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I texted Mike Eruzione before Team USA's matchup against Slovakia in the 2026 Winter Olympic men's hockey semifinal on Feb. 20 without accounting for the time difference and just how close to game time it was.
Eruzione confirmed he was in Milan while I questioned my skills as a journalist. Yeah, like he's got time to talk to me about the "Miracle on Ice" and its place on Sporting News' 140 Greatest Sports Moments of All Time right now. What was I thinking? Eruzione messaged one more time before the puck dropped in a game the United States would win 6-2. The text read:
"Well, the only thing I can tell you if our moment is not voted number one we can't even have a conversation."
This was followed by several emojis — a combination of "Tears of Joy" and the United States flag that gave the perfect short-hand description of what the "Miracle on Ice" – which is No. 3 on our list – means 46 years later. Eruzione scored the game-winning goal with 10 minutes remaining, and the United States held on for a 4-3 victory against the Soviet Union at the 1980 Winter Olympics in Lake Placid, N.Y., on Feb. 20, 1980.
MORE: Sporting News 140 greatest sports moments of all time
It's the highest-ranked individual sporting event on our list, perhaps because it is the most dramatic upset. Consider some other upsets on this list.
David Tyree's helmet catch for the Giants against the unbeaten Patriots in Super Bowl XLII is No. 11. NC State – under coach Jim Valvano – beat Houston on Lorenzo Charles' last-second dunk in the 1983 men's basketball championship game. That is No. 26. The United States men's soccer team's 1-0 victory against England in the 1950 World Cup is No. 109.
The "Miracle on Ice" is a combination of those upsets; a crystallized moment in sports where you can still hear broadcaster Al Michaels ask and answer, "Do you believe in miracles? Yes!" to a television audience of 34.2 million viewers.
I had that conversation with Eruzione the following morning – one day before the United States men's hockey team beat Canada 2-1 in the gold-medal game. He described the legacy of the 1980 U.S. Olympic hockey team – which beat Finland 4-2 in the gold medal game on Feb. 24, 1980.
Eruzione still can't believe NHL players would look up to the collection of kids that pulled off that upset against the Soviet Union – a team that had won four straight gold medals from 1964-76.
"I think it's awesome," Eruzione told SN. "It's nice that these kids have obviously seen the movie 'Miracle.' It's nice that they've seen the new documentary on Netflix. I think my grandkids get more excited about it than I do when we go to an event. 'Hey papa, this guy's got a Eruzione shirt on!' You just kind of laugh about it."
Perhaps that is because we have been trying to recreate that moment for almost half a century. The Disney movie "Miracle" was released in 2004. Of the many memorable scenes, one that stands out is when Kurt Russell – portraying United States hockey coach Herb Brooks – tells the team – "When you pull on that jersey, you represent yourself and your teammates, and the name on the front is a hell of a lot more important than the one on the back!"
That jersey is just as powerful today.
Why 'Miracle on Ice' still hits 46 years later
Picture "Jersey Night" at St. Charles High School for the boy's basketball team's game against rival DeSales in Bexley, Ohio, on Jan. 23. Scan the student section and see the usual fits. Joe Burrow. LeBron James. Kobe Bryant. Shoutout to the kid in the Larry Bird throw-back Indiana State jersey, right?
My son Grant – a freshman goalie for the lacrosse team – wore a Jim Craig jersey. Craig was the red-hot goalie in that upset against the Soviet Union. Eruzione and Jack O'Callahan jerseys could be spotted, too. I asked Craig about that phenomenon – the one where the next generation still wears those Team USA jerseys.
"The trickle-down effect has not only been done by the movie 'Miracle' or the run-back of 'The Miracle' or any of those type things," Craig told SN. "It's really done by their home. Whether it's their grandfather or grandmother, father or mother, brother or sister or something and how important it was to them. When we see that, I say, 'Oh, my God.' That probably came from a really good family, and that story has been told through generations.'"
I was less than six months old when the "Miracle on Ice" happened. Yet when I heard my dad or my friend's dad or anybody who experienced that moment tell the story, all you had to do was read their face. Excitement. Joy. Reverence. "How did they do that?"
It is without question the best word-of-mouth, where-were-you moment in American sports history. Remember, the Soviet Union had defeated the United States 10-3 at Madison Square Garden on Feb. 9, 1980. The Americans shocked the world in the rematch. My friends piled into a movie theater to see the movie "Miracle" trying to experience a strand of the adrenaline rush of that moment.
We remember the names on the back, and we weren't even there. Why would we care like that?
The 1980 U.S. hockey team represents the best of what the United States and American sports has to offer. It was great enough to upset the Soviet Union. Once you untie the knots of politics and patriotism, you lace up the true meaning. It is the power of the belief – and I'm stealing from a line that Valvano borrowed from United States pole vaulter and decathlete Bob Richards in the "Survive and Advance" documentary – that "Ordinary people accomplish extraordinary things."
Eruzione, Craig, O'Callahan, Ken Morrow and Mark Johnson might have thought of themselves simply as ordinary fresh out-of-college hockey players at the time, but they remain heroes to kids like me.
For proof of concept, I was completely out of sorts before talking to Craig. How do you talk to somebody that had 36 saves on 39 shots in one of the greatest individual performances of all time? Craig was gracious, humble and engaged in a conversation he has probably had thousands of times. He explained in detail about how one period against the Soviet Union felt like a whole game.
"When the Russians shoot, it's because they think they can score," Craig said. "That's a different pressure. It's a lot of shots in any game, but it's really a lot of shots against the Russians."
He had great admiration for Brooks, the coach who prepared the United States for that moment. But Craig mostly talked about his teammates and how that moment translated into success in life. He offered advice for being a goalie parent.
"I always hope that when one of these interviews are done, that somebody will read it or watch it or whatever the case may be, and be inspired," Craig said.
How could you not be?
The 'Miracle on Ice' and 2026 U.S. hockey team
I presented the same jersey question to Eruzione and told him my son had a Craig jersey, and he laughed.
"Tell him to change it," Eruzione said.
That camaraderie of the team never changed, and Eruzione said he saw the same mentality from the 2026 U.S. hockey players in Milan.
"I can guarantee you that everyone has dreamt about as a kid," Eruzione said. "I know most all the players on the team. I've heard them talk about watching the movie 'Miracle' or dreaming about being an Olympic athlete or playing in the Olympic games. This is their life moment. This is their life. It's got nothing to do with us."
Jack Hughes scored the game-winning goal for the United States against Canada in overtime to break that 46-year gold-medal drought.
Goalie Connor Hellebuyck had 41 saves. History finally repeated itself in a way, and members of that 1980 men's hockey team were out in full force in support of the women's and men's teams – which swept the hockey gold medals in Milan.
"These are the best Americans we've ever put on the ice," Eruzione said. "These are the best Americans that play the game. Professional hockey players. Talented. Gifted. The best of the best."
That means you will see more Hughes and Hellebuyck jerseys the next time the Olympics rolls around, but the Craig and Eruzione jerseys will still be mixed in there, too. For the players who were part of the "Miracle on Ice", that will never get old.
That is because it remains the best story of all, one that the country can always rally behind.
"You'll see them wearing it at the Ryder Cup," Craig said. "You'll hear the Team USA chant. You're understanding that you were part of something that really means something. That's what is great about it."
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