An Icy Miracle
45 years later, Jack O’Callahan remembers Team USA’s Olympic victory and one of sports’ biggest upsets
“Do you believe in miracles?!!” Anyone who watched Team USA beat Team USSR – the world’s best hockey team at the time- remembers Olympic commentator Al Michaels deliriously shouting this question to viewers from their tube television sets in the last three seconds of the game. The date was February 22, 1980, the place, Lake Placid, NY. As the Cold War silently raged in the background, the U.S. Olympic Men’s Hockey Team defied all odds as they beat the Soviet ‘Red Army.’
Team USA’s roster included the most skilled NCAA players of the day. They were coached by Herb Brooks, the last player cut from the 1960 Team USA Olympic men’s hockey roster. Brooks had as much proverbial skin in the game as his players, having missed his own chance at gold two decades earlier. The way he coached said it all.
Team USA defenseman and former Elmhurst resident Jack O’Callahan was instrumental in winning the gold. O’Callahan had been drafted by the Blackhawks two years before the Olympics.
Since the Blackhawks hung it up early this year, we thought it would be fun to remember a frozen moment in hockey – and Olympic – history in the runup to the Stanley Cup. O’Callahan shared his thoughts with Hinsdale Magazine Group Contributing Editor Maureen Callahan.
Team USA lost to Team USSR less than two weeks before meeting again at the Olympic Games. Were Americans surprised Team USA won?
We beat the Russians on a Friday afternoon, which was great because we played a 4:00 p.m. game, but it was on tape delay, so nobody in the U.S. watched it in real time. The only people who knew we won were either Canadians, residents of Lake Placid, broadcasters who aired the game or people who had listened to it live on the radio. I don’t know how many people had planned to watch it either because we had lost 10-1 to the Soviets at Madison Square Garden just ten days before we faced them in the Olympics. Most people don’t want to watch a car crash in real time (O’Callahan laughed). But after we won that afternoon, the networks were saying things like, ‘We’re not going to tell you what happened in Lake Placid this afternoon, but be sure you don’t miss it tonight at 8!’
Do you remember that moment well?
Yes! I’ll never forget it. The stadium was absolutely crazy! People on the street outside were going nuts! The team was all staying in the Olympic Village, but after we played, the hotel where our parents were staying threw us a big party. They put together a few conference rooms, and we had dinner while we watched the game with our families. It was such an amazing night!
Before the game against the Soviets, Coach Brooks told the team, ‘This is way more than a hockey game.’ What do you think he really meant?
There really was so much more to it than hockey. The country had been through a lot of turmoil in the decades before that game. Most of the guys on that team were born in the 50s. Many of our fathers had fought in the Korean War and were very proud Americans. A generation gap developed in the 60s – an era of racial and social unrest, Vietnam, Kennedy getting shot, draft dodging, etc. The country was very disconnected. Then we showed up in Lake Placid in 1980, and for two weeks, we played every other night. The momentum built up, and for the first time in a long time, everyone was very proud of the USA again. When we beat the Russians, it really brought the country – and the generations- back together.
Team USA beat the ‘Soviet Red Army’ by a miracle.
Was the Finland game – the final hockey game of the 1980 Olympics in which Team USA captured the gold – as hard?
Put it this way, the practice we played after we won the game against the Soviets but before we played Finland was the hardest one we ever had. Coach Brooks never dialed it down. As a matter of fact, it was the opposite. He pushed us so hard that we were like, ‘What is he trying to do? Kill us?’ That’s when he told us, ‘Do you think the Fins are going to lie down and give you this game? You’ve played six games as the underdog. Now you’re the favorite. The world is watching you, and everybody is waiting for you to lose. And if you do, you will take it to your grave!’
He was right. The Fins were a phenomenal team. The last period of that game, to our credit and Coach Brooks’, was probably the best 20 minutes of play in our year together as a team. We were down 2-1 going into the third period, but the Fins barely touched the puck in that last period. We beat Finland 4-2 for the gold!
The vendetta was real for Coach Herb Brooks.
How do you think Brooks’ style of coaching affected the Olympic victory?
Brooks knew his players well. He had coached most of them at some time before he assembled his Olympic team. He reminded all of us daily that he expected top effort every day. ‘Show up one day and give me 95% and you’ll make my job easy because I’ll get rid of you,’ he always told us. He constantly pushed us and that made us push each other.
Did playing on this team change the trajectory of your life?
I loved playing hockey in high school, and my team at Boston University (BU) won the NCAA tournament. That led to my spot on the Olympic team. While it was the honor of a lifetime, I always knew there would be life after hockey. Even when I was at BU and got drafted by The Blackhawks, the first thing I thought was, ‘If I play in Chicago, maybe I could learn how to trade commodities.’ So, playing hockey got me to where I eventually wanted to be. I now own an asset management firm.
Is the team doing anything to celebrate the 45th anniversary?
We didn’t really do anything this year to celebrate, but we get together from time to time, and we’re all still close. Our first big reunion was in 2000. I talk to [Mike] Eruzione the most because we’re both from Boston and went to BU together, and now we both live in Florida. I talk to [Rob] McClanahan probably second most. But we’re hockey guys, so we’re all tight. Even Ralph [Cox] and Jack [Hughes], the last two guys who were cut from the roster right before the Olympics, are always included when we meet. We’ll probably do something for the 50th anniversary.
