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REFLECTIONS |
Mike Eruzione, hockey player
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Photo by B. Bennett/Getty Images Sport |
After a year-long hiatus, the Stanley Cup is about to be hoisted again.
But no matter what odds the NHL champ overcomes, it’ll never compare to what the 1980 U.S. Olympic hockey team did.
Or, as Al Michaels put it, “Do you believe in miracles? Yes!”
Back in 1980, Russia vs. USA really meant something. This was when Russia was the enemy, when the Cold War was hot. Soon Ronald Regan would call Russia “the evil empire.” This was the kind of match-up that boys would replay in arcade bubble hockey games across the country for years to come — literally a Disney movie. The red, white and blue-clad Yanks versus the all-crimson Commies.
And this Russian team was at the top of the game — a monolith of the sport. The previous year they crushed the NHL All-Star team 6-0. They dominated the 1979 World Championship. They put the “Oh, crap,” in CCCP.
With 10 minutes to go in the game, Team USA captain Mike Eruzione, an amateur player from Boston, made the shot that would forever change his life. His 25-foot wrist shot gave the Americans a 4-3 lead. They needed to hold on for 10 minutes — 10 long minutes — to secure what some consider the greatest sports upset of the 20th Century.
When the final horn sounded, the USA team spilled out onto the ice, awkwardly high-stepping in their skates, celebrating a victory no one would have dreamed of.
Team USA went on to beat Finland 4-2 to seal their own fate: “The Star Spangled Banner” was cued as Team USA accepted their gold medals.
Eruzione had three goals and five assists in the 1980 Olympics. Though he never played in the NHL, he continued his hockey career after the Olympics by working as a broadcaster during New York Rangers and New Jersey Devils games, as well as during subsequent Olympics. These days he travels the country as a motivational speaker, and he continues to work for his alma mater, Boston University, on athletic development. He lives with his wife and three children in his hometown of Winthrop, Mass.
— Seth Jones, associate editor
"When were the Olympics? 1980? So, (I’ve been golfing) since 1981 (laughs). I used to caddie as a kid. Golf was expensive. I didn’t have any clubs. It was a little nine-hole golf course. We called it a bar with a golf course attached to it. You made $2 for nine holes and $4 for 18 holes and that was about it. Just a flat golf course with local guys playing. I learned to try to control my temper. Because I caddied for guys that would throw their clubs, throw their balls, and I’d have to go pick them up… so I tried not to get too intense out there. After we won the Olympics, my hometown gave me a set of clubs and a membership to the course. My friends played a little, and it was something I thought I could do for the rest of my life . . . I wish I’d played it when I was younger. Competing against yourself is fun. It’s a sport you can play at 75, 80 years old — you can still go out and play golf. I can’t play hockey anymore. When I first started playing, I didn’t care so much (about the condition of the course), I just wanted to play. But once you get into the game a little more and you get to be a little bit better, I think you like the competition of the course — the greens being a little faster, the fairways being cut nice, the rough being nice . . . The design of the course affects me more than when I first started playing." — Mike Eruzione |
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