February 2, 2026 • 10 mins
On this episode of Our American Stories, it was the Cold War on ice, and no one expected Team USA to win. But in 1980, a ragtag group of college kids stunned the world when they beat the seemingly unbeatable Soviet Union at the Lake Placid Winter Olympics. Mike Eruzione, captain of the U.S. Men’s Hockey Team and the man who scored the game-winning goal, tells the inside story of one of the greatest upsets in sports history.
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Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:10):
The US team is depending a little bit too much
now in Jim Craig, he's making too many good says there,
we've got that love book reaction.
Speaker 2 (00:23):
Here it is again.
Speaker 1 (00:25):
Here's a Rouzione using it aff a screen, a good
most shot.
Speaker 3 (00:30):
And we continue here with our American stories and our own.
Greg Hengler brings us this next story, and it's one
that's close to his heart. He grew up in Eden Prairie, Minnesota,
and hockey is more than a pastime to folks living
in that part of the country.
Speaker 2 (00:47):
It is the greatest American underdog sports story ever told,
how a team of college kids and unsigned amateurs under
the tutelage of legendary coach and legendary task master Herb Brooks,
beat the elite Soviet hockey team on their way to
winning the gold medal at the nineteen eighty Lake Placid Olympics.
(01:07):
Mike Rouzioni served as the captain. The highlight of the
games for Mike was scoring the game winning goal against
the Soviet Union, the one you just heard. Here's Mike
Eruzione with his story.
Speaker 4 (01:23):
I grew up in a little town on the north
shore of Boston called Winthrop, mass I still live in
that town, actually lived two houses away from the house
I grew up in. And when I was in high school,
I actually played football, hockey, and baseball. Baseball was my love.
I probably played more baseball than any sport, and football
(01:47):
was my passion in high school. Hockey was something you
just did in the wintertime. When I got out of
high school, I was not recruited by any colleges and
I ended up going to a prep school year for
one year in a school in Maine called Borough Academy,
with the hopes actually of playing at the University of
(02:08):
New Hampshire. And I wanted to play all three sports
in college, but the hockey coach didn't think I was
a Division one hockey player and kind of thought that
you and h was going to accept me. I had
all my eggs in one basket. As it turned out,
I basically had no schools to go to. Well, my
(02:29):
intention then was to go to Merrimack College. They offered
me a hockey scholarship. Merrimack was a Division III school
at the time. Well, that summer before entering my freshman year,
I didn't play hockey. In the summertime. I played baseball
and ended up getting a phone call from a friend
of mine telling me that they needed some guys to
(02:51):
play in a summer league game because a bunch of
the guys went to the Cape for the weekend and
if I was interested in playing. So of course I
said yes, and I went and played in the game,
and as it turned out, the guy refereeing the game
was a guy named Jack Parker. Jack Parker was the
assistant coach at Boston University and he came over to
(03:14):
me after the game and asked me where I was
going to school, and I told him I was going
to Merrimack College, and then he proceeded to tell me
that they had a kid from Canada that decided not
to come and they had a scholarship available. Would I
be interested in going to Boston University. Then you got
to imagine my surprise. Boston University was coming off back
to back national championships and considered one of the best
(03:36):
teams in college hockey. Well, I told him I would
accept the scholarship because I felt I could play at
Boston University given the right opportunity. So I arrived on
campus at Boston University. Unfortunately, the head coach didn't know
anything about me, and early on in the beginning of
the season, I was basically playing on the fourth line
(04:00):
and we'd only played a couple of games. But I
wasn't playing that much well as it turned out. At
one point, just before Christmas, Leon Abbott, the head coach,
got fired and Jack Parker became the head coach. So
Jack Parker becomes the head coach, and I go from
centering the fourth line to playing left wing on the
second line and was fortunate and led the team and
(04:22):
goal scored my freshman year. So I graduated from Boston
University and at that point thought I could play in
the National Hockey League and went to camp with the
New York Rangers. The New York Rangers had my rights.
I went to camp with the Rangers, had a pretty
good camp, but John Ferguson, the general manager, talked to
(04:44):
my advisor and told them that they weren't going to
sign any new players. They had enough players under contract,
and they sent me to Toledo, Ohio. And I went to Toledo,
Ohio and played as an amateur. I was not under
an NHL contract. I was paid every two weeks by
the Toledo Gold in the International League. I actually ended
up making I think my first year thirty five hundred bucks.
