Transcript of Mike Eruzione: USA Wins Gold, the Miracle on Ice, and the Mindset of a Champion New

If I had never played in that summer league game, I never would have gone to Boston University. If I had never gone to Boston University, I never would have ended up playing on the US Olympic team. Not every day is a great day. Sometimes things don't work out the way you want them to work out. There are a lot of important values in life, and the most important one is respect. We skated that night because of three things. He said to us, If you don't respect yourself, you won't be successful. All of a sudden, Herb calls me into the back area and he says, Mike, I just got a call from President Carter, and they are sending Air Force One tomorrow at 6: 30 in the morning to take you guys to the White House. Other than being a police officer, a firefighter, or somebody in the military, there's no greater feeling than putting on a USA jersey. Oh, thank you. Thank you very much. All right, sit down. Thank you. Wow, you people were born when I played. Some of you.

I told Mr. Michael Ruzioni that if we had the opportunity to have Bruce Springsteen, Taylor Swift, or Beyoncé, you guys would prefer him. Was I telling the truth? If yes, say yes.

I'd rather see me than those three as well.

Mike, it is such an honor and privilege to have you here today. But before we get started, we wanted to share a A couple of thank you. And you met Nicole, Tink, Maello back there. So she's going to read a couple of thank you that we prepared for you, for being here, and for who and what you are in the world. Would that be okay with you?

That's fine. Thank you very much.

Tink, are you ready?

Absolutely. Mr. Ruzioni, on behalf of Unblinded, our certification partners, Unblinded Elite, the entire Unblinded ecosystem, my cofounders and leaders, Sean Kalgi, myself, and all of our loved ones, we'd like to thank you for a few things. Thank you for being here. Thank you, Mr. Arruzioni, for making the trip to Long Beach Island to be with us at this unblinded emersion. Your very presence here is a privilege and a gift. Thank you and your team for your voice. Thank you and your teammates for choosing not only to win that game, but to carry a message of belief and possibility in to the world for decades since. Thank you for the ordinary becoming extraordinary. Thank you for reminding us that ordinary people, through vision, courage, and relentless effort, can do the most extraordinary things. Thank you for standing in the fire. Thank you, and thank you to Coach Herb Brooks for braving the rivalries, the conflict, the pressure, and showing us all greatness is born in the fire. Thank you and your team for carrying a nation. Thank you, Mr. Ruzioni and your entire 1980 US Olympic hockey team for carrying the spirit of America on your shoulders in the darkest hour.

Thank you for scoring the goal of belief. Thank you for putting that puck into the net against the Soviets, not just to win a game, but to ignite belief in a nation that had almost forgotten how to believe. Thank you and your brothers on the ice for proving possibility. Thank you for proving together that giants can fall and that impossibility is an illusion and that miracles are not fairy tales, but lived reality. Thank you for reshaping history. Thank you and your teammates for a victory that became more than a medal A moment that shifted the psychology of America and helped open the door to a new future for America and the world. Thank you for embodying team. Thank you for showing the world that legacy isn't written by one hero alone, but by a band of brothers who believed in each other when no one else did. Thank you for your humility. Thank you for staying grounded, blue collar, integrus and humble when the world put you on its grandest stage. That humility is more powerful than any goal ever could be. Thank you for your legacy. Thank you for a legacy that lives not only in the record books, but in the hearts of every child who laces up skates, every parent who whispers, You can do it, and every human who chooses belief over despair.

Thank you for miracles. And finally, thank you for reminding us all that miracles are not once in a lifetime. They are possible every day in every life, in every moment we choose belief.

Thank you.

Yeah.

Thank you, sir. Thank you, Sean. Thank you, Mike. I think we could use in 1980 now.

Yeah, we really could for sure. It feels very difficult for me to call you Mike. When we spoke on the phone, you asked me to do that.

I didn't get my last name till I was in the fourth grade. Mike's a lot easier.

Yeah. So I come from a world very much like you did, Northeast. I played probably about 10 years younger than you, but I had a lot of people that you were shaped by in high school. It was very much like my high school experiences. I would love to call Mr. Rosioni. I won't in honor of his request to call Mike, but it feels like you should always be Mr. Rosioni. So thank you for that privilege to call you Mike. So Mike, Who were you in high school? What was growing up like? You live in a small town, lots of family around.

Lots of family. I thought my life was like any other kid's life. I grew up in a three-family house. We lived on the second floor. I have four sisters and a brother. This gets a little crazy. Upstairs was my mother's brother, who married my father's sister. I told you it was going to get crazy. They were five kids in that family. My father's other sister lived on the first floor, and they were four in that family. I grew up in a house of about 15 kids and understood the importance of hard work. I learned at a young age how important it was to be a good person, be a good brother, be a good friend, be a good neighbor, values that my mother and father taught me as a kid growing up in this three family. I thought everybody lived in a three family. I didn't know people had their own homes. And as fast forward, my wife grew up four houses from me, and she's one of 13 kids. I live next door to the house I grew up in. And my son lives directly behind me. My daughter lives down the street. And my other son, he moved to Connecticut a few years ago because she wanted to be near her family.

I said to her, Who moves to be with their family? As we talked about earlier, I have seven grandkids now, which is fun, watching them play hockey, football, lacrosse. The oldest is 12, the youngest is 18 months. But again, back to my childhood growing up is you worked. I caddied as a kid. My dad worked three jobs. My mother stayed home and took care of six kids. There wasn't a lot of money in the house, but there was a lot of love. There was a lot of support. That's how I grew up. Sports was your vehicle. I played football, I played baseball. Probably played more baseball than anything. Hockey was something you did in the wintertime. They When it got cold, you went and played hockey because your friends played. I remember wanting to play hockey because my friends played, but I didn't have any ice skates. My parents didn't have enough money to go buy me ice skates if it wasn't something I wanted to show them, I wanted to do. They used to freeze the tennis courts down the street from where I lived. And in those days, you could go down the tennis courts by yourself.

So you didn't have to have a police escort. And not everybody got a trophy, you just showed up. I remember wanting to play hockey because my friends played, but I didn't have any ice skates. But my sister had these white figure skates, and I fit into her white figure skates, and I'd get the white figure skates, and down the hill, I'd go on the tennis courts and learn to skate or try to skate. Hockey is a macho game. And not only was I in white figure skates, but she had these blue pompoms on There are tons of ice skates. That's how I started to play ice hockey. In those days, you could save, some people might remember, maybe not, you could save SNH green stamps. I came home one day and there was a pair of Hyde ice skates on the table. My mom saved up enough stamps to get me a pair of ice skates. That's how I started playing hockey at nine years old, never knowing it was going to lead to the Olympics, obviously. But it was something I wanted to do. Like all great parents, you support your kids and what they want to do.

That's I don't know how hockey started for me. But like I said, I probably played more baseball. Actually, I was an all-state football, hockey, and baseball player. So sports was my life as a kid.

Mike, do you think that was... How much of that was Is it because you think that you're really good at basketball, football, hockey, with genetic? How much do you think you worked harder? You had better coaching? What do you attribute?

I think it's a little of both, but without hard work, you don't accomplish anything. Nobody steps on the field. Nobody makes Major League, baseball or football or NHL players by just skill. There's a lot of work. There's a lot of time. There's a lot of effort. There's a lot of sacrifices that go into people becoming successful. I But again, I think of sacrifices. Like I said, my dad worked three jobs. He had to support a family. So the sacrifices he made for giving me a chance to play a game, never knowing it was going to lead, like I said, to an Olympic Games. But as a parent, you support your children and what they want to do. I was fortunate to have a dad that understood that my love was sports, and he found a way to make sure that I was able to do that. I look back on my coaches, my high school football coach, who's a big influence in my life. Obviously, my college hockey coach Jack Parker, at Boston University, where I played and work right now. I'm going to tell you this is a crazy story, but I always talk about opportunity.

To me, life is about opportunities. It's what you do with that opportunity that counts. I was given an opportunity to play a game, never knowing, thinking, or believing, or dreaming it would get to or got to, but it did. But I remember graduating from high school. I wanted to go to University of New Hampshire, and my grades weren't really good in school. One thing I messed up was. As long as I was eligible, I was happy. I wanted to go to University of Hampshire. I went to prep school for a year up in Maine with the hope of going to UNH and playing football, hockey, and baseball. That's what I wanted to do. Well, the hockey coach didn't think I was a Division One hockey player, so I had no school to go to. I was 17 years old with no college and nobody interested. So one school that was interested was a school called Merrimack College. Merrimack College was a Division Three. They weren't Division One. They were Division Three school, and they offered me a full scholarship. For all you parents out there, it was $3,500 my freshman year. I think, Boston University is, I think, $80,000 now.

