1980 Ad

Kara Yorio

At the 2004 All-Star Game, a man brought his daughter into the Western Conference locker room for an autograph or two. He looked like any other graying father in his 40s. But this wasn't just anyone, and soon there was a stir. He wasn't an NHL star. In fact, this man played in only 30 NHL games. So who could get a bunch of NHL veterans excited? Who could make Bill Guerin, Mike Modano and Keith Tkachuk scramble for a photo with him?

Jim Craig.

The 1980 U.S. Olympic hockey team pulled off its miracle 25 years ago, but the impact remains. There's a pay-it-forward element in the American hockey community: Players who were inspired by the '80 team have inspired the next generation of players. And there's the lasting emotional effect of the victories themselves--February 22 against the Soviet Union and two days later against Finland for the gold medal.

For fans looking to mark the moment, Miracle, the movie, is ready to rent. There's a great new book called The Boys of Winter. HBO On Demand is making available Do You Believe in Miracles?, a documentary on the team, and ESPN Classic is showing the game against the Soviet Union with Miracle on Ice--25th Anniversary Special on Tuesday and the gold medal game against Finland on Thursday.

For our commemoration, we sought memories of the occasion and testimonials to what it meant. From that search came an e-mail from Craig's backup, Steve Janaszak: "February 22, 1980. Mark Johnson scores, assisted by Dave Silk at 8:39 of the third period to tie the game at 3-3. The arena is rocking. It is very loud. I remember turning to someone on the bench--I think it was Craig Patrick--and shouting, 'If we score another goal soon, this place is going to explode!' Less than two minutes later, Mike Eruzione scores, assisted by John Harrington and Mark Pavelich. United States 4, Soviet Union 3.

"I am sitting on the end of the bench watching the rafters of the building shake, it is so loud. That crowd was amazing. I went back in that arena 10 years later and closed my eyes, and I could still hear them."

More memories ...

Sandy Caligiore was doing play-by-play of the game for a local radio station. He now works for the Olympic Regional Development Authority in Lake Placid, N.Y.:

"In the last three or four minutes, there was such a sense of anticipation and anxiety. When the clock hit 20, it was like the roof was blown off the building. ... You can't ever escape what happened here, nor should you ever want to. You should never, ever forget."

Hall of Famer Pat LaFontaine turned 15 that night:

"At the time, there were some American-born players making their way into the NHL, but not a lot. Most of the players back then were just trying to get a college scholarship. Little did I think there would be a chance to play on an Olympic team or have an NHL career. Then, in 1980, on the night of my 15th birthday, we had a pizza party and had friends over and were glued in front of the television watching the game. And when it was over, we were jumping up and down and screaming how great it was.

"For players like me, teenagers and kids early in their hockey lives, that game opened the door for so many young Americans and inspired so many of us. All of a sudden, we could set our sights so much higher, and there was a chance to play for an Olympic team.... Everything that has occurred since owes so much to that 1980 team. So many more players made their way into the NHL. And especially, I look at the 1996 World Cup of Hockey team. We were all products of the 1980 team, knowing how special it was for us, and we wanted to help inspire another generation."

U.S. Olympic hockey gold medalist Cammi Granato was 8:

"That was my first taste of what the Olympics are. That gave us the dream, the excitement for the game at the Olympics. At that age, I didn't know there was a difference because I was a girl. I didn't recognize the fact that at that time I couldn't have played in the Olympics. I got a USA jersey the following Christmas--my brothers and I all had one--and we wore them everywhere. It was real to us.

"We got all the game tapes and watched them over and over again. We got the Karl Malden TV movie, and I swear we watched it so many times we wore out the tape. We knew every line. My brothers and I would act them out-Herb Brooks talking to Mike Eruzione. We would reenact the last 4 seconds of the game and pile on each other just like they did....

"Honestly, I felt it and thought about 1980 when we were celebrating after winning the gold medal in '98. It was a strange feeling. I had watched and reenacted that so often, and now I was there."

Devils general manager Lou Lamoriello was coaching at Providence College:

"The impact on college hockey players was incredible. The players were now recognized, looked upon a little differently.... When you're given an opportunity and have success, then the door stays open, and that's what happened. That game and that series gave them the opportunity."

The SPORTING NEWS' own Dave Kindred, then with The Washington Post, wrote in the February 23, 1980, edition:

"Who might imagine that the United States, beaten by the Soviets, 10-3, in an exhibition 13 days ago, would set a thousand Old Glories waving in celebration? Only a fevered zealot could imagine that after this game the U.S. players would rock their locker room with repeated renditions of 'God Bless America.'

"Herb Brooks imagined it.

"He held up his envelope and read from it.

"I told the players, 'You were born to be a player. You were meant to be here at this moment. You were meant to be here at this game. Let's have the poise and possession of the puck.'

"Keeping the puck on American sticks was, in the last minutes of the game, in those three or four minutes that only took forever to play, those precious minutes when chants of 'U.S.A.... U.S.A.' stirred all but the dead and the communist in the standing-room-only crowd of 8,500-keeping the puck against the pressure of a great hockey team was an accomplishment to be long remembered....

"This was sport at its purest, played energetically by both sides, never once less than an artful demonstration of how athletes--even athletes from democracies and totalitarian governments--can make sport a beautiful demonstration of what men can be."

Twenty-five years ago, fans saw what sport could be. Across America, young hockey players--boys and girls--dreamed bigger, and spectators inside and outside the Lake Placid arena wept. See the movie, read the book, watch the games. Know what's possible again.

Contributing: Ray Slover.

COPYRIGHT 2005 Sporting News Publishing Co.
COPYRIGHT 2008 Gale, Cengage Learning