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Availability of RSNs varies by zip code and package. This is Lee Habib and this is Our American Stories, the show where America is the star and the American people. It's known as the greatest sports moment of the 20th century. But no matter how familiar you are with the story of the 1980 US Olympic hockey team's Lake Placid miracle on ice, you will soon see that this event seems even more unlikely now than it felt decades ago. We're about to do what we always strive to do with our storytelling here at Our American Stories, add new details to our hearts familiar pictures.
Let's take a listen. It was more than a hockey game. It was us against them. It was freedom versus communism.
Nobody gave us a hope in Halloween. It was a sliver of the Cold War, played out on a sheet of ice. Here you have a bunch of fresh-faced college kids taking on the big bad Soviet bear in the United States, in the Olympics. The confluence of events was so extraordinary it can never happen again. Nobody paid attention to what Americans said in the world anymore. Our hostages had been taken and we couldn't get them back. The Red Army went into Afghanistan. We couldn't get them out. It might have been the all-time low point for American public self-esteem. Who knew that these kids would become the vehicle for making people feel excited and proud again to wave a flag? It was a miracle.
David slew Goliath. It was the greatest sports moment of the 20th century. Five seconds left in the game. Do you believe in miracles?
Yes! Unbelievable. No one could know how important one game could possibly be to a nation that seemed to be losing its way. Certainly not in 1979, when a weary America heard from its embattled leader who told us we were a nation in crisis. It is a crisis of confidence. It is a crisis that strikes at the very heart and soul and spirit of our national will. President Carter was seen as an expression of the American self-doubt and lack of self-confidence of the mid-70s. Here's Vice President under Jimmy Carter, Walter Mondale. Our public support was eroding rapidly.
You could feel it when you're out with people, when you're giving speeches, when you're shaking hands. America, I think, had begun to wonder whether we'd lost our edge. In the 20 years since winning the gold medal at the 1960 Olympics, American teams had become increasingly unable to compete with the dominant Europeans, especially the Soviet Union, whose players were amateurs in name only. The goal was to avoid being embarrassed at home. So in July of 1979, the best amateur players in the country were invited to try out for the 1980 Olympic team. They invited us all to Colorado Springs and they divided us up into four teams.
Basically Eastern guys, Michigan guys, Minnesota guys, and an at-large team. Over the course of 10 days in Colorado Springs, those four teams played a round-robin. It was a nerve-wracking situation. It was a pressure-packed situation. And as that tournament went on, it was being evaluated by Herb Brooks.
Minnesota native Herb Brooks never went to charm school. He was abrasive and intense. He was also the best college hockey coach in the country at the University of Minnesota. People were a little afraid of him.
He had always been considered kind of an outsider, had his own way of thinking, his own way of doing things. And he already had a history with the Olympic team. As a University of Minnesota player, Brooks thought he had made the team in 1960.
He was even in the team picture. But at the last minute, coach Jack Riley added a new player to the roster and someone had to go. The someone was Herb Brooks.
Cut just one day before the team left for the games. A crushed Herb Brooks immediately called his father to vent. So I called and said, Dan, this whole thing is bull.
It's the Eastern coach, all fixed all politics. And I went through the whole thing and finally, my father said, you've done this. Yeah, he said, let it keep your bleeped. I'm all shut. I've heard enough of that. You get back and thank the coach.
You get your ass in the locker room, wish your teammates well, and get your asshole. That was my father, God rest his soul. I said, yes, sir. So I came home. I watched this thing unfold. The Americans got hot.
And then what, our country's first global? I didn't watch this thing on TV. My father looked over at me. He says, looks like the coach cut the right guy, didn't he?
And I'm just, there you go. That left unfinished business in Herb Brooks' life. He had something to prove. He was on a mission. A mission to shake American hockey out of its slumber.
What's this? First, Brooks had to trim the roster from 80 to 26. Tough part would be getting it down to 20 before the opening ceremonies. Behind the Iron Curtain, the Soviets were the best hockey team in the world, perhaps the strongest ever assembled. And everybody knew it. Vladislav Tretyak grew up outside Moscow and became immersed in the Soviet's communist sports machine at a young age. He developed into perhaps the greatest goaltender to ever play and starred on the Soviet national team for over 15 years. By 1980, Boris Mikhailov was already a 10-year veteran of the Soviet national team and the most recognizable face in international hockey.