But thank God, I'm not around now. I wanted to go to college at UNH, but I ended up, I'm going to go to Merrimack. Well, in the summer, I played baseball in the summer. I didn't play hockey in the summer. A friend of mine called me and he said, Look, we have a summer league game, and we need some guys to play. A bunch of guys went away for the weekend. Do you want to play? I said, Well, you need to play or I'll play. So I played in the game, and it turned out the referee of the game was this guy named Jack Parker, who I didn't know who he was. He was just a referee. When the game was over, Jack Parker pulled me aside. He says, Hey, I'm Jack Parker. I'm the assistant coach at Boston University. We have a kid from Canada that decided not to come. Would you like to come to the Boston University? I'm like, Yeah. I mean, BU is coming off back-to-back national championships at the time. I said to him, It has to be a full scholarship because my dad can't afford me $3,500. He goes, No, it's a full scholarship.

I went to Boston University, and Jack Parker was the assistant coach. A guy named Leon Abbott was the head coach, and Leon Abbott didn't know me from Adam. But I made the varsity my freshman year, and I was playing a few games here and there, and Leon Abbott got fired for recruiting violations. Jack Parker became the head coach. I went from centering the fourth line to playing left wing on the second line and led my team in scoring my freshman year.

What's here for All right.

I tell you this story because if I had never played in that summer league game, I never would have gone to Boston University. If I had never gone to Boston University, I never would have ended up playing on the US Olympic team because I would have come out of Merrimack versus a national championship contending BU team. So again, life is about opportunities. And then I was given that opportunity to play on an '80 Olympic team, and there I am today. So it's funny how life works.

It sure is. So going back for a sec, though, I didn't know that part of the story that you're coming out of high school, you don't have division one offers. Fun footnote, by the way, my daughter Courtney went to University of New Hampshire for starting her college career, just as a quick fun footnote. And you have a division three opportunity. And were you coming out of high school Were you thinking and hoping about playing college, baseball or football or hockey? What was going on there that was in your mind or you weren't thinking that? So what was happening as you were leading up to going to college? Were you hoping to play a different sport in college or hockey in college?

I wanted to play all three. I wanted to play football, hockey, and baseball. Even at Boston University, I ended up playing hockey and baseball. They wouldn't let me play football because it was the beginning of the hockey season. But yeah, my mind I was to play all three sports in College, but ended up just doing two at Boston University. Although my junior senior, I didn't play because I made the US national team and went over to Europe for the World Championships.

How? I think this is important for the audience, how often we could just be overlooked. So obviously, Michael Ruzioni was incredibly talented. He goes out and ends up starting and be one of the leading scores in his first year at Boston University. But yet, and this is a defending national championship team, but nobody else is even offering you division one to come play. Why do you think that was? Was it just you didn't have opportunities to be exposed to college coaches? Why Weren't you getting those opportunities, do you think?

Because they weren't smart enough to realize how good I was. Let's hear about that. Again, Sean, you and I know each other a little, but I'm not a I'm a deep thinker. I'm not that in-depth on things. I just do things. I never thought about why they didn't like me. I thought I was pretty damn good.

If you think he was pretty damn good, say yes.

No, but you guys missed it. I look at the college coaches that I played against these teams and say, You missed the boat. Yeah. And Boston University, four years, I graduated as the all-time leading scorer, which has since been passed because players today are a lot better than when played. But the one thing I've always been is very confident in myself as an athlete and as a person. I was talking to a group of people the other day, and I'm old school. I believe in a lot of old-fashioned values, things that my dad taught me about pride and commitment and respect. I talked to you earlier about respect. I tell kids today, it's easy to be a nice person. You got to go out of your way I'm not going to be an asshole. No, you really... Pardon my language.

Mike, these people have heard a few F-bombs in the space, so we're okay.

But it's easy to be nice. It's easy to be a good teammate, a good neighbor, a good friend. Those are things that I always believed in and always taught, even at a young age. I think those are values that carried with me to this day, but I think carried me through my athletic career, too, was I don't care what other people think. I know what I think and what care about and what's important to me. I'm not going to listen to somebody say, No, you can't do that. If they do, then it drives me even more that I want to say, Really? Let me show you what I can do. Not everybody's a great day. I've had challenges over 70 years of my life. I haven't lived the greatest. I've made stupid mistakes, and that's part of life. That's part of being the world that we live in. But I think when the smoke clears, I can look back on my athletic career. What I've doing for the last 45 years since 1980 is take great pride in knowing that I've done a good job at the opportunities I've been given, and that I think people look at me and respect me and clearly respect my teammates.

What we did was 45 years ago, and we talked about it earlier. I don't know if you follow anything, but we just found out that our team is going to receive the Congressional Gold Medal. Let's say for that. Which is the ultimate honor It's not a sports award. It's not an ESPN award. This is from your country. If you look at the recipients of it, it's something my teammates and I take incredible, incredible pride in because our game was more than a hockey game. We didn't know it at the time, but realized that it was a moment that that's why I said earlier that that touched the lives of a lot of people. In 1979, 1980, we were looking for something to feel good about the hostages, the gas lines, inflation. And all of a sudden we come along. And I've said this, I'll say this till the day I die, other than being a police officer or a firefighter or somebody in the military, there's no greater feeling than putting on a USA jersey. I'm not playing for Chicago or Boston. You're playing for your country. I think in 1980, people saw that in us and rallied people.

We didn't go to Lake Placid to rally a whole country. We didn't even know. You think about it, there was no Facebook or Twitter. There was three TV stations. The social media didn't exist. And yet when we won, when we got out into country and realized that this thing was pretty big. I think, again, we take even 45 years later, take great pride in knowing that people came together because of what our team was able to do, not me, what our team was able to do and showed the world that if you believe in something and you're willing to work hard, you can't accomplish it. Our team was at Herb Brooks. Our coach used to call us a Lunch Pail Hard Hat group of guys because that's who we were. If you All of the backgrounds of my teammates, we all came from working class families, and we're all taught about the important values in life and not just values in the sport of ice hockey.

Mike, a couple of quick things. So some of the things I love to think about are things, and it's exciting for me that you hadn't thought about that before, because one of the things about why coaches weren't seeing you, because one of the things we talk about here is how do we create the opportunities to be seen? So when you ended up being asked by a friend, Hey, would you like to come play in this game? That was an incredible blessing. And you seize that opportunity, hearing you loudly and clearly. But sometimes you don't get that phone call and have the same opportunity. You didn't know it was an opportunity, but you were seizing all the opportunity. But if I could, do you think that At that time, because today, I know that this is part of your world, there's all these showcases and club teams and every sport imaginable. It was a different world then in the 1970s. Was there anything out there? Was it just your high school coach was going to be talking to college coaches, or were there any showcases? How broken was the talent assessment system of high school hockey at that time that you weren't seeing?

Do you think it was just all these college coaches making bad choices about not seeing you, or they just never even knew you existed because there's no social media, no showcases?

No, there were no showcases. You played in your hometown. Where I live now, I played in Winthrop. I played Peewee hockey, I played youth Hockey, I played high school hockey, I played Bantam Hockey. There were no all-star teams, there were no travel teams. Today, it's crazy the day. The cost. These kids, they're on these select teams, these travel teams, and mom and dad are paying thousands of dollars chasing something that might not be there. But the problem now is if you're not on one of these teams, they think you get no chance of being seen. In my day, you were seen because coaches went to your high school games. There were no showcases. So you want to see the best players play? Go to Lynn Arena and watch Winthrop High School play Danvers High School. That's basically what it was. We live in a whole different... Again, I work at Boston University. We got three kids from Sweden, we got two from Finland, we got one from Russia. We're recruiting all over the world. Our coaches are out there at these showcases, but all these kids are paying a lot of money to play. To me, there's only a few that are going to make it.

I personally think these kids spend too much money spending, searching, trying, traveling. But That's the culture. You want to play division one baseball, you got to be on the AAU team. That's what it is today. I'm glad it wasn't like that when I played because you just played, and there were pressures.

When you're at Winthrop, then, did you have coaches? Did you have 1, 2, 5, 10 college coaches come see? How many overlooked you? Was it just a small number, or was it a lot of coaches that were coming to your high school?

I would say they were probably a small number because there weren't many colleges We're playing hockey at that time. The game has grown. When I was a kid, you were from Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, maybe Maine, upstate New York, places like that, hockey players. Now, California, Arizona, Texas, Florida. Look at how many players played. Not just men, our women. Our women's program. You can't believe how good the women are now than they were 10 years ago. So the game has grown. The sport of hockey has grown, and more and more kids are playing. You're probably going to get seen a lot more now than you would have when I played because there were just a handful of schools that had Division One programs.

Absolutely. When you were then in high school, you're loving baseball, football, hockey. Did you ever think about the Olympics and hockey in high school before college, or that wasn't even a thought in your head?

