The Making of a Miracle: The Untold Story of the Captain of the 1980 Gold Medal-Winning U.S. Olympic Hockey Team

by Mike Eruzione, Neal Boudette, Al Michaels (Foreword by)

Overview

On the fortieth anniversary of the historic "Miracle on Ice," Mike Eruzione—the captain of the 1980 U.S Men’s Olympic Hockey Team, who scored the winning goal—recounts his amazing career on ice, the legendary upset against the Soviets, and winning the gold medal.

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 taskmaster—Herb Brooks, beat the elite Soviet hockey team on their way to winning the gold medal at the 1980 Lake Placid Olympics. No one believed the scrappy Americans had a real shot at winning. Despite being undefeated, the U.S.—the youngest team in the competition—were facing off against the four-time defending gold medalist Russians. But the Americans’ irrepressible optimism, skill, and fearless attitude helped them outplay the seasoned Soviet team and deliver their iconic win.

As captain, Mike Eruzione led his team on the ice on that Friday, February 22, 1980. But beating the U.S.S.R was only one of the numerous challenges Mike has faced in his life. In this inspiring memoir, he recounts the obstacles he has overcome, from his blue-collar upbringing in Winthrop, Massachusetts, to his battle to make the Boston University squad; his challenges in the minor leagues and international tournaments to his selection to the U.S. team and their run for gold. He also talks about the aftermath of that stupendous win that inspired and united the nation at a time of crisis in its history.

Eruzione has lived a hockey life full of unexpected twists and surprising turns. Al Michaels’ famous call in 1980—"do you believe in miracles? YES!"—could have been about Mike himself. Filled with vivid portraits—from his hard-working, irrepressible father to the irascible Herb Brooks to the Russian hall of famers Tretiak, Kharlamov, Makarov, and Fetisov—this lively, fascinating look back is destined to become a sports classic and is a must for hockey fans, especially those who witnessed that miraculous day.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780062960962
Publisher:	HarperCollins
Publication date:	01/26/2021
Pages:	288
Sales rank:	110,950
Product dimensions:	5.31(w) x 8.00(h) x 0.65(d)

About the Author

Mike Eruzione is the director of special outreach at his alma mater, Boston University. He has been a television commentator, a motivational speaker, and a hockey coach. He lives in Winthrop, Massachusetts.

Neal Boudette, also a graduate of Boston University, is a reporter for the New York Times. He lives in Ann Arbor, Michigan.

Al Michaels has logged more hours on network television than anyone in history, including twenty years as the play-by-play voice of Monday Night Football. Michaels is currently the play-by-play voice of NBC's Sunday Night Football, TV's highest-rated show.

Table of Contents

Foreword Al Michaels ix

Chapter 1 February 22, 1980 1

Chapter 2 Three Floors, No Doors 5

Chapter 3 "There's No Spot for You" 15

Chapter 4 A Chance Encounter 27

Chapter 5 The Brawl in Denver 43

Chapter 6 East Versus West 59

Chapter 7 "Mr. Brooks Is My Father" 73

Chapter 8 "We're a Family Now" 93

Chapter 9 Spit in the Tiger's Eye 119

Chapter 10 "I Just Have a Feeling" 137

Chapter 11 Magic 157

Chapter 12 One Moment in Time 171

Chapter 13 "Hello, Mr. President" 193

Chapter 14 Possibilities I Never Imagined 213

Chapter 15 "Three Inches to the Left" 227

Chapter 16 A Bond That Can Never Be Broken 241

Chapter 17 How Close to Home 257

Acknowledgments 267

Appendix 271

Editorial Reviews

"Eruzione’s account of the game itself can’t help being entertaining, but far more interesting are the details he embroiders around the edges."  — The New York Times Book Review

“Buoyant, earnest…this heartwarming memoir will delight more than just hockey fans.”  — Publishers Weekly

“Eruzione adds an honest insider’s view of the Miracle, which will appeal to hockey fans and admirers of sports autobiographies.”  — Library Journal

“The best part of the narrative is the you-are-there, blow-by-blow account of that Lake Placid game of 1980, told with verve and a sharp eye for the right detail, which served [Eruzione] well in a later career as a sports commentator. . . . Fans of Olympic hockey will delight in Eruzione’s spirited memoir.”  — Kirkus Reviews

From the Publisher

One senses…that Mike Eruzione has told this story before…This is not a knock on his book…On the contrary, the anecdotes it collects are all the better for surely having been workshopped over the past 40 years. Eruzione knows his best material…The Miracle on Ice has long since passed into American lore. Eruzione's account of the game itself can't help being entertaining, but far more interesting are the details he embroiders around the edges.