Here's Boris Mikhailov. Sport was tied with politics and any victory had big political undertones, especially during the Olympic Games when the General Secretary and everybody else was worried about how we would represent our country. Our task was only to play first. They were government-sponsored magicians on ice. The goal was to win for the motherland and to show the world that Karl Marx had it right. They played hockey the way we played basketball with the same kind of control of the puck, the same kind of intricate offensive patterns, and, of course, the presence and goal of Tretyak.
How could you beat him? And you've been listening to the story of the miracle on ice. It was more than hockey. It was us against them, college kids against the big, bad Soviet bear. And then, of course, you hear about Herb Brooks, who was cut one day before the 1960 Olympics.
This just propelled his engine to succeed. When we come back, more of the story of the miracle on ice here on Our American Stories. This is Lee Habib, host of Our American Stories. Every day, we set out to tell the stories of Americans, past and present, from small towns to big cities and from all walks of life doing extraordinary things, but we truly can't do this show without you. Our shows are free to listen to, but they're not free to make. If you love what you hear, go to OurAmericanStories.com and make a donation to keep the stories coming. That's OurAmericanStories.com This story, rated PG-13, may be inappropriate for children under 13.
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After all, how many times does one have to get hit with the same hammer and sickle before they learn? We also need to change the way we play the game. North American hockey had forever been a very linear dump and chase style of hockey.
Unlike the Soviets and Europeans, who played an artistic, very free-flowing system, built on finesse, speed, conditioning, and overlapping movements. Most of all, team chemistry. Brooks was calling for a revolution in American hockey. I tried to develop a team that would throw their game right back at me.
But first, Brooks would have to get his players to start thinking as a team, which wouldn't be easy. The rivalry between the University of Minnesota and Boston University was one of the fiercest in all of college hockey. And regional tensions between many of the new teammates ran high. As much as I was a Boston hockey player, and I had pride in my roots as a Boston hockey player, I had an enemy. And my enemy was the University of Minnesota. The Boston guys, we thought we were pretty savvy. And they were guys that didn't lock their doors or left their wallets out in plain sight. We thought, these guys are a bunch of hicks from the cow pastures. I wanted to blur the boundaries of our country, build a we and an us in ourselves as opposed to an I, me, myself. Our spirit was going to be a big asset.
And you can't have that type of thing if you have pockets of individuals and that there's not those team-building exercises throughout the year. To fill the most important role, Brooks picked 22-year-old Boston University goaltender Jim Craig, the man who would backstop history. You know, people I speak to say Craig's game's been off since his mom died. They were seeing when his game's on.
Craig was recovering from the recent death of his mother, Margaret, to cancer. Starting in August of 1979, Brooks began employing his main team-building exercise to bond them as a team. His players needed one common enemy. I'll be your coach. Him.
I won't be your friend if you need one of those. I remember when he told us, I'll be your coach, but I won't be your friend. And I'm like, boy, this is going to be a long year.
He quoted in the paper that I had a million dollar set of legs and a $0.10 fart for a brain. He could give you that glare and that look, and it's like, oh my god, what did I do wrong now? One of the first things Herb told his assistant coach Craig Patrick was, I'm going to be tough on them, and you are going to have to be the one who keeps everyone together.
It was an elaborate and flawlessly constructed game of good cop, bad cop. He would later call it his loneliest year in hockey. Here's Coach Brooks. A lot of these guys, being college All-Americans, they were never pushed like that, never pulled. And I wasn't trying to put greatness into anybody. I was trying to pull it out, pull it out way up here. And I don't like coaches that try to put it in because they think they've got all the answers.
But you got to believe in them, have high standards of them, and pull it out. And my favorite coach, John Witten, right here, I think he would concur with that. As September arrived, it was time to start playing against future Olympic competition. So Brooks took the team to Europe for a series of exhibition games. Before a game against Norway, a team they would have to face at the Olympics, he issued a challenge. I said, guys, we're going to have to play the Norwegians in qualifications. So we do it tonight. We send a message right now.
But playing flat and uninspired hockey, the US could only muster a 3-3 tie against a team they should have trounced. Brooks was furious. You guys don't want to work during the game? No problem.
We'll work now. Goal line. He's standing there with his suit on. He makes us all get behind the net and on the goal line. He starts blowing his horses.