No, I just played. I wasn't that smart to think ahead other than just, I'm going to be a senior next year, and hopefully my senior year will go well, athletically, academically, whatever. It always went well, athletically. But again, it was a different era and a different time. I don't know how I would be in today's era because I know one thing, my parents wouldn't have had the money for me to play the travel that the kids play today.

Right. Then once you get to college and All of a sudden, you become this standout. Like, your mastery is rising. At that point, were you doing things differently than the other kids? Were you doing extra things or were you practicing more intensely than the people on your team, or you were just flat out better already?

No, I think the practices continue. I mean, you want to play at Boston University, you better be ready to play every year because there's new recruits coming in next year and new players challenging you. But it was, Again, it was a different thing. I watch our players today. When practice is over, these guys are in the weight room. We have a nutritionist. We have a sports psychologist. My sports psychologist was my father. My nutritionist was my mother. We have a sensory room now. Kids, they go in this room and they just sit there and just, I don't know what they do in a sensory. We didn't have any of that shit. You just played. When the season ended, the summertime, I'd maybe play a little once in a while at the end of the summer to get ready for hockey, but I played baseball in the summer. These kids, after practice, they go into the weight room. I can tell you the truth, we went to the dugout, was the bar on campus. Practice is over. Hey, guys, let's go down. We have a few bears, and we'll go to school classes tomorrow, and then we'll get up and go to hockey practice.

After practice, we'll go to the dugout for a little while. Now, it's a different whole scenario, and good for them. I think it's great for the players because these guys have aspirations of playing the National Hockey League. I wanted to go to Boston University to play at Boston University. If it happened that maybe I could play a pro hockey after, then that was something. But I didn't go. We have freshmen that come in now, first-round draft pick, second-round draft pick. Then you got the name, image, and likeness. Kids are getting paid money. We lost them. The number one recruit in the country this year was coming to Boston University. He's going to be the first pick in the draft next year. He was coming to Boston University. He's going to Penn State because Penn State is giving them $800,000. Wow. That's name, image, and likeness. I don't know if you follow any sports. Quarterback at Michigan this year is going to make about nine million. Shadr Sanders, the football player, he took a pay cut to play for the Cleveland Browns, the money he was making in Colorado. So you're dealing with a whole different mindset now.

This is a making money. For me, my scholarship was plenty, but now it's a different environment in the college sports for men and women. There's a girl, I think, out in UCLA, the gymnast that's making stupid money. But that's the arena we're in now that was never there when I played. When I played, you just played.

When you're just playing and you're at BU and you're obviously just standing out, scoring goals, leading the team on the way to breaking the scoring record, at any point, you're just playing, you're focusing. Do you remember when the first time you ever thought or heard of the Olympics in hockey? When did that come into your mind?

Okay. Again, crazy story. I got asked to play in the 1976 team, Olympic team. Wow. And I did not want to leave Boston University. In those days, you'd leave your school right before the Olympics, and you'd go play. In our In case, we trained for six months. It was a whole different mindset in 1980 than it was in '76. I had a chance to play in '76, and that was the year I thought we were going to win the national championship. I was a junior at Boston University and decided I was going to stay at BU. The game We were in Innsbruck, and I think the US team came in fourth or fifth. I missed that and passed that opportunity up. So again, I talk about how my life turned and things in your life that happened. I graduated from University in 1977, and the New York Rangers, they owned my rights. They drafted me. I was a second-round draft pick of the New York Rangers. So when the season ended, BU ended, that summer, I was getting ready to go to camp with the New York Rangers. I went to camp with the New York Rangers, and I had a really good camp.

A guy named John Ferguson was the general manager of the New York Rangers. Fergie called me into his office. He says, Mike, you had a great camp. We really like you. We think you're going to be a really good player, but we don't We're not signing any new players. We have our first pick, which a kid named Ron Duguet, who had a great career with the Rangers. We have a bunch of older players, and we're not shelling out any money for any more players, but we want to keep you in our system. They sent me to Toledo, in Toledo, and I played for a team called the Toledo Gold Diggers. Anybody seen the movie Slapshot? Yes. That's where I was.

You played for the team from Slapshot?

That was the league.

Okay, wow.

Ogi Goldthorke, remember him? Yes. He was on our team in Toledo a week, and then he got traded. But anyway, so I go to camp, I get sent to Toledo, the New York Rangers number 2 farm team, but I didn't have an NHL contract. It was a minor league contract. So I got paid every two weeks by the Gold Diggers. I made $4,000 my first year in Toledo. I led our team in scoring. I was Rookey of the Year. I'm going to sign with the New York Rangers. John Ferguson got fired. A guy named Fred Sherrill, who used to be with the New York With the Philadelphia Flyers, he becomes the general manager of the New York Rangers. He calls my agent and says, Look, Mike's free to do what he wants to do. We're not signing Mike. We know he had a great year, but we're going in a different direction. Wow. Here I am in limbo. What am I going to do? I go back to Toledo to stay an amateur, hoping to get invited to try out for the AD Olympic team. I go back to Toledo. They gave me $8,000 and a van because I didn't have a vehicle when I played there.

I had a van and I got $4,000 raise, but I still got paid every two weeks. I could get traded tomorrow. No NHL contract, which kept me as an amateur, which gave me the opportunity, if I did, get to try out for the '80 Olympic team. I go back to Toledo. That summer, I got a call from Herb Brooks inviting me to try out for the '80 Olympic team. I go to the tryouts, I make the team, and here I am today. If John Ferguson never got fired, I would have signed with the New York Rangers, and I would have been considered a pro and not given an opportunity to play on the '80 Olympic team. There are two moments in my life about opportunity, one, in high school, and second, when the Rangers decided to let me go and do what I wanted to do. The best decision that ever happened. Then the Olympic Games, and then We win. Then a couple of NHL teams wanted to sign me into pro contracts, and I decided it was time to move on and do something else in my life. I was going to coach and teach, and then found out that this moment, this event was bigger than we could have imagined.

I remember I was talking to my school administrator in my high school, asking if there might be a phys-ed job open next year because I want to teach. Then I was thinking about maybe coaching at University because they might be looking for an assistant coach. Then this was in February. Then IBM called my agent, advisor, and they wanted me to do 10 appearances, five at the Fountain Blue in in Florida, and five at the Drake in San Francisco. I'd never been to California, and I'd never been to Florida, and they were going to give me $3,000 just to walk out on the stage and wave. I didn't even have to do anything. I made more in those 10 appearances that my dad made in one year. So I thought, this is a pretty good deal. Maybe I'll do some of these again. And then I got into broadcasting. Then I got into obviously speaking and doing things that I do now, 45 years later, although, as you well know, I work at Boston University. I've been there 30 years. Although if you counted all the days I've been there, I've probably been there five. I got a good gig at BU.

But it's just funny how your life works, never knowing what you're going to do, what is available. But like I said, after the Olympics, I was going to coach and teach. That's what I was going to do. And the next thing you know, wow, this thing was pretty big. And your life I've learned or changed. My life changed to a degree. I haven't changed. It drives my wife absolutely nuts. And we've been together for 50 years. So it's not like... I tell my kids all the time the same thing about I was very happy with who I was before the Olympics. Why should your life change? Because of an athletic event. It clearly changed a lot of things in my life, but it shouldn't change who you are. My friends are my friends, my family is my family, and I still live where I belong and stay where I am, because if we didn't win, I'd be living in that town. I'd be probably have more than three kids because I'd have been home more.

For everybody, we had these conversations over the last couple of days about these dark moments and the hero's journey. Mike is this phenomenal player, has nothing going on with colleges besides a division three opportunity. Talked about my opportunities where nobody's looking to me, and all of a sudden, there's 100 schools looking at me and how God makes all things work together for good or the universe or whatever you believe. And same thing. I mean, it's really amazing that Mike comes out, second-round draft pick. Mike, correct me if I'm wrong, most second-round draft picks end up on the team. Isn't that relatively normal? Yeah. So Mike doesn't... This is normal course. You're a second-round draft pick from a professional team in sports. You're going to be on the team, and all of a sudden, he's not. And that could have been something... We're getting a sense of Mike, and Mike seems like a incredibly grounded person, and he just goes forward. So something that happens that for most people would have been emotionally devastating, what I'm hearing from you, Mike, is he shrugged and said, All right, on we go. Because the values that he was raised with, and that's an incredible strength for this man, that he's not taking things and trying to analyze why did God do this to me?

And why is the universe against me? He's just like, Hey, this is the hand I'm dealt. Let's go. And we do see that things work together for good. As Mike said, maybe he gets on the Rangers, maybe he gets hurt, maybe he plays a little bit, and there's a couple of things that happen, and all of a sudden, he's not eligible for the Olympics. He's not in the NHL, and Mike's life looks completely differently. So these two events that would have been incredibly upsetting and frustrating for most people, maybe not for Mike, because he has such an incredibly strong level of self-mastery. Self-mastery is our language for psychology, that he's just like, Hey, let's go. And he knows that he's going to make whatever happens in his life turn into the right thing. Am I hearing that correctly, Mike? That's how you operate. Yeah.

