Dear Friends and Fans:
Happy Holidays. Hockey, at all levels, is now in action. And speaking of hockey, we are on the cusp of the greatest international hockey tournament on earth – that which will be played in the 2010 Winter Olympics in Vancouver, which runs from February 12-28.
What is particularly historic about the 2010 Winter Olympics and its hockey competition is that most of it coincides with the 30th anniversary of the remarkable run of the 1980 U.S. men’s hockey team at the Lake Placid Winter Olympics.
All this ongoing and impending history is keeping my teammates and I busy with media interviews and other types of appearances.
Our team actually started out the Olympic tournament on February 12, the day prior to the Opening Ceremonies, with a 2-2 tie against Sweden. Now, of course everyone knew what team would win the gold medal, but on February 14, we stunned a solid silver medal favorite, Czechoslovakia, 7-3, to make the world take notice. Two days later, we beat Norway, 5-1; on February 18, we defeated Romania, 7-2. Team USA completed the preliminary round with a 4-2 win over West Germany on February 20.
It is often said that many people do not know, or just don’t remember, that our epic upset win over the Soviet Union – the “Miracle on Ice” – on Friday evening, February 22, did not clinch the gold medal; indeed, the win did not guarantee a medal of any type. Yet after knocking off the seemingly invincible Soviets, we did control our destiny. If we beat Finland on Sunday, we would be Olympic champions.
Our coach Herb Brooks told us that a loss to Finland in the final – to get so close and to fail – would be something we would take to our graves.
Well, that is something we just couldn’t let happen.
1980 US Olympic Hockey Team
Believe in Your Dreams – and Believe in Miracles.
Sincerely,
JIM CRAIG
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