And we did what are called curbies, which are blue line back, red line back, far blue line back, all the way down and back. Think you can win on talent alone? Gentlemen, you don't have enough talent to win on talent alone. Again. Two or three of those would be tiring.
Blue line back, red line back, blue line back, down and back, 10 or 12 of them would be excessive. You better think about something else, each and every one of you. When you pull on that jersey, you represent yourself and your teammates.
And a name on the front is a hell of a lot more important than the one on the back. Get that through your head. Again.
When we did them for about 45 minutes to an hour, the rink attendant turned the lights off on us, and we still skated in the dark. In the dark, he's screaming at us, booming voice around this empty arena. How about it, Silky?
You're going to be the first one to quit on me? It was pretty intense. The message went out right then. They're not going to play the game like that and disgrace their abilities or our collective efforts. That moment probably had more to do with us gelling as a team, feeling like we were a group, a family. We looked at each other and said, basically, he can do anything he wants to us. He's not going to break us. The following night, the teams played again.
The United States won 9-0. But there were still six cuts to be made, and Brooks was making it clear that no one was safe, not even the team captain. Here's team captain, Mike Eruzione. Two weeks before the Olympic games, he calls me, and he's going to cut me from the team. You're not good enough. You shouldn't be here. I never should have taken you. I'm going to send you back. Don't think I won't do it. And I'm thinking, he might just do this.
I'm like, wow. The word got down that Eruzione's job was in jeopardy. So everyone said, if he'll cut the captain, where do I stand?
Which is exactly what Brooks wanted. Timmy. What's he doing here? You guys know who he is? Turning the screws even tighter, he brought in new players for tryouts just weeks before the Olympics, provoking the same fear in his players that Brooks himself experienced in 1960 when he was cut from the Olympic team at the last minute.
But this was a new generation of player, and they'd had enough. Here's defenseman Jack O'Callaghan. And I said, you know, Herb, I don't think you should do it. I think it's wrong.
We're going to Lake Placidon in a week. I mean, stop it, get rid of these guys, and let us get serious about this. And I was looking for that moment where their cohesiveness and strength of association was such a strong bond.
And then I would just cut to court. And that was the moment. Brooks sent the late additions back home. He trimmed the roster to 20 and kept his captain. 12 Olympic team members were from Minnesota, four were from Boston, and two apiece were from Wisconsin and Michigan. But just days before the Olympics, the Americans had one more test to take. On February 9th, 1980, at Madison Square Garden in New York City, they skated onto the ice to play an exhibition game just three days before the start of the Olympics. But to their opponents on this night, it wasn't just an exhibition. The Soviets had just recently embarrassed the NHL All-Stars, the best of the best, defeating them six to nothing. But before the game, Brooks told his team to go out and have fun.
Have fun? Brooks himself later described the Garden game as a ploy. He said, what could possibly be gained by playing the Soviets tough and waking them up? We got crushed, and we thought, these guys are in another world. They just kicked us around that rink. The goals they scored, you could have filmed them. They were so beautiful. They were like robots. When they scored a goal, they never smiled.
I don't think I ever saw them smile. We were all ready to stand up and applaud them because we didn't see anything like that before. The guy's hitting our boat. You see that goal?
Do you see his move? We were spectators. I looked up at the scoreboard. It said 10 to 3.
It might as well have said 20 to nothing. 10-3 made it sound closer than it was. It was no contest. There couldn't have been a greater low point given the preparation and the work that we had put in.
It was very demoralizing. And you've been listening to the story of the 1980 U.S. Olympic hockey team's Lake Placid, New York, Miracle on Ice story. And my goodness, what Brooks did to get inside these guys' heads to play as a team and play so far above their collective talents. And he tried to get them to play Soviet-style hockey, not American hockey, and to bring these regional competitors together as one.
The hatred runs deep between Minnesota hockey and Boston hockey, and then you get to the particular colleges. And then, of course, hearing Brooks' voice. You think you can win on talent alone? He admonishes them. You don't have enough talent to win on talent alone, he says.
When we come back, how Coach Brooks molds these guys into a team capable of beating the world's greatest hockey machine here on Our American Stories. The ship's drifting out of control. Get out of there now. What happened? His card snapped. Some called it impossible. Don't care, Dave.
I don't know where I am. Others call it a miracle. He's not.
No, he's not. Focus Features presents the inspirational true story. I got an idea.
