Michael Burgan - Miracle on Ice: How a Stunning Upset United a Country

With the score tied 3-3 in the third period, the United States hockey team changed its forward line. Mike Eruzione stepped onto the rink and chased after a puck his teammates John Harrington and Mark Pavelich had dumped into center ice. Eruzione was the captain of the U.S. team, which was playing the Soviet Union in a crucial semifinal game at the 1980 Winter Olympics. If Team USA won this February 22 contest, it would have a chance to play for the gold medal. Cheering on the Americans was an enthusiastic crowd of about 10,000 people jammed into the small ice arena at Lake Placid, New York.

Team captain Mike Eruzione sped down the ice at the Lake Placid Olympic Arena.

But what were the odds Eruzione and the young Americans could beat the mighty Soviet team, which had won the last four Olympic gold medals in hockey? At that time Olympic athletes had to be amateurs. Many of the Soviet players belonged to their countrys army, the Red Army, so technically they were paid as soldiers, not athletes. But the whole world knew they were selected, trained, and paid to play hockey for their country. Most of the Soviet players were in their mid-to-late 20s, while a few were just over 30. They had years of international experience playing together as a team.

Their experience and skill made the Soviet players among the best in the world. Just the year before, in a series played in New York, the Soviets had taken two out of three games from the National Hockey League (NHL) All-Stars. The Red Army team won the final game against the NHLers with its best goalie, Vladislav Tretiak, sitting on the bench. But even with Soviet backup goalie Vladimir Myshkin in the net, the All-Stars could not score a goal.

The Americans, on the other hand, were mostly college students. While they excelled at their sport in school, they had started training and playing international hockey together only a few months before the 1980 Games. The selection process to create Team USA began with its coach, Herb Brooks, who was also the hockey coach at the University of Minnesota. Brooks wanted players who would work hard and not crack under stress. Nine of the players he chose had been with him at Minnesota. He knew their talents, and they knew his coaching style.

Mike Eruzione, 25, a left winger, was one of the oldest players on the squad. He was one of four players from Massachusetts. The rest were from the Midwest12 from Minnesota and two each from Wisconsin and Michigan. Those states were the hotbeds of U.S. amateur hockey, but the American presence in the NHL was still fairly small. Only about 12 percent of the pro players were American, in a league dominated by Canadians. Compared with professional baseball, football, and basketball, hockey interested few U.S. sports fans.

Eruzione was one of the players who had done well in college, setting scoring records at Boston University. In the games leading up to the Olympics, however, he had trouble scoring, and at one point Coach Brooks decided to cut him from the team. Brooks told his friend But Eruziones your leader, Hendrickson said. You need a leader. The other players were upset when they heard they might lose their captain. Everyone knew Eruzione was not the best scorer or skater on the team. But they also saw that he was a leader, someone who could boost their spirits and encourage them to play harder. Brooks finally saw that cutting Eruzione would not be good for the team, and so he let him stay.

The youngest player on the team was defenseman Mike Ramsey. He had just turned 19 a few months before the Olympics. Despite his youth, he was a star for the Americans. In 1979 he was the first American college player ever taken in the first round of the NHL draft. Several of his teammates had also been drafted, but they, like Ramsey, chose to delay professional careers to play for Team USA.

Future four-time NHL All-Star Mike Ramsey (top) checked a West German player during Team USAs road to the Olympic medal round.

One drafted player who decided to play for Brooks instead was defenseman Ken Morrow. He was large and strong, and his full beard made him stand out among his mostly clean-shaven teammates. Morrow held off playing for the New York Islanders so he could go to the Olympics.

Like Morrow and Ramsey, Mark Johnson was talented enough to play in the NHL. The center played for his father, Bob Johnson, at the University of Wisconsin. Known as Badger Bob, Marks father had coached the 1976 Olympic team. He had almost chosen Mark to play for him, even though his son was then only 17. By 1979 Brooks knew he wanted Mark Johnson as his top center. He told Johnson that the team needed him if it was going to advance through the Olympics.

The team also needed the gutsy goalie, Jim Craig. Filled with confidence, Craig was known for his quick glove hand and his constant chatter during a game. Teammates tried to ignore a lot of what he saidespecially if he was criticizing their play. Craig had allowed an average of only 2.37 goals per game in the 48 games he played for Team USA before the Olympics.

Craig played well in Team USAs first game of the found the net. Since the teams did not play overtime in the round-robin games, Team USA earned a tie and a point in the standings.

Buzz Schneider celebrated after scoring a goal against Czechoslovakia, one of the worlds best teams.

After that close call, the Americans went on a roll. First they beat a well-regarded team from Rob McClanahan, one of the players from the University of Minnesota. With that win, Team USA reached the medal round. Their next opponent: the mighty Red Army team of the Soviet Union.

Tension had filled the Olympics since 1960. Now the Americans and their fans wondered: Could they keep that lead?