They are middle-aged men now, their hair a little thinner, their bodies a little thicker, pursuing careers, one an oral surgeon, another a financial broker, one a horse rancher, another a university executive, spread across the country from Massachusetts to Minnesota.
Twenty-five years ago, they came together and manufactured a miracle.
This coming week, they’ll gather in Lake Placid, N.Y., for their silver anniversary reunion. The U.S. hockey team won the Olympic gold medal in that tiny Adirondack town in 1980, prevailing against the longest of odds and bringing together a country that was struggling though tough times.
It produced a nationwide celebration then, and the reunion ought to be a terrific party now.
“There are a lot of great memories,” said Mike Eruzione, the captain of the team, who scored the winning goal in the medal-round game against the Soviet Union and now works in alumni relations at his alma mater, Boston University. “The feelings in that arena, that locker room. The fun we had. What we accomplished. It was a fabulous two weeks.”
Understand the circumstances. Twenty-five years ago, as 20 young skaters prepared for those Olympic Games, Americans were being held hostage in Iran and Soviet troops were marching through Afghanistan. President Carter already had announced a U.S. boycott of the Summer Olympics in Moscow. The U.S. economy was in disarray, with interest rates and inflation soaring.
Professionals were not a part of the Olympics then. There were no Dream Teams of NBA players at the Summer Games, no NHL players at the Winter Games. It was an all-amateur show. At least it was supposed to be.
USA Hockey followed the rules, gathering a squad of college kids and undrafted players and turning them over to Herb Brooks, hockey coach at the University of Minnesota. Brooks was the last player cut from the 1960 U.S. hockey team, which went on to win the gold medal. Every gold after that had gone to the Soviet Union, and there was no reason to believe that would change in 1980.
The Soviets arrived in Lake Placid with a roster of stars. The goalie was Vladlislav Tretiak, who would wind up in the Hall of Fame. The captain was Boris Mikhailov, affectionally known as the Gordie Howe of Gorky Street. The team included a fistful of future NHL players like Viacheslav Fetisov, Vladimir Krutov, Alexei Kasatonov, Sergei Starikov, Helmut Balderis and Sergei Makarov.
The week before they headed for the Olympics, the young Americans ended a grueling exhibition schedule with a game against the Soviets at Madison Square Garden. They seemed in awe, applauding the Soviets during the introductions.
“We were not ready,” Eruzione said. “We stood around and watched in the first period, then played a little in the second and third.”
The result was a 10-3 rout by the Soviets.
“We were setting them up,” Eruzione chuckled.
Brooks drove his team relentlessly through their training and exhibition season. The drills were exhausting, and so were the homilies that the coach preached over and over to his players:
• “Gentlemen, you don’t have enough talent to win on talent alone.”
• “You can’t be common, because the common man goes nowhere. You have to be uncommon.”
• “Let’s be idealistic, but let’s also be practical.”
And on and on.
The players mimicked the dour Brooks behind his back. They called themselves Big Doolies, a phrase they made up to mean they were hot stuff, even if they weren’t. It was their own little joke.
And then they went out and played an even bigger one on the rest of the world.
When the Olympic tournament began, the last thing the Americans were thinking about was the Soviets.
“They were in the other division,” Eruzione said. “We were worried about Sweden, Czechoslovakia and West Germany, the teams in our division. We thought a bronze medal was possible. Herb said let’s get to the final four and then, whatever happens, happens.”
The American Olympic odyssey started modestly. They salvaged a tie in the opener when they pulled goalie Jim Craig in the last minute of play and defenseman Bill Baker scored with 27 seconds left against Sweden.
Energized by the dramatic comeback for the last-minute tie, the Americans then defeated Czechoslovakia 7-3. Suddenly, there was a feeling around the Olympics that these kids might be able to accomplish something special.
“We wanted to win so bad,” forward Mike Ramsey said after the game against the Czechs. “The feeling in the locker room was unbelievable.”
The tough part of the preliminary schedule was done. The Americans followed up with wins against Norway and Romania and then rallied from two goals behind to defeat West Germany 4-2. They had made it to the medal round, the tournament’s final four. Now, it was time to think about the Soviets.
On Feb. 22, a Friday night, the Americans faced the Soviets in the first medal-round game. Eruzione remembered the electricity in the arena. “It was a different atmosphere, a different intensity,” he said. “There was a feeling of, “Hey, we can win this thing.”‘
They were probably the only ones in Lake Placid who believed that.
Brooks gathered his team before the game and offered one more hockey homily, one more bit of philosophy that would become an indelible part of their legacy.
“You were born to be a player,” Brooks told them. “You were meant to be here.”
And then he sent them out to play the game of their lives.
“So much is made of confrontations,” Eruzione said. “As players, we had no concept of that. We were so focused, it was as if we were playing with blinders on. Herb had us geared to play a hockey game and he kept the outside stuff out of it. We were where we wanted to be – in position for a medal.”
The Americans skated furiously against the Soviets. Twice in the first period, they fell behind. Twice, they came back, tying the score in the last second of the period when Mark Johnson put a rebound past Tretiak.
When the teams took the ice for the second period, Tretiak was gone. The best goalie in the world had been benched, replaced by Vladimir Myshkin, a star in his own right. The Americans shrugged off the switch. “It was like taking out Patrick Roy and putting in Martin Brodeur,” Eruzione said.
The Americans managed just two shots on goal in the second period. Aleksandr Maltsev had the only goal of the period, and with 20 minutes to play the Soviets led 3-2. Then Team USA got a spark. Johnson’s second goal of the game tied it for the Americans at 8:39 of the third period. Eighty-one seconds later, Eruzione drilled a screened shot past Myshkin and the United States led for the first time.
Now it became a test of endurance. The seconds ticked off excruciatingly slowly, each one seeming to last an eternity as Craig held off the frantic Soviets. Defensemen flopped to block shots. Craig was acrobatic in the nets. Eruzione kept watching the clock. “It was,” he said, “the longest 10 minutes of my life.”
As time wound down, the crowd’s chants grew louder and louder. “U-S-A! U-S-A! U-S-A!” The stands surrounding the rink became a sea of red, white and blue. This was no longer a hockey game. It was an endurance test, an emotional roller coaster.
Finally, mercifully, it ended. As broadcaster Al Michaels counted down the last seconds, he ended with an exclamation. “Do you believe in miracles? Yes!”
If they hadn’t before, Americans did then.
As time ran out, the U.S. players dashed onto the ice, falling over one another in celebration. Craig, who stopped 36 shots, scanned the stands for his father. Brooks wheeled and headed for the locker room. This was his team’s moment. He would not intrude on it.
The streets that night in Lake Placid were like one big block party, Americans celebrating a moment few of them thought possible.
Two days later, the miracle was completed, the gold medal clinched when the Americans came from behind with three third-period goals to defeat Finland 4-2.
When it was over, Eruzione stood on the medal platform to accept the gold and gestured to his teammates. Soon they were all up there, grinning, laughing, pounding each other on the back, the Big Doolies celebrating what they had accomplished.
Baker, the defenseman who saved the Americans in the tournament opener, is now a dentist. He reflected on what he and the others did 25 years ago.
“This was just a team of destiny,” he said. “You just can’t explain what happened. It just seemed things were supposed to happen that way.”
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