That kept the world breathless. This isn't working. You can do this, buddy. Starring Woody Harrelson. Now! Now!
And single leader. I'm not losing a diver today. Last breath based on the true story. Rated PG-13. Maybe inappropriate for children under 13. Only in theaters this Friday.
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Your best skin awaits. And we continue with our American stories and the story of the 1980 U.S. Olympic hockey team's Miracle on Ice story. Let's pick up where we last left off. As each team left New York City and headed five and a half hours north to Lake Placid, their futures seemed clear. Here's ABC's 1980 Olympic hockey announcer, Al Michaels. Anybody who left Madison Square Garden that day thought to themselves, the Soviets will win every game in the Olympics, take home the gold medal, and never be challenged. And the U.S., all you knew is that when it came time to face the big bear, they had no chance. As discouraging as the loss to the Soviets was, it was not something on the minds of Americans. Throughout 1979, as the hockey team was preparing to compete in the Olympics, Americans at large were also competing with the harsh realities of everyday life.
Here again is Michael Rosione. Look at the economy. Look how much money we're paying for gas. Inflation was absolutely ridiculous. People just didn't feel good about the United States. A lot of people wondered where we were headed. And then, in November, just when things seemed like they couldn't get any worse, This is NBC Nightly News.
they did with Jessica Savage. Good evening. The American embassy in Tehran is in the hands of Muslim students tonight. Spurred on by an anti-American speech by the Ayatollah Khomeini, they stormed the embassy and took dozens of American hostages.
In December, it would get even worse. Day 54 in Iran, and while there has been no significant change in the hostage situation, there has been a major development in the country next door to Iran, Afghanistan. During the last three days, more than 5,000 Soviet combat troops have been airlifted into Kabul.
Up to another 50,000 Soviet troops have massed along Afghanistan's northern border. It's very important for the world to realize how serious a threat the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan is. The Cold War was getting colder by the day, and with the Soviets on American soil, they were encouraged to see the American press blaming America for the world's woes. Newspapers were full of articles like blaming America for everything, so an attitude for the entire Olympic team, let's show them who we are, let's show them who are the greatest, let's show them who are the strongest, and let's show them on their soil.
The Winter Olympics began on February 12th, 1980. No one was expecting a showdown between the Americans and the Soviets, not even the team captain. Here again is Micah Ruzioni. I know you guys are really facing a Herculean task here.
It's like sending you into the lion's cage. Do you feel like that? Yes, we do.
You know, you've got to be realistic about things. We're a young team. We're the youngest Olympic hockey team ever.
If you had to pick us, it would probably be pick fifth. The Soviets blew out their first two opponents with a combined score of 33 to 4. The seventh-seeded Americans opened against the heavily favored Sweden and trailed 2 to 1 late in the final third period. Here again is Al Michaels. I remember the U.S. had several opportunities to tie the game, and you just got the feeling, and of course as the clock ticks down and now you're under a minute, well, it's not to be.
Come on now! And Brooks is pulling goalie Jim Craig for an extra skater to try to tie it up. With only 41 seconds to go, Brooks pulled goalie Jim Craig, which allowed him to put an extra skater on the ice.
But in return, it also left the American net empty. It was a desperate move for a desperate team. Fighting for control to the puck. With 29 seconds to play, Baker out in front! Go Baker!
I was just trying to get it on net. I couldn't believe it when it went in, you know. Look at that scene on the ice! You can always wonder, if Billy doesn't score, what happens to the hockey team?
Well, Billy did score. And the Americans in the key game in the first round tie it up. That was the biggest goal of the Olympics because if the Americans lose that game, they're virtually out of contention before the Olympic Games start. Two days later, the Americans faced Czechoslovakia, underdogs again, in a game they had to win. Many people said that the Czechs were considered the second best team in the world and the only team that had a chance to beat the Soviets.
Well, we pretty much dominated the Czechs. That's it! He scores! The Snyder scores! Very good for Snyder, and it's 6-2!
This is incredible. I've got to put this in perspective. Czechoslovakia, far and away, the second best team coming in. There's no question the Soviets are the best, the Czech second best, and the Americans lead 6-2. The injured American player... Then late in the third period, as the Americans were skating to a 7-3 Valentine's Day Massacre victory against the second best team in the world, Mark Johnson, the team's star player, was knocked to the ice from a cheap shot by a Czech player. As Johnson lay in the middle of the ice, Americans watching on television were introduced to Herb Brooks, up close and personal. He was expecting it. If you're going to do something to our guy, I'm going to take this stick, and I'm going to stuff it down your throat. People were ready to hear that kind of thing. He would not have sat back and let the Ayatollah stomp all over the U.S. while holding a bunch of hostages.