My dad always said to me, even as a kid, there's more to life than athletics. At some point, the game ends. Michael Jordan had to stop playing someday. These great athletes, eventually it ends, but your life doesn't end. Just because I didn't play, let's just say this, and if I didn't go to Boston University, I'd still be happy with my life, whatever that was, because that's the direction I was going to go in. I'm always very positive and very upbeat. There's There's so much out there for me to do if I didn't play hockey, if I didn't play football, I'd have done something else, and I'd have been happy with what I did and what I was doing. But my life took a different turn, and my life went this way. But it shouldn't change, as I said earlier, who I am.

Absolutely.

Why should I be different? Just because I want a gold medal doesn't make me better than people in this room. There are certain things that you can do that I sure as hell can't do. Everybody brings something to the table. I happen to bring something to the table in terms of my athletic ability, and then it turned out to be what it's become today. But I think for me, like I said, if we didn't win, I'd be living in my hometown, I'd be married to the same girl. I'd be coaching and teaching, and that's just the way it was going to be. That's the way it was going to be.

For everybody here, we're really locked in on this, the lack of attachment that Mike has the outcome. He shows up, he gives everything he's got, and then what happens, happens. And I'm inspired. I'm not only inspired, we talk about the difference between inspiration tools. A hockey stick is a tool. How you use the hockey stick is part of your tool. And then you have psychology. And for me, what I'm clear about is I get more attached than Mike does. And I invite you to consider the same for yourself. So thank you, Mike, already for helping me be a mirror for me. I'm like, yeah, I took things a lot harder than you did. I had a strong psychology, not as strong as yours. As a high school athlete, as a college athlete, I must have played my way out of college, baseball my sophomore year, pouting. I was runner for Ivy League, Rookey of the Year, my freshman year at Columbia, and the coach tried to change a few things, and I was quiet. I wasn't ever mouthy. It was very respectful, but I would pout more. I would take things more personally. I would be more upset about things.

And when I'm I'm hearing from you is it sounds like you didn't. And if I could ask, when the Rangers didn't sign you, if you remember, did you spend the night getting upset? Did you go have a few beers? Did you call somebody? You're like, Hey, F it. Here I go. Or is it a week you're upset at all? And if so, for how long?

I was pissed off. What do you mean you don't want a sign made? Look what I just did. But then again, hey, that's your decision. I'll go in a different direction.

How strong is that?

Not every day is a great day. Like I said, sometimes things don't go the way you want them to go. What are you going to do? Pout? Quit? No.

I mean, most people do. You don't. No. Why? If you pout and quit sometimes, say yes. Yes. So thank you.

Yeah, no. That was never in my vocabulary. And I think part of it is the way I grew up. Like I said, I saw my dad get up every morning, go to work, come Come home and go to work. Come home and go to work. I saw my mother take care of six kids with no money. So quit isn't something that I've ever even thought about doing. I know I'm going to be successful at what I do, whatever it was I was going to do. My mindset was, and again, my wife and I get into these discussions all the time. Why are you in such a good mood all the time? I said, Because I don't want to be miserable. I don't want to live a life of wondering. I'm just going to do what I want to do, and I'm going to go ahead and do it despite the challenges. Like I said, not every day is a great day. Sometimes things don't work out the way you want them to work out. I missed a two footer yesterday for $20. I was so pissed off. The next time I have that My footer, I better make it.

Again, I'm not that deeper guy. I'm not that smarter guy. I just live my life the way I want to live it with total respect for my family and my kids and my wife. Usually, things are going to work out well. If they don't, there's another day, and I'll figure that out.

Mike, thank you. Just so we're level set, I failed freshman high school geometry for the year as a freshman high school. I had a lower GPA in high school than I did in law school. I went to Columbia because of baseball. So it wasn't that I was thinking about things quite the same way then as I am now. And one of the things that I think for these guys, these are People who are trained. This is not a sales program. These are people trained to think about how do you succeed and how do you master things. And so what we're hearing, what they're hearing from you is we have the saying that Einstein said, make it as simple as possible, but not simpler. And honest to God, what I'm taking away from you is that it is so simple for you because you just give everything you have, you take the outcome result, and you just go forward. And that is Because my job, the way I look at people is I try to find out what's the simple formula that causes Micrizioni to be Micrizioni. And that's present for me. That's here. That's just clear to me.

And while you're saying it as, yeah, it's easy. If you think it's not easy for you, yet, say yes. It's not easy for me either. But because you do it, what they're trained to do, what I'm trained to do is we're going to have the self-master, according to Michael Rizzioni, which is very simply, don't get attached, get everything you got, like the Micriusioni word from his dad formula, and your identity doesn't change. We talk a lot about that, but just go do your thing. What happens? You know it's going to work for good in any way because you're just going to do the next thing. You're going to use it as fuel and go forward. Does that sound like a fair, very simple encapsulation of you?

I've never met a person that's successful because they're lucky. People are successful because they understand the values of work. And again, I'll go back to my dad always said, If you understand the value at work, at some point in your life, you'll be successful. And it might not be today or tomorrow or next month, but when you're the best at what you do, I guarantee it's the time and effort and work that you put in. Those It's all the values that are the values that are important. Whatever field you're in, whatever challenges you have, if you're not willing to work hard at it, you're not going to be successful. So I work hard at everything that I've done, whether it's as an athlete or if I happen to go in a different direction. If If sports ended, which it did, I went into a new direction, I'm working hard at what I do in order to be successful at what I do. I think that's it. To me, it's pretty simple. It's like I said earlier, it's easy to be nice. It's really I'd like to be an asshole.

I live with that. And if you feel that from Mike, say yes. If you feel his authenticity, say yes. And his mastery, yes? Mike, you go and these B-U-Ns, the draft with the Rangers, playing hockey in Toledo, and now Herb Brooks calls you up. And what happens from there? Do you then... In the movie, these guys have seen the movie lots. We show clips all the time. So in the movie, there's this shortened version of the tryout. Could you please take us through what happens?

Well, in the movie, the team was picked in one day. Trust me, it was two weeks. In the movie, they had a bunch of people picking the team. There was only one person picking this team, and it was going to be Herb Brooks. I went to the tryout. I got invited. I was on the Great Lakes team. They divided all these players into four teams, and we competed against each other over two weeks. Herb Brooks sat in the stands, evaluated the players, and we were in a room maybe like this, maybe a little bigger. The 68 players tried out for the '80 Olympic team. I shouldn't say that. Hundreds tried out, 68 got selected. 68 of us went to Colorado Springs, competed against each other in a mini tournament, and tryouts were over. 26 players made up the '80 Olympic team, but only 20 were going to Lake Placid. Six guys are going to get cut.

Can I just slow you down for a second? Is that okay? So in Colorado Springs, when this happens, what's that two weeks like? I'm just going to give you a couple of multiple choice. Were there fist fights? Were people getting along? Were people in the same boat of being friends, buddies? Were there rivalries from college? How was all that? What was Colorado Springs like?

Well, it was a tournament. It was competitive. The There was a team from Massachusetts, which I was not on. I was on the at-large team. My team was guys from Michigan, Minnesota, New York. Then there was the Minnesota team, and then there was another at-large team.

That had players, Coach Brooks's College team, right?

A lot of the kids played under Herb at the University of Minnesota.

Because for everybody, so Coach Herb, Brooks coached the University of Minnesota. They were a top program in the country. Mike played at Boston University, a top program in the country. Correct me if I'm wrong, there's a big rivalry, yes?

The year before the Olympic tryouts in the National Championship, Minnesota and Boston University got into a bench clearing brawl.

I would call that a big rivalry.

Four minutes into of the game. This is the National Championship? Yes. Both teams should have been thrown out of the tournament because you can't fight in college. We ended up losing a player. They lost a player. They ended up beating us in the game.

Then they went on-Who was the player you guys lost?

We lost Terry Mahar, who was our leading goal scorer at the time. They lost One of their guys who wasn't quite their leading player.

Terry Mahar? Yes. Did he make the '80 Olympic team?

No, Terry was from Canada. Got it. He was the captain of our team in 1976.

Jack O'Callahan, he played for- Jack was a freshman at Boston University at that time. Got it. On that team. Right.

There were four guys. When the smoke cleared at the end, there were four guys from Boston University, nine from the University of Minnesota, two from Wisconsin, two from Bowling Green, one from North Dakota, and two from Minnesota, Duluth. But of the 20 guys, 12 of the 20 players were from Minnesota.

Wow. Thirteen of the players then, if I'm counting correctly, nine from Minnesota, four from BU. Thirteen of the players were from this big rivalry with nine from Minnesota, four from Boston University.

