The 1960 U.S. Hockey Team
U.S. hockey's
original golden boys
by Mike Morrison
The phrase "U.S. men's hockey gold medal" usually
conjures up visions of Lake Placid, of goaltender
Jim Craig draped in the Stars and Stripes searching for his father, or announcer
Al Michaels asking if we "believe in miracles."
But 1980 was not the
first time the United States achieved Olympic
hockey gold. The less publicized—but no less miraculous—1960 U.S. men's hockey team also shocked the
world with its stunning victory in Squaw Valley,
Calif.
Despite the fact that the Americans won the silver medal
in the two previous Olympics (1952 and 1956), they were still considered overwhelming
underdogs to the powerful Czechoslovakians, the always talented Soviets (who
had won gold in 1956 and hadn't lost in international competition since then),
and the Canadians, who had won six of the eight Olympic hockey golds up to
that point.
Similar to 1980, the U.S. squad in 1960 was a scrappy,
determined bunch of college kids and amateur players mostly from Boston and
Minnesota. They were coached by Jack Riley, a player on the 1948 U.S. team
and longtime head coach at West Point.
On the ice, the team was led
by two sets of brothers: Harvard's Bill and Bob Cleary, and Bill and Roger
Christian from Minnesota. With Bill Christian's son David becoming a star
for the U.S. Olympic team in 1980, and the success of the family hockey stick
company, the Christians are widely considered the "first family" of American
hockey.
Defensemen John Mayasich and Jack Kirrane were the top pairing
on the blue line, with the last line of defense coming from standout goaltender
Jack McCartan.
After a surprising 7–5 preliminary round win
against Czechoslovakia, the Americans throttled the overmatched Australians
12–1 and advanced to the championship round.
They rolled over
Sweden and Germany, setting up their highly anticipated match with Canada.
McCartan stopped 39 of 40 Canadian shots, while Bill Cleary and Paul Johnson
tallied goals in a 2–1 U.S. upset.
The semifinal match-up would
be with the imposing Soviet Union. More than 10,000 fans packed into Squaw
Valley's Blyth Arena and saw the home team jump out to an early 1–0
lead before the Soviets roared back with two quick goals.
But the
Christians came through for the U.S. Roger set Bill up twice to give their
team a 3–2 win, marking the first time in history a U.S. hockey team
had beaten a Soviet team. It set up another visit with the Czechoslovakians,
this time for the gold medal.
Oddly enough, the gold medal game was
slated for 8 A.M. on the following
morning! It took a while for the Americans to shake off the cobwebs, as they
slogged their way to a 4–3 deficit after two periods. And then they
simply exploded.
Six unanswered third-period goals later (including
a hat trick from Roger Christian), the Americans had a commanding 9–4
win.
They had a combined 7–0–0 during the tournament and
won the United States' first Olympic hockey gold medal.
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