I think that was one of the moments where a lot of people in this country said, hey, we've got a pretty good little story taking place here. We have these fresh-faced kids, got to keep an eye on these guys, and look at this coach. I mean, he's right there, back on his players. So everybody's starting to look ahead to this prospective matchup against the Soviets, but before that, you have three other games. Norway figured to be the easiest of the games, and it was. Kavalich, who gets it back to Selk, who scores. David Selk from Martin Kavalich. Then you had Romania.
He scores. And they won that game. Germany presented a little bit of a problem, though, on Wednesday night, the last game prior to going into the medal round.
Germany leads 2-0. So wait a second. What's going on here? You don't want this bump in the road.
You don't want it now. Blocked out in front. Then the U.S. was able to come from behind and beat Germany. So they did all of the things they had to do.
But then, of course, you had the specter of the Soviets just blooming there. Seemingly no one, certainly not a bunch of college kids, could stop them from winning the gold medal. Herb Brooks, after all, wasn't coaching a dream team. He was coaching a team full of dreamers. There's a big difference.
Today, the concept of amateurs in the Olympics is as obsolete as eight-track ascents. The expression dream team has become part of the five-ring lexicon. Herb Brooks would later see the dream team as ironic, because when you have dream teams, you seldom get to dream. But this was a game of striking contrasts. It was experience versus youth, men versus boys, champions versus upstarts, communism versus capitalism, all on a sheet of ice in the Adirondack Mountains. After studying the Soviets for years, Herb Brooks could sense their overconfidence and told his team to take advantage of it.
I kept wetting their appetites. Someone will beat those guys. Someone's going to beat those guys. I don't like how they're playing.
They think they're better than they are. Brooks also thought his team was giving too much respect to the Soviets, so he began chipping away at their mystique by poking fun at their leader, one of the top players in the world, who just happened to look a lot like a famous comedian. Boris Mikhailov was as close to the hockey chief of the world as there was, and Herbie starts teasing the guy all week. Look at that guy's nose. God, look at that guy's face. Looks like Stan Laurel. And he's insulting the guy. Can't play against Stan Laurel.
Piece of cake, guys. To relax them, to keep them focused, and also plan it and say, hey, someone's going to beat those son of a guns. And you've been listening to the story of the 1980 U.S. Olympic hockey team, Lake Placid, New York, miracle on ice story. It's experience versus youth.
It's communism versus capitalism. What will happen next? Well, Herb Brooks is already chipping away at the mystique of this Soviet team like a great leader would, mocking and satirizing them. When we come back, more of this remarkable story, the story of the 1980 miracle on ice, here on Our American Stories. Last breath based on the true story. Rated PG-13 may be inappropriate for children under 13. Only in theaters this Friday.
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One $125 through $331.25. For full terms and conditions, visit cprewards.com. This is Serena Pitt from Bachelor Happy Hour. At David's Bridal, love is in every stitch. From the initial sketch to the final details, each style is designed with exquisite craftsmanship. With a full range of accessories, dresses, and outfits for the entire wedding party at affordable prices, you don't have to break the bank for everyone to look their best selves on your big day. David's Bridal knows how important it is to every bride to find the perfect dress and now you can turn all your wedding dreams into reality with Pearl by David's. From the perfect dress to wedding planning no matter your budget, Pearl by David's is your go-to for all your wedding needs. From ideas and inspiration to managing to-dos, Pearl's free planning tool will help you turn your wedding dreams into reality.
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That's dimebeautyco.com. Your best skin awaits. And we continue with our American stories and the story of the miracle on ice. Let's pick up where we last left off. Then, on Friday, February 22nd, the Cold War was put on ice. The 13th Winter Olympic Games.
The excitement, the tension building, the Olympic center filling to capacity. In the locker room before the game, Herb Brooks gave the speech of his life. You were born to be hockey players. He told us we were born to be a player.
We were meant to be here. This moment was ours. This is your time.
And he told that story about going up and spitting in the eye of the tiger. This is our time. It's not their time. Screw them, Stan Laurel, all those Russians.