Well, in Wisconsin and Minnesota had a huge rivalry because it's a national Championship battles for years. There was a lot of animosity between the two programs. We're in the room, and 68 players Just try it out. Herb came up to the stage, and he said, If I call your name, please stay. If I don't, thanks for coming.

Okay, it's this time. Forgive me for interrupting. I just want to really let these guys get it because they've seen somebody has Something like that. Do you think in that moment, A, I know I made the team, B, I think I made the team, C, I hope I made the team?

Probably B, because I was on the Great Lakes team, and I was elected captain of the Great Lakes team, and then we, the Great Lakes team, won the tournament. Oh, wow. I led our team in scoring, so I thought, I'm going to be on this team. But the concern I had was, Minnesota coach, Western players, Eastern coach, Eastern players. That's how it always was years before. It was an Eastern coach, and he was going to pick most of the guys going to be from the East because he knew them. My concern was, is Herb going to take an Eastern guy? We're all in the room, and I remember the first name he called was Ken Morrow. Ken, he was a great defenseman from Michigan.

He lived for the Islanders later.

He won four Stanley Cups right after the Olympics. That's a pretty good run. I'm sitting there thinking, I hope this is an alphabetical. My My name is not going to get me called. Then my name was called. There were 26 players in the room.

Then Herb said-You were the second name called?

No, I was called later on down the road. I forget who was called.

Were you starting to get concerned?

We all antsy, wondering, listening. Is it going to be me? Is it going to be me? It's interesting because now we have the Olympic Olympics coming up in February. The team USA is going to have 26 players, 25 players. They carry more now than they did then. Then they could only carry 20. So Twenty-six players make up the team, and then we're going to embark on six months of training, and six guys are going to get cut throughout the course of the season. You're still up until... I was elected captain in October.

Was this by the players? By the players.

But I don't think I was voted by the players. There's no way nine guys from Minnesota voted for a guy from Boston. Wow. As our assistant coach said, We voted, but Herb counted the ballots. I think Billy Baker was probably named captain by the team because the nine kids played with him at the university. Billy actually was the assistant captain of the '80 team. But for whatever reason, they gave me the captancy, which was not a big deal to me. I think my dad was more excited than I was because I've always said I was a captain amongst captains. We had a team of captains. Everybody in that team was a captain of their high school team. Eight guys were captains of their college team. It was a great group of leaders and people. The captancy was nice, but it wasn't that, Oh, my God, I'm the captain. So 26 players made up the team. And throughout the course of six months of travel and training, six were going to get cut. And up until the last week, I still wondered if I was going to be one of the 20.

Can I take you back Give me a second? Is that okay? During Colorado Springs, that time, was Herb Brooks quiet and just watching and scouting, or was he already starting to be Coach Herb Brooks towards everybody?

He was Coach Brooks, and that's the way it was going to be. We were going to travel. I think we played 60 somewhat games all around the country, went to Europe for a month, played overseas. Then throughout the course of the six months, he evaluated all the players, and He threatened to cut me two weeks before the Olympics. He said, Look, he's just not doing it. I just don't know what I'm going to do. I'm like, Wait a minute. I'm the captain. I'm thinking, Well, he's the coach. Always It's even funny. Years later, Herb would call my house, and this was before cell phones. My wife would answer the phone and she'd go, It's Coach Brooks. I'm like, Oh, shit. Here I am. I got three kids at home, and I'm worried he's going to yell at me. He was always in charge. Even when he threatened to cut me, I thought he would. It was just the last jab at me to get me going for whatever reason, I don't know, but he was an incredible mind guy. He loved to get into people's heads and players heads. And part of me said, he can't cut me on the captain.

And the other part said, he just might. He's crazy enough to do it.

You guys get together. The movie depicts a moment that Mike told me actually didn't happen. He didn't say, who do you play for? I played for Team USA. But there was a night of crazy skating. Oh, yeah. We skated. Can you take us through that night? If that was... Was there a time the team was... The movie Miracle shows great division between the players. Was there that division, or was that a little exaggerated, or what was it really like, and then how does that fit into the skating?

The division was what they thought was going to happen once the team was picked. Everybody had, Can the Minnesota and the Massachusetts guys get along? Can the Wisconsin, Minnesota guys get along. We bonded right from the beginning. I tell you that because anybody who's played hockey, you realize at a young age how important your teammates are. Hockey is the ultimate team sport, and you know how important. Like I've said many times, Mark Johnson, who's from Wisconsin, was our best player. We don't win without Mark Johnson. But how good would Mark be if the right wing and the left wing and the defensemen and the coaches weren't doing their job? So we understood. Everybody had a job. Everybody had a role. Understand what What your job is, understand what your role is, and we, as a team, have an opportunity to be successful. That was the mindset from the beginning. Not everybody's going to be out on the power play. Not everybody's going to be out killing penalties. Everybody's got a job and a role. We If we knew that, we'll be fine. To me, I've always said this, there's no better place to be, whether it's on a team or in business, when everybody that you're with has the same goals and objectives that you have.

Our goals and objectives as a team was to be the best, never knowing it was going to lead to a gold medal. But we knew in order for us to be successful, we had to believe in ourselves, but we had to believe in each other. That's a great place to be. That's awesome. To go to practice every day knowing everybody's willing to sacrifice to be the best. That was our mindset from the beginning. So the teams picked 26 guys. Then right before the Olympic Games, he cuts the last two players.

The again, again, the- The skating.

The skating. We played Norway The game ended in a 3-3 tie, and Herb wasn't very happy with the way we played.

Norway was not like a world power.

No, we should be able to handle the Norwegians. They're not known for it's hockey. It ended in 3-3 tie. In the movie Miracle, they have the guys on the bench looking at the girls in the stands. Look at her, look at her. Trust me, that didn't happen. I told my wife that didn't happen. I said, The guys from Minnesota were looking at the girls. I was not. But we did skate. We skated for an hour and a half. They shut the lights off in the building. We didn't go 20 at a time. We only went waves of five guys at a time. Only 15 of us dressed that night. The other 10 guys were in the stands watching. We did the Herbie's for about an hour and a half. The game ended. The drill ended when Mark Johnson smashed a stick against the glass, and Herb said, If I hear another stick smashed against the glass, you'll skate till you die.

I say that one more time. What did Coach Brooks say?

If I hear another stick smashed against the glass, She'll skate till you die.

That is called ZUS Energy, ladies and gentlemen. Yes.

Then they shut the lights off in the building. Just had the lights on and we finished the skate and he brought us in the locker. This way again tomorrow, you're going to skate again. Well, we beat Norway 8 to nothing the next day. I'm going to tell you why I tell the story about why we skated. It wasn't because we were looking at the girls in the stands. To me, this is the message from Herb, was this There are a lot of important values in life, and the most important one is respect. We skated that night because of three things. He said to us, If you don't respect yourself, you won't be successful. If you don't respect your teammates, people that you work with, people that you associate yourself with, you will not be successful. And if you don't respect your competition, you will not be successful. We never made that mistake again. And now I'll fast forward. We win the Olympic gold medal. We beat Finland. A lot of people don't know this. If we lose to Finland, we could have won no medal. There was a chance we could have come in fourth place.

We beat Finland. We win the gold medal. We go back in the locker room. It is Bedlam. Bedlam in the locker room. All our parents are in the locker room. You couldn't go anywhere in Lake Placid without your badge, your name tag. To this day, how our parents got in the locker room, we have no idea. How my dad got in with a six-pack of beer, I have no idea. My dad was sitting, waving at me like it It was a high school game. The locker room was the size of this here. It was so tiny. All of a sudden, Herb calls me into the back area, and he says, Mike, I just got a call from President Carter, and they are sending Air Force One tomorrow morning at 6: 30 in the morning to take you guys to the White House. I want you to make sure that everybody's in bed early and nobody acts up tonight. I looked at Herb and I said, Who's going to watch me? I got to tell you the truth. We stand out all night. But why I tell you that story was Herb never waived it from that value.

Respect your success, respect your accomplishments, respect the time, the effort, the work, and the sacrifices we put in collectively and you put in individually. So even though we had won this incredible moment, although Herb and like I said earlier, our team didn't know it was that big a deal, he never waived it from that fact. Respect your success. And that's an value that you have to have in life, not just sports. I think that's what we talked about a little earlier, I think that's what we've lost sight of in our countries. People just don't respect people anymore. I can mention it. We just got awarded. Our team is going to receive the Congressional gold medal, which is, did I say that earlier? You did, yeah. I did. Well, I repeated myself. That's okay. But that is an ultimate honor for our team. I think that's what makes our team and separates our team from other athletic achievements is that it was a US story and not Boston or Chicago. I think Herb was the right guy to keep and maintain those values that are so important in life. He was an old-school guy. He was lunch pale, hard hat.

That was our team. That's the way he coached us. That's the way he was.