(05:06):
Not a lot of money playing eighty games, but it
was a start.
Speaker 2 (05:12):
Well.
Speaker 4 (05:12):
I had a very good year in Toledo. I finished
second on our team in scoring and was voted the
outstanding born American. All set and ready to sign with
the New York Rangers. Well, John Ferguson, who was the
general manager, he ended up getting fired and Fred Cherrow
now became the general manager of the New York Rangers.
(05:35):
And Fred Cherrow told my agent that they weren't signing
any of John Ferguson's players and Mike was free to
do what he wanted to do. Well, I thought, why
don't I go back to Toledo, play as an amateur
and have an opportunity to try out for the eighty
Olympic team. It's funny, if John Ferguson never got fired,
(05:55):
I probably would have signed with the New York Rangers.
Don't know where I am career would have gone, but
clearly I would not have been eligible to play on
the Olympic team. Well, with that in mind, I go
back to Toledo. I was fortunate that next year they
gave me a little more money to play, still nowhere
near what you could make playing in the NHL. But
(06:17):
I went back there with the intention of the next
year trying out for the Olympic team, and I got
invited to the Olympic Festival, ended up playing on the
Great Lakes team. We ended up winning the gold medal
at the Olympic Festival, and I was fortunate to be
elected captain of my team. Well. From the Olympic Festival,
(06:39):
I was selected by Herb as one of twenty six
players to make the eighty Olympic team, but only twenty
we're going to go to Lake Placid. Well, fortunately for me,
I was one of twenty. I also had the honor
of being elected captain of that team. Although I've said
many times we had a team of captains Mark Johnson,
(07:01):
Jack O'Callahan, Bobby Souter, Billy Baker, Kenny Morrow, Mark Wells,
Mark Pavlich, John Harrington, these guys were all captains of
their colleges or high school teams, as was Mike Ramsey,
Neil Broughton, Eric Strobel, Steve Christoph philver Coota great leaders,
great players, great people. Well. Our team traveled and trained
(07:26):
for six months, leading up to the Olympic Games in
Lake Placid, where we were part of something that was unique,
something that nobody in the world thought we could accomplish,
going to Lake Placid and winning an Olympic gold medal. Well,
after the Olympic Games, once we saw her and realized
(07:46):
what this moment was, I retired from hockey and decided
I was going to maybe get into coaching, and then
found out how big this moment was and kind of
gave me a new look on life and a lot
of different opportunities in my life. I ended up being
able to become a broadcaster working Olympic Games as a commentator.
(08:08):
Having been a commentator with the Olympic Games, I was
also able to do the New York Rangers, the New
Jersey Devils, and eventually even college hockey. Well. I got
out of the broadcasting business when my kids started to
get a little older. I have three children, a daughter Leanne,
a son Michael, and a son Paul. Since then, the
(08:29):
two of them, Michael and LeeAnne, have been married and
have now beautiful five grandchildren, four boys and a little girl.
So what started out in my high school days living
in the same town that I live in now the
opportunity to be an the Olympic team. The movie that
came out called Miracle. The visibility that our team has
(08:53):
received over the years led me to which is a
book that I wrote along with a gentleman by the
name of Neil Boudette, and the book is the Making
of a Miracle, The Untold Story of Olympic Captain Mike Eruzione.
I wrote the book for one reason and one reason only.
(09:13):
I want my grandkids to know there is more to
my life than two weeks in Lake Placid. So our
journey as a team which started in nineteen eighty since
our victory over Finland. And it's kind of funny for
me because today people still think we only played one game,
(09:37):
and they forget about the Finland game. They just think
we beat the Soviets and that was it. Our team
in nineteen eighty touched a lot of lives for a
lot of different reasons. For us, it was an opportunity
to represent our country compete in the Olympic Games with
the hope and dreams of winning the tournament, and as
it turned out, we did so. Rather than get into
(09:59):
my my whole life talking to you here, I thought
I'd give you just a little glimpse of some of
the things that have happened to me in my life.
Speaker 3 (10:08):
Thank you, and the humility you can hear it in
his voice. Guy just doesn't really want to talk about
himself in the age of selfie's an endless self promotion
that is a rare thing. And by the way that
he was captain on a team of captains tells you
everything about the guy's character. And lucky Boston University having
a guy like this teaching and leading other men and women.
