahead of St. Thomas, and not a single player on our team received an award at the banquet,” said Cousineau. “At the end of the banquet, Barry (Nairn) went up on the stage, uninvited, and told everybody, ‘You ignored our team today, even though we have the best team, but we’ll win the big one.’ And we did.”

Cousineau told the Independent following the ceremony he was thrilled to be able to represent the team at the podium.

“I would say this induction today completes our junior career. The fact that our team was remembered this long, and now that the town has done this, it’s recognized that we had an exceptional team and an exceptional year. I thought it was a great thing being inducted, and it was an honour for me personally to participate.”