The New York Times Book Review - John Swansburg

11/25/2019

Mike Eruzione, who scored the game-winning goal for the U.S. hockey team against its vaunted Russian opponents in the 1980 Winter Olympics, traces his path to glory and his charmed life afterward in this buoyant, earnest memoir. Growing up in working-class Winthrop, Mass., Eruzione’s first pair of skates were his sister’s—complete with pom-poms. His hockey skills were overlooked until the end of high school, when Boston University coach Jack Parker discovered Eruzione while refereeing the high school’s summer hockey game. Then, in another stroke of luck, Eruzione, who went on to play for BU, played few enough games in the minor leagues to maintain his amateur status, which qualified him for the Olympic team. Eruzione comes across as eminently down to earth, whether it’s reminiscing about his loving and chaotic childhood household (“Three floors, no doors”) or trying to decipher stern Olympic head coach Herb Brooks, whose relentless, cerebral coaching style prohibited intimacy (“I wish I had been able to know him better than I did”). Eruzione recalls what seemed to be a simpler time—when major news came through television, newspapers, or word of mouth, and when the U.S. Olympic team was comprised of scrappy amateurs. This heartwarming memoir will delight more than just hockey fans. (Jan.)

Publishers Weekly

"Eruzione’s account of the game itself can’t help being entertaining, but far more interesting are the details he embroiders around the edges." 

The New York Times Book Review

01/01/2020

American hockey fans love the story of the "Miracle on Ice" from the 1980 Olympics, where the U.S. team beat the perennial champions from the then Soviet Union and went on to win gold. Unlike the NHL star-studded Olympic teams of the past 20 years, the 1980 team (like the team from the most recent Winter games), comprised of college players and those from the amateur leagues. This work by former NHL star Eruzione and journalist Boudette tells of that season. As team captain and the player who scored the game-winning goal, Eruzione was a vital part of the "Miracle on Ice," which, in turn, shaped his future. In addition to his miracle story, the book chronicles Eruzione's blue-collar upbringing in the Boston area, his last-minute recruitment to play for Boston University, his brief minor league career, and his post-Olympic life. Eruzione wraps up by reflecting on the enduring and wide-reaching effect of that game. VERDICT Eruzione adds an honest insider's view of the Miracle, which will appeal to hockey fans and admirers of sports autobiographies.—Sara Holder, Univ. of Illinois Libs., Champaign

Library Journal

2019-10-28
The captain of the 1980 "miracle on ice" turns in his account of that victory.

In a moment that's lodged in the memories of millions, Eruzione recounts how a team of American amateur hockey players, a couple of them still teenagers, faced off against a veteran Russian squad made up of professionals. It was a long shot, reckoned the author, who captained the American Olympic team at Lake Placid, and scarcely believable when the scoreboard turned 4-3 in favor of his team. Forging them into a unit was the work of coach Herb Brooks, who had a curious method: "he made us a close-knit team by making himself everybody's enemy." When his team won, he went off alone, not joining in the celebration. It was strange behavior, but it worked, and, as Eruzione allows, nobody was better than Brooks at getting inside a player's head and pushing the right buttons to achieve the desired results. Some of the book, charming but hardly indispensable, concerns the author's childhood in a poor but aspirational Italian American family in Boston, where "my mother had a pot with sausage and gravy on the stove every day." Students of athletic development will be interested in his observation that he came to excel in hockey because he played two other sports, baseball and football, that taught him transferrable skills. But the best part of the narrative is the you-are-there, blow-by-blow account of that Lake Placid game of 1980, told with verve and a sharp eye for the right detail, which served him well in a later career as a sports commentator: "Mark picked up the puck and hit Robby McClanahan on the left wing. His shot went wide. Back the Soviets came to our side. Alexander Golikov tried a backhander. Jimmy sticked it aside. The puck got tied up along the boards. Another whistle. And an incident."

Fans of Olympic hockey will delight in Eruzione's spirited memoir.

Kirkus Reviews