“I get sick of hearing about miracles. It wasn’t a miracle. We earned every victory, including the Soviets. I’m not to say we were a better team than the Soviets, but we were better that day…it’s not a miracle. Those kids played their heads off…they deserved to win, period, so don’t say miracle”.
Yet we do. Even forty years later.
Those words from U.S. Hockey Hall of Famer Lou Vairo are part of “Witness to a Miracle”, an hour-long examination of the people, and events, that led up to the American men’s Olympic hockey team standing atop the medal podium back in February of 1980.
On Friday, February 21st, beginning at 12 noon Eastern, SiriusXM NHL Network Radio presents “Witness To A Miracle”. You’ll hear from five individuals who, in different roles, were directly connected to the team, and all five were in the arena that afternoon in picturesque Lake Placid, New York when the Americans edged the Soviets 4-3.
The passage of time has done little to dull the enormity of the accomplishment of a group of young men from the United States pulled off one winter’s day four decades ago. Surf the internet, or even better yet, read a book, and you’ll soon discover sports history is chock full of unlikely heroes, and their glorious quests; of David rising up to smite Goliath. The 1980’s U.S. Men’s Olympic Ice Hockey Team took all those literary references and breathed life into them, and in the process, took an entire nation on the thrill ride of a lifetime, one that continues to resonate all these years later.
From Hockey Hall of Fame journalists such as Frank Brown, who covered the team, to the people behind the scenes like Lou Vairo, “Witness to a Miracle” takes us back to a time when the Cold War was still raging, and any chance to poke the Russian Bear was celebrated. Sports Illustrated called it the greatest moment in American sports, which is quite something considering the accomplishments of icons such as Babe Ruth, Michael Jordan, Tiger Woods, Joe Montana, and Muhammad Ali.
Forty years later, the Miracle on Ice transcends political borders and remains one of the greatest hockey stories of all time. Lou Vairo is correct; the young Americans earned it.
Friday, February 21st at 12 pm ET
Saturday, February 22nd at 2 am, 4 am, and 4 pm ET
Sunday, February 23rd at 2 am, 6 am, 10 am and 6 pm ET
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