Mike, so now we're getting towards the Olympics, and there's the game against the Soviets at Madison Square Garden. And do you think that... Why do you think Herb wanted to play that game? Was it just, Hey, this is part of the schedule? Was there any deeper thought you think by Coach Herb-Brooks, and the game did not go well for you guys? And how did that all fit into what would happen at the Olympics, if at all? Was it just like a game and like, Hey, you watched the all?

Well, For me, it was the last. Why we scheduled the game? I have no idea other than maybe Herb wanted us to play the Soviets just to see what the competition was going to be like. Because during our season, we played 68 games against colleges, minor league teams. We had a great series with the Canadian Olympic team. We played them eight times. We had a great series with the Soviet B team, not the A team. The A team was playing the New York Rangers, the New York Islanders, the NHL teams as they prepared. The last game was in Madison That's where you guys are.

You guys understand this? The 1980 team that Mike is on, they're playing against college teams, minor league teams. The Soviets are playing against the NHL teams and beating them. The NHL All-Stars. Mike and the team, these are college players. The Soviets, because of communism versus capitalism, are professional hockey players, essentially, where their life is paid for, their world is paid for. And these are much older players, much more seasoned players, like they would be NHL players. I repeat, they were beating NHL teams and NHL All-Star teams. But Mike, back to you and going to Madison Square.

Yeah, so we step on the ice. You got to remember one thing, too. Some of the Soviet players were going for their third consecutive gold medal. That's playing together for 12 years, some of these guys. The average age of our Olympic team in 1980 was 21 and a half, 22 years old. Matter of fact, I don't know if anybody here follows college hockey, but our Olympic team in 1980 would be the youngest team in college hockey today. I was 25 at the time, and Buzzie Schneider was 25. Neil Bronton was 18. Mike Ramsey was 18. Davy Christian was 19. We step out on the ice in Madison Square Garden, the building sold out. This is two days before the Olympic Games, and we lose 10 to 3. Totally embarrassed, totally humiliated. God, we thought we were good, and all of a sudden we got Welcome to the World moment. We lose 10: 00 to 3: 00. The game's over. The last two guys get cut from the team. Now, 20 of us are going to get on the bus the next day and go to Lake Placid for the Olympic Games. When the game ended, Herb didn't say anything to us.

He said, Go back to the hotel, get a good night's sleep, come back to the rink in the morning, we'll pack our bags, and we'll go to Lake Placid. Never mentioned, talked about the game. So the next morning, I pick up the New York Post, wrong newspaper to pick up, and the article talks about how the US team has no chance in the upcoming Olympic Games. The Soviets are the best team in the world. They will win. They will win the gold medal in the US. It has no chance. And it said, We didn't have the talent, we didn't have the ability, we didn't have experience to compete at that level. Then there was a quote from Herb Brooks, and Herb said, I knew our team was in trouble. When the Soviet players were being introduced, my players were applauding them. It was like, There's Kalimov, there's Yakashev, there's Kutov, these great players we heard so much about. Herb was a great speaker, great motivator. We go in the locker room to get ready to go to Lake Placid. He said, Gentlemen, if you ever get a chance to play the Soviets again, and we don't know if we are because they're in the other division, we had to win our own division or come in second in our division to even get a chance to play them.

He says, Remember how you played in the second and third period, not the first period. We were losing 6 to nothing after one period. I tell you that because he turned a negative into a positive. Negative right away. He said, Look how even you played with them when you guys were ready to play. Instead of screaming and yelling at us, saying how much we sucked or how bad we were, we walked away thinking, Wow, we played even with the best team in the world. I tell that story because when things don't go well, and there are times things don't always go well, find something positive and build off of that, because if you think negative things, guess what? Nothing but negative thoughts will stay in your head. We get on the bus clearly excited about what It just happened. We played even, and we don't know if we're even going to play him again. Our mindset going into Lake Placid was totally different than if he had screamed and yelled at us. We get to Lake Placid and the tournament starts. But that game that we lost 10 to 3 was never, ever talked about again.

Even when we got to play him the second time in Lake Placid, the day before at practice, Herb never said, remember what happened last time? That game, it was like it didn't even exist. All he talked about was positive. Do the things we need to do in order to win. We were never concerned about other teams. Herb said it in the movie, I think a lot. I haven't seen the movie in years, but play your game, play your game. That was constant on our bench. We were never concerned about what other teams were doing. We needed to control the things we needed to control and do the things that we needed to do in order to be successful. So play your game, play your game. Throughout Soviet game, that's what he talked about. Never once did he bring up anything negative about what had happened before. So your mindset's different. Your mindset's totally different. It was like it didn't even exist. It was something in the past.

I wouldn't have expected to hear that. That's extraordinary, right? Would you guys have expected to hear that? Yeah, extraordinary. Now you're at the Olympics, and as it starts, and I think you play Sweden game one. Am I right? Yeah. Okay. So going into the Sweden game as you're there, was there any talk in the team about how you guys would do gold medal, medal rounds, or the team culture was more like, just play the game in front of you? Did the guys talk about things? How was that psychology?

Well, we got to Lake Placid, and the first thing you do is you go into the room where they're going to give you the clothing that you're going to wear for the opening ceremonies. In our case, it was sheepskin jacket, jeans, cowboy boots, cowboy hat. I live in Boston. That's the last time I'm going to wear a cowboy hat with boots and jeans. But anyway, that was the... So you get all your clothing. And then I remember there was a stack of sports illustrated, and you go over and you're picking them up because they get predictions. Speedskating, bobsled, looge. And you read it, it's got ice hockey. And it says, The Soviets will win the gold medal. They're the best team in the world. Czechoslovakia, because of the rivalry between the two countries from a political standpoint at the time. The Czechs had the three Stasny brothers who were great players. They might give the Soviets a game. Then it said, Sweden, Finland, Canada, and West Germany will fight for the Bronze. United States will be anywhere from seventh to 10th place. I think it was the same guy who wrote the article in the New York Post because it said we didn't have the talent, the ability or experience to compete at that level.

I remember seeing it the second time. It reminded me of my high school football coach. My high school football coach told me that ability in a dime gets you a cup of coffee. You think about it in your life, how many times we've all been around people with great ability and great talent and can't get the job done. It's like, no, I can take you all outside. I can measure how far you can run, how high you can jump. I can measure how much weight you can lift. But I can't measure heart, and I can't measure pride, and I can't measure commitment. And those are intangibles. I've said this, little things separate good teams from great teams, and little things separate good business from great business. Intangibles, hard work, qualities that our team had. We opened up the Olympic Games against Sweden, and there's nobody in the building at that time because the opening ceremonies were the next day. So the games hadn't officially, officially started. There are maybe 2,000, 3,000 people in the stands. Billy Baker scores arguably the biggest goal of the Olympics with 28 seconds left to go. We tie Sweden two to two.

It was a huge point because nobody thought we could beat Sweden.

At the end of the game, sorry. They're losing by a goal into the final minute, correct? 28 seconds. 28 seconds left. They're losing. If they lose this game, then basically there's no way you're going to make the medal round.

It would have been really hard because that was a big point for us to get. So we tie Sweden, we get a point. Next day is the opening ceremony, which was incredible. Next day is Czechoslovakia, the only team that anybody thought could beat the Soviets, and we blow them out. We beat them seven to three. Now, Everybody's talking about the US hockey team. You can't go anywhere. You can't talk to anybody. The good thing was there was no media, there was no Facebook and stuff like I told you earlier. We didn't know what was being written. We're in a little village in Lake Placid, which is about the size of this church. We beat them. Then we beat Norway, then we beat Romania, then we beat West Germany, and now we're in the medal round. That was our goal, get to the medal round. As it turned out, we were second in our division because Sweden had a bet of goals for and goals against. So it's a crossover. Number two plays number one. Obviously, number one on the other side was the Soviets. They were averaging seven goals a game. They beat Japan 16 to nothing two nights earlier.

And we're going to play. That's the deal. You're in the tournament. The next game is the Soviets, and now we'll play them.

And so the movie shows the pregame speech. I think when we had spoken a few months a year ago, you had mentioned, I think, that more of what Herb Brooke says in the movie in the Soviet pregame speech, he said in practice the day before. Is that right?

When I saw the movie for the first time and I heard his speech, I went, Holy shit, that's long. I don't remember him saying that, but I remember him saying, You were born to be a player. You were meant to be here. This moment is yours. Tonight is your night. But in the movie, they lengthened it because of what he talked about in practice the day before. They They're ripe. They're ready to be beaten. If anybody can beat him, you guys can beat him. And it went on and on and on about that. So I think they incorporated what he said the day before into the speech before the game.

And they show the wall in the game? Yeah, How did that build? Was that a real thing that the wall and the letters?