(10:29):
Mike Rozione's story in his own words here on our
American Stories
The US team is depending a little bit too much
now in Jim Craig, he's making too many good says there,
we've got that love book reaction.
Speaker 2 (00:23):
Here it is again.
Speaker 1 (00:25):
Here's a Rouzione using it aff a screen, a good
most shot.
Speaker 3 (00:30):
And we continue here with our American stories and our own.
Greg Hengler brings us this next story, and it's one
that's close to his heart. He grew up in Eden Prairie, Minnesota,
and hockey is more than a pastime to folks living
in that part of the country.
Speaker 2 (00:47):
It is the greatest American underdog sports story ever told,
how a team of college kids and unsigned amateurs under
the tutelage of legendary coach and legendary task master Herb Brooks,
beat the elite Soviet hockey team on their way to
winning the gold medal at the nineteen eighty Lake Placid Olympics.
(01:07):
Mike Rouzioni served as the captain. The highlight of the
games for Mike was scoring the game winning goal against
the Soviet Union, the one you just heard. Here's Mike
Eruzione with his story.
Speaker 4 (01:23):
I grew up in a little town on the north
shore of Boston called Winthrop, mass I still live in
that town, actually lived two houses away from the house
I grew up in. And when I was in high school,
I actually played football, hockey, and baseball. Baseball was my love.
I probably played more baseball than any sport, and football
(01:47):
was my passion in high school. Hockey was something you
just did in the wintertime. When I got out of
high school, I was not recruited by any colleges and
I ended up going to a prep school year for
one year in a school in Maine called Borough Academy,
with the hopes actually of playing at the University of
(02:08):
New Hampshire. And I wanted to play all three sports
in college, but the hockey coach didn't think I was
a Division one hockey player and kind of thought that
you and h was going to accept me. I had
all my eggs in one basket. As it turned out,
I basically had no schools to go to. Well, my
(02:29):
intention then was to go to Merrimack College. They offered
me a hockey scholarship. Merrimack was a Division III school
at the time. Well, that summer before entering my freshman year,
I didn't play hockey. In the summertime. I played baseball
and ended up getting a phone call from a friend
of mine telling me that they needed some guys to
(02:51):
play in a summer league game because a bunch of
the guys went to the Cape for the weekend and
if I was interested in playing. So of course I
said yes, and I went and played in the game,
and as it turned out, the guy refereeing the game
was a guy named Jack Parker. Jack Parker was the
assistant coach at Boston University and he came over to
(03:14):
me after the game and asked me where I was
going to school, and I told him I was going
to Merrimack College, and then he proceeded to tell me
that they had a kid from Canada that decided not
to come and they had a scholarship available. Would I
be interested in going to Boston University. Then you got
to imagine my surprise. Boston University was coming off back
to back national championships and considered one of the best
(03:36):
teams in college hockey. Well, I told him I would
accept the scholarship because I felt I could play at
Boston University given the right opportunity. So I arrived on
campus at Boston University. Unfortunately, the head coach didn't know
anything about me, and early on in the beginning of
the season, I was basically playing on the fourth line
(04:00):
and we'd only played a couple of games. But I
wasn't playing that much well as it turned out. At
one point, just before Christmas, Leon Abbott, the head coach,
got fired and Jack Parker became the head coach. So
Jack Parker becomes the head coach, and I go from
centering the fourth line to playing left wing on the
second line and was fortunate and led the team and
(04:22):
goal scored my freshman year. So I graduated from Boston
University and at that point thought I could play in
the National Hockey League and went to camp with the
New York Rangers. The New York Rangers had my rights.
I went to camp with the Rangers, had a pretty
good camp, but John Ferguson, the general manager, talked to
(04:44):
my advisor and told them that they weren't going to
sign any new players. They had enough players under contract,
and they sent me to Toledo, Ohio. And I went to Toledo,
Ohio and played as an amateur. I was not under
an NHL contract. I was paid every two weeks by
the Toledo Gold in the International League. I actually ended
up making I think my first year thirty five hundred bucks.
(05:06):
Not a lot of money playing eighty games, but it
was a start.
Speaker 2 (05:12):
Well.
