COLUMBUS, Ohio -- A generation of Americans doesn't know the
exhilarating win dubbed the "Miracle on Ice" or the tale behind
Al Michaels' breathless call, "Do you believe in miracles? Yes!"
Jim Craig wants an upcoming movie to change that.
"It's a wonderful love story about guys who have this dream, a
coach who has a vision and a country that needed uplifting," said
Craig, the goaltender of the 1980 U.S. Olympic hockey team.
"Miracle," which opens Friday nationwide, tells the story of
20 fresh-faced college kids who upset the seemingly unstoppable
Soviets 4-3 en route to a gold medal at the Olympics in Lake
Placid, N.Y.
The star of the movie is not the scrappy team, but rather its
legendary coach.
"It's the Herb Brooks story and we just happened to be a part
of it," team captain Mike Eruzione said.
Brooks stitched together players from Minnesota, Boston and
frozen places in between only six months before the Olympics.
"We played 60 games in three months. An NHL season, at least
when I played, had 80 in nine months, so you can envision how
vigorous the training was," Craig said after a recent appearance
at a Columbus Blue Jackets game to promote the film.
The significance of the victory during the Cold War extended
beyond sports.
Iranian revolutionaries were holding 52 Americans hostage at the
U.S. embassy in Tehran. Watergate, the Vietnam War, high interest
rates and a scarcity of gasoline led President Jimmy Carter to say
America was experiencing a "crisis that strikes at the very heart
and soul and spirit of our national will."
"When you're in the Olympics and you're playing another country
the intensity is incredible. It's our way of life versus someone
else's," Craig said.
The Americans' only expectation was to avoid being embarrassed
at home. The Russians had won gold medals the last 20 years and
were so robotic and mechanical that players didn't even smile after
scoring goals.
Three days before the opening ceremony, the two teams played an
exhibition game at Madison Square Garden. The Soviets won 10-3.
"We were way strong. Nobody doubted that. We were professionals
and they were just students," Soviet starting goalie Vladislav
Tretiak said in the 2001 HBO documentary "Do You Believe in
Miracles? The Story of the 1980 U.S. Hockey Team."
"Simply put, we did not respect their team and you cannot do
that in hockey," he said.
On Feb. 22, 1980, the Americans were down 3-2 going into the
third period. Mark Johnson netted a goal to even the score, and 81
seconds later Eruzione added another.
"You play hockey and you practice everyday, and I had the
chance to do something special, and I did," Eruzione said. "Mine
just happened to be the right one at the right time."
The frenzied crowd of 8,500 chanted "USA! USA!" But the
players and Brooks could only bite their lips and glance nervously
at the scoreboard.
There were still 10 minutes left.
"The thing you were always worried about is the Russians had
won so many games in their careers in the last two minutes, last
five minutes, so 10 minutes -- it was like a lifetime," Craig said.
Many people still get chills when they remember the last seconds
of the game ticking away, the famous call by sportscaster Michaels,
the young team spilling onto the ice with sticks and fists raised,
mouths wide with screams of victory.
They didn't realize the rest of the country was celebrating,
too.
"We weren't allowed to talk to the media, so we didn't even
know people were watching. When we got out in the countryside,
that's when we realized it was pretty special," Eruzione said.
"Seeing people lining the streets in Washington, the letters,
the fan mail -- it was kind of shocking."
Eruzione, Schneider and former teammate Jack O'Callahan were to
attend a special screening of the movie Thursday night in Lake
Placid, just down Main Street from where the game was played.
Producers Gordon Gray and Mark Ciardi said they were inspired by
the victory that Sports Illustrated voted the single greatest
sports moment of the 20th century.
"These players are iconic. It's an honor to be able to tell
their story, and it's a perfect time to tell it," Ciardi said.
Kurt Russell portrays the icy intensity and calculated aloofness
of Brooks, who died in an August car crash in Minnesota. Eddie
Cahill, best known for his recurring role as Rachel Green's
assistant on "Friends," plays Craig.
Director Gavin O'Connor wanted real hockey players to portray
the athletes, so most of the "actors" are former college or
junior league hockey players. Longtime hockey player and first-time
actor Patrick O'Brien Demsey took on Eruzione's role. Left wing
Buzz Schneider is portrayed by his son Billy.
Craig wants his children to one day tell the story, which was
made into a TV movie in 1981, to their kids.
After "Miracle," 15-year-old J.D. and 12-year-old Taylor will
know that their father stood strong for a very long 10 minutes that
night, stopping 39 shots.
A miracle?
"You know what's funny," Craig said. "After you see this
movie, you'll find out that it wasn't really a miracle. It was a
lot of hard work."