Yeah, we got telegrams. Every day, you'd get bags of telegrams from people all across the country. That's the only way that we knew people were watching. But I remember We got a telegram from a lady in Texas, and I live in Boston. All the telegram said was, Beat those commy basters. Swear to God. That's all it said. I was like, Wow, that's cool. So that went up on the wall. A lot of telegrams would come to individual players, family, friends, and some just to the team in general. It was a great way to spend. You come to practice and it'd be telegrams. You'd open up and read it and put it up on the wall. We're walking out of the locker room onto the ice and that wall of telegrams were there. We knew people were watching from afar, but nowhere did we have an idea the world was watching the way they were. That was motivating for us as a team. Then we went out and obviously beat the Maybe it's 4: 00 to 3: 00, and two days later, we had to play Finland.

Would it be okay if we watched a couple of clips from the movie? Yeah. Hey, Tink, so maybe let's show the pregame talk, which is a combined talk from the day before in practice, and then leading up to going on the ice. We're ready to play that quickly, or does it take a minute? Just go on the length, Tink. Just how long? Yeah, perfect.

Great moments are born from great opportunity. And that's what you have here tonight, boys. That's what you've earned here tonight. One game. If we played them 10 times, they might win nine. But not this game.

Not tonight.

Tonight, we skate with them. Tonight, we stay with them, and we shut them because we can. Tonight, we are the greatest hockey team in the world. You were born to be hockey players. Every one of you. And you were meant to be here tonight.

This is your time. Their time is done.

It's over.

I'm sick and tired of hearing about what a great hockey team the Soviets have.

Screw them.

This is your time.

Now go out there and take it.

What does that bring up, bring back, if anything, for you?

Just the emotion in the locker room. See how quiet it was? It was deadly quiet. Our locker room was never quiet. Guys would be eating hot dogs before the game. Like I said, Neil brought an 18 years old. He'd have a slice of pizza before he go on the ice. I'm sitting, how can he eat anything like that? But this game here, I remember walking in the locker room, how deadly quiet it was. I'm thinking, wow, we are focused and we are ready. Although I thought we were ready for every game we played, but never in the locker room was it quiet like that. Then I think the speech, as I said to you, a lot of that stuff he talked about the day before, that I'm sick and tired of the Soviets and everybody talking about them. I thought they did a great job of combining everything. I think the music adds a little to it, too. Kurt Russell, I told you, he was amazing as Herb Brooks, although friendlier in the movie.

Well, let's hold it. That guy, this is something Mike said to me just a little while ago. Kurt Russell playing Herb Brooks, he said, was much softer and friendlier than when you saw the movie.

Herb's wife's in the movie, and I don't think I saw her once all year. I didn't even know what she looked like. But there's a couple of scenes in the movie that he smiles, and I'm like, that's I'm not the guy that coaches them.

Did you ever see Herb Brooke smile?

Yeah, years later. Because I was a broadcaster for the New York Rangers when Herb was the head coach. I got to see a little another side of Herb. Herb made a choice to coach our team that way. It was good cop, bad cop. Craig Patrick, our assistant coach, was huge how important he was because Herb stayed away. He was an SOB. That's the way he was going to be, partly because, again, all the Minnesota guys on the team, if Herb favored the Minnesota guys, it would have created an unpleasant locker room. But the fact that he was a bitch to all of us and was a hard, demanding coach bonded us even more together because it was always us against him. We'll prove you wrong. Really, you're going to Are you yelling at Buzzie, then you're yelling at me. And we understood that he said many times, there's a method to my madness. But he did say after the Olympic Games, he would have loved to have been closer to that team, but choose not to be. Wow.

And so he was sacrificing what he wanted emotionally for himself for some greater outcome. Yes? Okay. We're ready to come out to the game tank? Yeah. So we'll go there in one sec. Just in a little bit of fun, were there any moments where he just did something totally crazy and insane? Or what were some of the more ridiculous moments? They may even felt ridiculous then, but as you look back, any unique, crazy, interesting moments between the team and him or things he said that come up for you, Mike?

No, he was just a prick to play for. John Harrington used to write down, we called them Brooksisms. Herb would come up with these statements, and Harrington would write them all down, and we kept them a book of them. One time he said, Weave, weave, weave, but don't weave for the sake of weaving. Weaving was inter-crisch-cross. That's the style of hockey that we were going to play. Weaving was the international thing. I remember sitting there going, Weave, weave, weave, but don't weave for the sake of weaving. He told Ken Morrow one day in practice that he was skating like he had a 10-pound fart on his head. And Kenny's skating around going, What's it look like? So there were some stupid things that he said that made you laugh a little. But for the most part, he stayed pretty true to form as far as being, this is the way it's going to be. And like I said, we got it, we understood it, but we, as a team, had fun with it sometimes without him knowing it.

And there's a scene in the movie with an interaction after the Soviet between Herb Brooks and Jim Craig. Did that happen? How did he relate to Jim Craig, Coach Brooks?

I don't know that. That must have been something with separate. The goal tenders, you usually just leave them alone. We had a goaltender and coach who could probably maybe deal with Jimmy. But for the most part, whatever they said, I wouldn't have remembered or thought about.

It is correct, by the way. The team has never been back together. Did the whole team make it onto Air Force One? The next day or they did not?

Jim Craig did not. He went to Atlanta because he signed with the Atlanta coffee team.

So it is true that not even at the White House the next day, has the team ever been back together again since they were all on the podium together. Is that correct, Mike? Is that crazy?

I remember sitting on the plane, going back to Boston after we go to the White House and then found out that this thing was huge. And I remember getting on the plane Eastern Airlines. That's how long ago that was. I'm sitting next to Dave Silke, and Silke just got tears in his eyes. I said, Silke, what's the matter? He just looked at me and he went, It's over. We're never going to play together again. It was like, Fuck, you're right. We all went our separate ways. Neil Bratten signed, Mark Johnson signed, all these guys signed pro contracts. I remember going home, and we won the gold medal on Sunday. On Monday night, my My mother's making me dinner, and I'm like, What the hell just happened to me? I had to get up early the next morning to go to New York to do Good Morning America. I slept in my own bed. My mother made breakfast the next morning and had a car, a limousine, taking me to the airport to take me to New York. I got on the Eastern Airlines shuttle and everybody on the plane started applauding. I turned around. I didn't know who got on the plane.

I swear to God, I went, What? You people watched? The pilot, and he just wrote a book, the pilot, in the book he mentions, he told me to get out of my seat and come and sit behind him on the plane because people wanted to come up and talk to me and get autographs and pictures. He said, Don't tell anybody you're here because you're not allowed to be here. You're not a member of Eastern Airlines. I remember getting off the plane in New York, the line with people. They were all clapping and patting me on the back. I'm like, healthy? What happened here? You people watched. It was crazy to go from having no idea to, Oh, my God.

Mike, I was 10 years old. I was not a hockey player. I did like the Islanders that time, but I was much more of a football, basketball fan and player. And nobody in my My family was a hockey person at all. I remember fighting with my mom to help Rush get me home so we could listen to the game on the radio, because I don't, if I recall correctly, I was in New Jersey. It wasn't being broadcast on television.

That was tape delay, the Soviet game.

So I had to listen to it on the radio, and I was a huge USA person. So I love the Olympics. I watched everything. So I didn't necessarily just love hockey, but I loved all of it. And I sat by myself in the basement of my parents house, small house on a main road. We weren't three families, two family, and listened to this go on. And as a 10-year-old, Somehow, I couldn't stand the Soviet Union, commy bastards. I was in a commy bastard household for sure. And it meant everything. And I sat there as a 10-year-old by myself crying when you guys won. And what all those people did and they were sharing, it just couldn't be more real. And I thank you for that with all my heart, because what you guys did was life-changing for me. And every time along the way that I faced challenge, including finding I was going to go blind to high school sports challenges and everything that would come in my life, things to this day. Your signature or a fraudulent version of it, but I hope it's yours, is on a jersey in my library in my house along with the hockey skates.

It has the '80 blue jersey, all you guys signed it, and the skates. And that is the core of everything for me is what you guys did. And it is so unbelievable, and it is totally believable. And how I relate to what you guys did personally, and what we talk about here is it was totally possible. It was almost impossible, but obviously it was totally possible. And because of the process, the system that was put in place, we call that the math, the math, the numbers, the dynamics, then the heart. Coach Herb Just put that together. You as captain, such an incredible leader amongst leaders, as you always say, all these leaders. And you really did do something that was virtually impossible that changed the course of human history. And it's so unbelievable. And remember, Mr. Michael Ruzioni isn't on television. He's not in movies. He's not on social media, but he's at the Seychelles today Okay. And what happened?

Somebody recognized me.

And then what happened?

Then they wanted to take pictures. Then they wanted autographs. Then they started chant USA, USA. And I'm like, I just wanted a drink. Who's going to recognize me here? So I finished my drink and took some pictures and signed some photographs and left my drink at the bar. I was still pissed off.

We'll get you a few drinks.

I'm going to get a few later.