Speaker 4 (05:12):
I had a very good year in Toledo. I finished
second on our team in scoring and was voted the
outstanding born American. All set and ready to sign with
the New York Rangers. Well, John Ferguson, who was the
general manager, he ended up getting fired and Fred Cherrow
now became the general manager of the New York Rangers.
(05:35):
And Fred Cherrow told my agent that they weren't signing
any of John Ferguson's players and Mike was free to
do what he wanted to do. Well, I thought, why
don't I go back to Toledo, play as an amateur
and have an opportunity to try out for the eighty
Olympic team. It's funny, if John Ferguson never got fired,
(05:55):
I probably would have signed with the New York Rangers.
Don't know where I am career would have gone, but
clearly I would not have been eligible to play on
the Olympic team. Well, with that in mind, I go
back to Toledo. I was fortunate that next year they
gave me a little more money to play, still nowhere
near what you could make playing in the NHL. But
(06:17):
I went back there with the intention of the next
year trying out for the Olympic team, and I got
invited to the Olympic Festival, ended up playing on the
Great Lakes team. We ended up winning the gold medal
at the Olympic Festival, and I was fortunate to be
elected captain of my team. Well. From the Olympic Festival,
(06:39):
I was selected by Herb as one of twenty six
players to make the eighty Olympic team, but only twenty
we're going to go to Lake Placid. Well, fortunately for me,
I was one of twenty. I also had the honor
of being elected captain of that team. Although I've said
many times we had a team of captains Mark Johnson,
(07:01):
Jack O'Callahan, Bobby Souter, Billy Baker, Kenny Morrow, Mark Wells,
Mark Pavlich, John Harrington, these guys were all captains of
their colleges or high school teams, as was Mike Ramsey,
Neil Broughton, Eric Strobel, Steve Christoph philver Coota great leaders,
great players, great people. Well. Our team traveled and trained
(07:26):
for six months, leading up to the Olympic Games in
Lake Placid, where we were part of something that was unique,
something that nobody in the world thought we could accomplish,
going to Lake Placid and winning an Olympic gold medal. Well,
after the Olympic Games, once we saw her and realized
(07:46):
what this moment was, I retired from hockey and decided
I was going to maybe get into coaching, and then
found out how big this moment was and kind of
gave me a new look on life and a lot
of different opportunities in my life. I ended up being
able to become a broadcaster working Olympic Games as a commentator.
(08:08):
Having been a commentator with the Olympic Games, I was
also able to do the New York Rangers, the New
Jersey Devils, and eventually even college hockey. Well. I got
out of the broadcasting business when my kids started to
get a little older. I have three children, a daughter Leanne,
a son Michael, and a son Paul. Since then, the
(08:29):
two of them, Michael and LeeAnne, have been married and
have now beautiful five grandchildren, four boys and a little girl.
So what started out in my high school days living
in the same town that I live in now the
opportunity to be an the Olympic team. The movie that
came out called Miracle. The visibility that our team has
(08:53):
received over the years led me to which is a
book that I wrote along with a gentleman by the
name of Neil Boudette, and the book is the Making
of a Miracle, The Untold Story of Olympic Captain Mike Eruzione.
I wrote the book for one reason and one reason only.
(09:13):
I want my grandkids to know there is more to
my life than two weeks in Lake Placid. So our
journey as a team which started in nineteen eighty since
our victory over Finland. And it's kind of funny for
me because today people still think we only played one game,
(09:37):
and they forget about the Finland game. They just think
we beat the Soviets and that was it. Our team
in nineteen eighty touched a lot of lives for a
lot of different reasons. For us, it was an opportunity
to represent our country compete in the Olympic Games with
the hope and dreams of winning the tournament, and as
it turned out, we did so. Rather than get into
(09:59):
my my whole life talking to you here, I thought
I'd give you just a little glimpse of some of
the things that have happened to me in my life.
Speaker 3 (10:08):
Thank you, and the humility you can hear it in
his voice. Guy just doesn't really want to talk about
himself in the age of selfie's an endless self promotion
that is a rare thing. And by the way that
he was captain on a team of captains tells you
everything about the guy's character. And lucky Boston University having
a guy like this teaching and leading other men and women.
(10:29):
Mike Rozione's story in his own words here on our
American Stories
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