LOCALadk Magazine

Left: The game winning goal scored with exactly 10 minutes left on the clock. Photo courte- sy of Mike Eruzione Right: A plaque commemo- rating Coach Herb Brooks' inspirational speech before the USA vs USSR showdown. Photo courtesy of Paul Post LOCALadk 29 year." Trailing, 2-1, after two periods with the outcome still very much in doubt, Brooks made a shorter, but no less memorable locker room speech: "If you lose this game, you'll take it to your effing graves." The coach's motivational genius worked as Rob Mc- Clanahan, Mark Johnson and Neil Broten scored to win the gold medal. Heading into the recent Winter Olym- pics in Milan Cortina, no U.S. Team had won since 1980. But Eruzione hoped this would be the year. "I keep waiting and waiting," he said. "It's time for the U.S. to get back on top of the podium again. I think we're arguably the best hockey country in the world. Canada and Russia would obviously argue that." "When I spoke to the team at the (February 2025) Four Nations Tournament I said, 'I hope you guys win it, so people leave us alone,'" Eruzione joked. The 1980 Team's victory over the Soviets was so meaningful and has endured so long because it was, to a very large degree, more than just sports. America was still recovering from Watergate and Vietnam, the U.S. economy was in shambles and a humiliating Iran Hos- tage Crisis had seemingly brought the world's greatest superpower to its knees. Onto this international stage, in a small upstate New York village, a bunch of college kids shocked the best team on the planet, and viewers glued to televisions around the world. As the game clock's final seconds ticked away, ABC's Al Michaels delivered one of the most famous calls in sports broadcast history: "Do you believe in miracles? YES!" Schneider and Eruzione were on the bench, waiting for their next shift, which never came. "All I know is the shifts got shorter," Schneider said, smiling. "Nobody wanted to be on the ice if the Russians scored. The last 10 minutes were tough. When you're out there you gave it everything you had to make sure they didn't score." Eruzione recalled: "Herb went down the bench and said, I want Eruzione, (Mark) Pavelich and Buzz to fol- low up the line that was out there with (Dave) Silk, (Rob) McClanahan and (Mark) Johnson," Eruzione recalled. "I was watching Robbie to see if he was going to come to the bench, then I would have jumped over." But the buzzer sounded before he could. "After that, you couldn't get to a teammate fast enough to hug," Eruzione said. Backup goalie Steve Janaszak said the game's closing minutes were almost surreal. "I remember turning to Craig Patrick after Mike Eruzione scored with 10 min- utes left to go in the game," he said. "I remember dis- tinctly looking up and having a mental disconnect be- cause the scoreboard said: USA 4, USSR 3. Something's not right." But it was! A huge roar, with delirious fans chanting "USA! USA!" could be heard blocks away. Every four years gives reason to pause, reflect and re- live the 1980 Team's inspirational achievement in Lake Placid. "What we did was special," Eruzione said. "A mo- ment like that is probably never going to happen again, not so much from a hockey standpoint, but the political climate going on around us." "But it's over," he said. "It's ended. I want to see to- day's players continue the tradition of hockey in this country. That's why I hoped this year's team would win that gold medal so my grandsons, who play hockey, could see the role models they want to have." The country needs another rallying point, too, he said. "We could use a 1980 now," Eruzione said. "We could use something to get people to come together." He's amazed at how much hockey has grown through- out the U.S. in the past 46 years, which the 1980 Team is also largely responsible for. "I think our team opened the eyes of the NHL that Americans could play and that college kids could play," Eruzione said. "Back then if you weren't playing major Junior, I don't think Ameri- cans were given an opportunity to play at the next lev- el. Look at how many Americans and how many college players are in the NHL now and look at the talent – the speed, size and skill of today's players – and where they're coming from: California, Florida, Texas and Ari- zona. It used to be Massachusetts, Michigan, Minneso- ta." "Not only men, but look at the women's game, how

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