Now go out there and take it. It's our turn. And I remember a telegram we got from a lady in Texas. And all the telegram said was, beat those commies. You realized that the USA on the front of your sweater meant that you were playing for your country. One, two, three, USA!
Here we go as the game is underway. The Soviet Union in red and the United States in white. I remember for the first five or six minutes the feeling as though I couldn't feel my feet on the ice. The Soviets struck first. And it was deflected in. And the Soviet Union leads one to nothing at the 9-12 mark of the first period. The Russians scored first.
And you winced and thought, here it comes. But the US team took that blow. Craig made some key saves. And then Buzzy Schneider came down the left wing. Travelers up ahead to Schneider, shot shot goes in for Schneider. That's the type of goal you don't expect somebody like Freddie Eck to give up.
The tie-in goal failed to unnerve the Soviets. And gets it back and scores. They quickly scored again. And it looked like the first period would end with them leading 2-1. But with just seconds remaining, the methodical team that almost never made mistakes made the worst kind, a mental error.
And it changed the course of the game. David Christian has the puck. It's about five seconds left to go in the period. I stopped to skate to the bench thinking the period's over.
And I remember seeing Mark Johnson go scooting up. Like, he just didn't stop playing. He was still playing. The Russians had stopped.
That made it one to nothing. Long shot, easy save by Treadyack, but Johnson is there and scores! With one second to play in the period. The Soviets aimed to fix that mistake in the second period, quickly scoring the go-ahead goal. They dominated the action, outshooting the Americans 11-2 in the second period. Only Jim Craig's brilliance and goal prevented the game from becoming a blowout. But the Americans had never come from behind the best team in the world. And the Soviets always dominated the third and final period. It looked as if this night would be no different.
That is, until lightning struck. They chop it in. It's followed by Dustin. They score! Just 81 seconds later, the team's captain, whose name in Italian means eruption, triggered one. And it scores!
Mike LaRosciotti! And that's when the building went crazy. I mean, that's when sound had feel. I mean, that was like an earthquake. Now we've got Bedlam. Oh, I love Brooks' reaction.
Here it is again. The atmosphere in that arena was incredible. The feeling, the sense that they could do this, that they could actually pull it off. That goal coming at the 10-minute mark, exactly halfway through the period. When I sat on it, I looked up and I went, 10 minutes. That's a long time against these guys. They could score in 10 minutes, but it would take us 60 minutes to score.
And I knew that. Too much time, too much time. We can't hold them off this long.
It was just a constant clock watch. Shift by shift, shift by shift. Eight and a half minutes to play. The Americans now leading. 4-3. It went on forever. Time just stood still. Five and a half minutes to play. 3.53 remaining in the game.
2.25, 2.24, 2.23 remaining. It kept building and building, and the clock kept winding down, and it just got louder and louder. 55 seconds, but they pile up, and there's the puck. 28 seconds. The crowd going insane.
The plant in hand is there. The puck is still loose. 11 seconds. You've got 10 seconds. The countdown going on right now. Morrow up the shelf. Five seconds left in the game.
Do you believe in America? Yes! Unbelievable. The entire U.S. bench cleared. Everyone except Coach Brooks. After throwing both arms overhead and doing a tiny pirouette and punching the air with an emphatic left fist, he walked straight off the bench, turned right into the runway, got patted on the back by weepy state troopers, and went back into locker room five. Herb Brooks locked himself inside an orange toilet stall and cried. Once the team made it into the locker room, they broke into a spontaneous chorus of God Bless America, filling in the words they couldn't remember with hums and whistles. In Lake Placid and all over the United States, the victory triggered an outpouring of national emotion never before provoked by a sporting event.
On the Iron Range in Minnesota, people ran outside and hollered and shot off guns. In the Mediterranean Sea, the USS Nimitz, one of the world's largest super-carriers, flashed the score to a Soviet intelligence ship that was nearby. The Soviets would not lose again for five years, and the Americans would not beat them for another 11 years. But the future domination came with no rewind mechanism, no claws that could undo what happened on Friday night, February 22, 1980.
It was the 13th anniversary of the film debut of Walt Disney's Cinderella. Maybe it figured. The nation continued celebrating, but for the hockey team, it wasn't over yet. People always forget that the U.S. had to win another game on Sunday.
