Vivid Memories of the 'Miracle on Ice'

(ATR) The enduring words of legendary broadcaster Al Michaels’ ‘Do you believe in miracles? Yes!’ as the 1980 U.S. Olympic ice hockey team shocked the Soviet Union 4-3 in Lake Placid are being heard over and over again this week.

It remains a defining moment transcending the Olympic Games and sport in general, one that Michaels, who announced the classic contest for ABC Sports, is often still asked about. This week marks the 40th anniversary of the 1980 Lake Placid Olympics and remarkable hockey game referred to as the ‘Miracle on Ice'.

Members of the U.S. team are gathering in Las Vegas this Saturday, while attending an NHL game, exactly 40 years after the miraculous victory of February 22, 1980.

Surprisingly, the 5 p.m. medal round contest between the young American squad – average age of 22 – and then four-time defending Olympic champion Soviet Union wasn’t broadcast live in the U.S., but rather on tape delay in prime time later that evening.

In the quaint village of Lake Placid and throughout the Adirondack Mountain region of upstate New York, another lesser-known play-by-play announcer, Sandy Caligiore, called the game live for WNBZ-AM local radio.

"3, 2, 1…yes, it’s over, it’s over. The U.S…they said it was impossible. The United States has upset the Soviet Union. I can’t believe it, this is a miracle, I can’t believe it," Caligiore shouted from his broadcast position inside Lake Placid’s Olympic Center as flag-waving U.S. fans erupted in euphoria.

"Everyone got the story that they were hoping to get," said Caligiore, a longtime Lake Placid resident and currently the press chief for USA Luge, tells Around the Rings. "It was just a classic, back-and-forth, really close game.

"[Mike] Eruzione scores with 10 minutes to go and the place is pandemonium, but the Soviets are a high-powered machine – they just hadn’t played like it because they took this game for granted," recalled Caligiore. "They were ill-prepared for the fight of their life."

Caligiore, a veteran of seven Winter Olympics, has also worked for the U.S. Ski Team and the New York State Olympic Regional Development Authority (ORDA).

"You came to understand the totality of the moment that against these massive odds, a bunch of young college kids, with one or two veterans, they were able to come together and achieve something," he said. "It was the perfect storm.

"The jubilation and happiness at the end of the game is something you didn’t see before and you won’t see again. This is a one-of-a-kind moment."

Buzz Schneider Recalls the U.S. Victory

The upstart American hockey team trailed the Soviets 3-2 entering the third period, in what was a wild atmosphere in an arena designed for 7,700 fans, but more likely jammed with around 11,000 that evening.

Buzz Schneider – who scored the first goal for the U.S., a blistering slapshot beating legendary Soviet goaltender Vladislav Tretiak – said he and his teammates, inspired by their coach Herb Brooks, didn’t panic.

"We had 20 minutes to go – [Brooks said] don’t change anything that we’ve been working on," Schneider told Around the Rings in a phone interview from Lake Placid this week. "He kept us on track to play within the system and that’s what we did."

Mark Johnson and team captain Mike Eruzione tallied third period goals to give the U.S. a lead that they wouldn’t relinquish. Schneider recalled the tense final minute of the contest.

"It was long, but it went quick – that’s what I recall," said Schneider, the only member of the team who also played at Innsbruck 1976. "After that buzzer went, couldn’t believe it. It was unbelievable. What a relief. It’s hard to put into words."

U.S. goaltender Jim Craig was astounding, denying 36 of 39 shots as the Americans were outshot 39-16. The U.S. held off a Soviet juggernaut squad that had not lost an Olympic hockey game since 1968, and had not lost the gold since 1960, a team that had won 21 straight Olympic games.

Adding to the amazement of the victory, the same American team was trounced by the Soviet Union during a pre-Olympic contest at Madison Square Garden in New York, 10-3, just 13 days prior.

The U.S. defeated Finland 4-2 on the final day of the Olympics, two days after the Soviet victory, rallying from behind yet again, to win the gold medal.

More Than Just a Hockey Game

The improbable U.S. victory inspired a country during turbulent Cold War times, both at home and abroad. Iranian militants had seized the U.S. embassy in Tehran. The Soviet Union had invaded Afghanistan. The price of oil was rising rapidly and U.S. president Jimmy Carter declared the U.S. was boycotting the upcoming Summer Olympics in Moscow.

Schneider admitted that the tight-knit squad of U.S. collegians that bonded together under the tutelage of Brooks and his grand plans, didn’t initially recognize the greater impact of their achievement.

"We didn’t realize the magnitude of what we had done and I think it first hit us when we flew down to the White House," Schneider recalled. "We were taking a bus from the Air Force base because Walter Mondale had the presidential plane pick us up in Lake Placid.

"There were people on the streets calling us by our first names in Washington D.C. We were like "wow". Then we get back to Minneapolis and they had a parade for us between Minneapolis and St. Paul," said Schneider, one of 11 Minnesota residents on the team.

"It was just overwhelming. Phones kept ringing. From being nobody to somebody, all within two weeks.

"We understood what was happening with the political climate in our country at that time, but we were out there just trying to play well in the Olympics.

"It turned out to be bigger than actual sports. Like Herbie (Brooks) said "We shocked not just the hockey world, but the whole world."

Written and reported by Brian Pinelli

Follow Brian on Twitter: @Brian_Pinelli

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