The ‘Miracle on Ice’ is an integral part of hockey lore. And The Hockey News was there. Tom Murray, just named editor-in-chief, filed from Lake Placid, N.Y., providing not only the nuts and bolts of the Americans’ stunning win over the Soviet Union but also the color you only get from being a witness.
In his story, Murray describes Team USA players celebrating their monumental upset by rolling on the ice “like kids in snow,” while the stoic Soviets waited expressionless for the handshake line.
There’s also insight from an unnamed USSR coach, who explains the shocking mid-game pull of goalie Vladislav Tretiak for Vladimir Myshkin: “Tretiak was nervous,” he said. “He played those two goals poorly, and we felt it would be best to replace him.”
Northland Hockey Gretzky SeriesAnd, of course, there was the ever-quotable U.S. coach Herb Brooks, who was asked about facing the Finns with gold on the line after the emotional win over the Soviets: “I’m still in a state of euphoria, but they scare the hell out of me,” he said before adding with a grin, “Why shouldn’t I be scared? How’d you like to put your future in the hands of a bunch of 20-year-old kids?”
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