It was still possible if the Americans did not beat the Fins that they would not only not win the gold, they wouldn't win any medal at all. And Herb understood this. And we were excited, we were anxious, we couldn't wait to get out and play. And Herb Brooks walked into the locker room, and he looked at us and he said, if you lose this game, you'll take it to your grave.
And he stopped, he walked a couple of steps, turned, looked at us again, and said, you f***ing grave. Once again, the Americans would have to come from behind. And we went out there in the third period, and I think we just steamrolled them from the time they opened that door and let us out.
They didn't have a chance. Johnson to McClellan and he scores! Three unanswered goals in the third period gave the U.S. a 4-2 win and the gold medal. The Olympics broke Herb Brooks' heart in 1960 and made him the most celebrated American hockey coach in history two decades later. But on August 11, 2003, in a single car accident, a little bit of the Lake Placid miracle died with Herbert Paul Brooks on the hot, hard asphalt of Interstate 35 in Forest Lake, Minnesota. As his casket descended down the steps of Assumption Catholic Church in St. Paul, Minnesota, it passed under a curved canopy of hockey sticks raised up by his 1980 gold medal team.
Many of those holding sticks were fighting tears and losing the fight. If Herb Brooks' passing reminds us that human beings have a shelf life, it also reminds us that miracles do not. And this miracle didn't happen on accident. I see Neil Broughton skating on a flooded rink in Roseau, Minnesota, that his father got up at 2 a.m. to make in 25 degree below zero weather. I see John Harrington's late father, Charles, skipping overtime at work to watch his kids' games because his overtime would always be there, but the games would not. And then see him years later listening to John skate against the Russians from the cab of his locomotive. I envision Margaret Craig running her goaltender's son and all her other kids all over southeastern Massachusetts, a devotion that was absolutely unstinting until her cigarette habit caught up to her and cancer arrived. Behind every player, there are stories of love and sacrifice and struggle. Life is hard, and Olympic gold medals provide no exemption.
You push on, do your best, and if you are really brave, you dream big. Doubts and fears be damned. This is the stuff that miracles are made of, and the proof was there to see on February 22, 1980. But on that day, the family gathered. First period, maybe about a dozen of us. Second period, maybe about 30 of us. Last period, the Beatini household being the place you'd go to watch a sport. The place was packed, and those are days you never forget. The miracle on ice, the story.
It's personal for people who were there, for those who've never experienced it. Well, there you have it, a story of not just a hockey game, a story of not just an Olympic event, but the story of American triumphalism and the American dream, the original dream team, here on Our American Stories. This is Serena Pitt from Bachelor Happy Hour. Hey, Bachelor Nation. Joe and I found our happily ever after, and now it's your turn to say yes to the dress of your dreams with David's Bridal.
Whether you're looking for something as timeless as our love story or a dress that makes you feel as bold as our season's unforgettable moments, David's Bridal has the perfect gown for every Bachelor fan. Go see the magic in person. Sign up for diamond loyalty to save 15% on your first purchase. Earn points towards special rewards and more at davidsbridal.com. The Unshakeables podcast is kicking off season two with an episode you won't want to miss. Join host Ben Walter, CEO of Chase for Business, as he welcomes a very special guest, Chairman and CEO of JPMorgan Chase, Jamie Dimon. Hear about the challenges facing small businesses and some of the uh-oh moments Jamie has overcome.
Listen wherever you get your podcasts. Chase mobile app is available for select mobile devices. Message and data rates may apply. JPMorgan Chase Bank NA. Member FDIC. Copyright 2025. JPMorgan Chase & Company.
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We're talking brands like Colgate, Softsoap, Palmolive, Irish Spring, Fabuloso, and Toms of Maine. And right now, you can get up to a $10 digital visa prepaid card when you buy up to $30 of Colgate Palmolive products. Here's how it works. Spend $20 on their products, get $5. Spend $30, get a $10 reward. All you do is shop your favorite brands, snap a pic of your receipt, and upload it to cprewards.com.
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For full terms and conditions, visit cprewards.com. Are you still quoting 30-year-old movies? Have you said cool beans in the past 90 days? Do you think Discover isn't widely accepted? If this sounds like you, you're stuck in the past. Discover is accepted at 99% of places that take credit cards nationwide. And every time you make a purchase with your card, you automatically earn cashback. Welcome to the now. It pays to Discover. Learn more at discover.com slash credit card. Based on the February 2024 Nilsen Report.