Tink, can we hit it? Let's hit it.

Hold on here a second, guys. We're just going to wait for the okay.

All right, James.

Got it all set.

All right, guys, set him in. Okay.

Let's go. Let's go. Come on, Terry.

Let's go, Mel.

Come on, buddy.

Let's go, Steve. Come on, Austin. Come on, brother. Come on, brother. Come on, brother. Here we go, brother. Here we go, David. Come on, David. Come on, Let's pause there.

So fairly accurate, not failure-accurate. And how were you so focused that you don't even remember hearing USA. Were you at all aware of the moment and the magnitude, or were you just like, I'm focused, then we're going to go play this game? How was it for you?

When you're on the ice, you don't hear anything. You hear a teammate asking for a pass or Herbie Ellen change up the lines or whatever. So you don't hear any chance. You're on the bench, you could hear the crowd a little, but you're just so geared to what you're doing, what you're watching. That everything's blocked out. And it's funny because I'm not that smart a person, but it's amazing the focus that you can have in a situation like that where your mindset is just on the ice and what's happening in front of you? Awesome.

Do you miss playing at all?

Oh, no. I skate. I help out with my high school team. I've been 45 years of a volunteer coach. I skate with my grandkids. They play. We were talking earlier, I got a little rink I put in my backyard, so the grandkids come over and we'll skate and things like that.

Do you check them?

I don't want it because I may fall and miss them. I'm a golfer, so I have much I'd rather do that than skate around the ice. I don't need the aggravation. Plus, I just can't do things. I try to lift the park and my shoulder hurts. I'm like, Oh, those days.

So quick fun fact, and we're going to take then go to the next spot. The game is tied three to three. And I don't know, some guy scores a goal that puts the USA up four to three. So maybe we'll go there next. But not that long ago, Mike was a golfer, and he ends up at this And there's a shared experience and some people around the table. And I think it was Tiger Woods, Jack Nicklaus, who is considered to be the greatest golfer in history by many, Jack Nicklaus' son, and the President of the United States. As President Trump. And President Trump is like, Come on over. And so Mike is sitting there. And I think you're reminded the President of a very important fact that he might not have been aware of with Tiger Woods and Jack Nicklaus and some difference between you guys. Well, you know what?

I'm not going to get into politics because I've known President Trump a long time. He used to play celebrity golf with us. And while he was the President, I played a couple of rounds with him because I'm a member of his club. I was going to play that day, but Jack Nicklaus, his son, ended up playing. I was going to be the fourth in the group. They'd done golfing, and I was sitting at a table, and President called me over and said, Don, and we're just talking back and forth about this and that. I looked at the President and I said, Hey, boss. I said, There's a lot of majors between these two guys, but I'm the only gold medalist at the table. Let's hear for that. And he looked, he went, That's funny.

Tink, we're ready. We're ready, guys? Just give me a heads up where we are. So game's going... Okay, one sec. Game's going, you're playing. And what I'm hearing is For you, you're so focused on the team. It's like just another hockey game. But I think, I think, and correct me if I'm wrong, but what I'm also hearing is because you treat it like just another hockey game, you guys weren't elevating the Soviets. You're playing hockey, and the game is now three to three in the third period. Correct, not correct? Or was there any time in the game when it changed, where you guys became clear it was just a hockey game, we could beat these guys? Did you come into the game just as a game, or did your confidence as a team, do you think, build over the game?

First of all, you go into the game thinking you can win. If you think you're going to lose, you probably will. We knew it was going to be difficult. We knew we had to play well. We had to be smart. We had to be disciplined. We couldn't take penalties. We couldn't get into a shootout because we weren't scoring five goals. We got four because if they scored five, we weren't getting five. But again, that's the way the game went. But As a player, you just focus on what you're doing, doing your job, do the things that you're asked to do, go out there every shift, play hard, play smart, be disciplined. The game just goes the way it does. Obviously, Mark Johnson scores a goal with no time left on the clock to tie the game.

At the end of the first period.

At the end of the first period was a huge goal because we didn't play really well in the first. We weren't terrible, but we didn't play well in the first. Jimmy played great. So it's 2-2. Then it's 3-2 them, and it's 3-3 us. Like I said, if it got to be four to them, the game's over because now we're going to chase them. Now we're going to change the way we want to play. The fact that the game stayed the way it was going-Because you guys were never down two goals in the game?

No.

We were never I'll give you a statistic that I didn't know about until a couple of years ago. In the third period of the Olympics, the third period, we outscored our opponents 16 to three. That is unheard of. We gave up three goals in the third period, all tournament long. We didn't give up any to Finland. We didn't give up any to Sweden, and we didn't give up any to Sweden, and we didn't give up any to the Soviets.

I think that was conditioning, mindset.

Conditioning. I think conditioning was a big part of our success. We played four lines. We didn't just play one and two. We rolled four lines. Everybody played. Everybody contributed. When I scored, there were 10 minutes left to go.

Can we see that for a sec? Is that okay? This part? Tink.

Does it go in I hope so. Jimmy, you're on wide? Come on, buzze.

Harrington, up to Schneider. Rizzo, go. Schneider gets through a bit and heads to the bench. Buzze. You're looking up, makes up the top of the corner. Checked by Harrington. Rizzo, Rizzo.

Half the time, but now.

Over to Aruzioni.

He shoots. He shoots.

Let's hear it for that. Do you ever watch the movie and think it might not go in? Mike, I know that you're a humble man. You're like, Listen, I'm not that deep. Do you feel anything when you watch that or no?

I feel happy that it goes in. Yeah, obviously, it brings a smile to your face. For me, knowing I was able to help out our team at a time when we needed something to happen. Like I said earlier, though, if Mark Johnson doesn't score his two goals, who knows? My goal doesn't mean anything. But the fact that I scored in a team that I did, and there were still 10 minutes left to go in the game. It was a long 10 minutes. But in the movie, like I said, I haven't seen it in years, but in the movie, they have at the end, after I scored, the Soviets just, Save Craig, save Craig, save Craig. And when you watch the actual footage, I scored with 10 minutes left to go in the game, and the Soviets only had five shots on goal in the last 10 minutes. We totally shut them down in the third period, and especially the last 10 minutes. But again, I look at it, it's nice. It went in. I got the winning goal, and we win 4-3.

And so what that means is, and Tink, let's get ready to watch the very end of the game. So for everybody, that means that they just kept playing the game. And as the Soviets became more desperate and urgent, It sounds to me like what Michael Rizzioni is saying is that they were taking that momentum as a team, and they were shutting down the Soviets. They weren't just playing great defense. They were still playing offense. They were out playing them at every level because the Soviets only had five more shots on goal the rest of the game. Am I hearing that correctly? Yeah.

They started doing things they normally don't do. And we just continued to play the way we were playing, continued to do the things that made us successful throughout the tournament.

Tink, please.

And then we got Fedland. Anyone who was in Madison Square Garden two weeks ago who's watching this game tonight has got to be shot. I love Brooks' reaction.

And the chain resumes. Mike Guzzioli at a Boston University, the captain of this US team, has just put the US ahead for the first time, exactly halfway through the third period. This US team was demoralized by the Soviets. Very tentative, very nervous, very much in awe of the Soviet team.

And this is a US team that tonight is not in awe of anyone. Come on, boys. Here we go.

Ten minutes left to play. The Vetrov, Petrov to Harlevo. Khrushchev, crossing the US blue line now. Quick fast, back to Morset. Shot. Save. Kruise. Kruise and get it out of there. Kruise and Tana back to point. A drive just wider than that. Khrushchev with the buck, right in front. And another use saved by Jim Craig. Playing your game. Johnson will get across to McClanahan. It's intercepted by all the lock. Take them wide, take them wide. Arlewell leaving the charge up the ice. He fires a shot. Love saved by anybody. Keep it moving. Great shot from Petra. Krieg again with the stop. Arlewell, who's back to Casa, two on for the floor. He shoots, six, seven. Rebound at McClanehan. King, clearing. Big way. Mcclanehan dies. To clear the zone. Second time remaining in the third period. The US leading. We're going to go in short shift, boys. 30 to 40 seconds.

Short shift, 30 to 40 seconds. Keep an eye on his doctor.

For the walk, for the walk has to make Al up. Over the blue line, get Petra right in. Shot. Sliding save, I pray. Switch him up. Go, go, go, go, go, Picked up by Petitia. Picked up and cleared by Mario. The Asiomian is still back in their own end. He wants five minutes to play in the third period. Cacetano leaves it for Mikaela. Mikaela throws it over to Harlema. Slapshot. Off the way by Craig. Get that out. Ramsey moves it for Mikaela. Mikaela throws it over to Harlema. Slapshot. Off the way by Craig. Get that out. Ramsey moves it for Mikaela. Get ready. He moves through the neutral zone. He's running on the boards. Five, Billy, you left him up. And the showman is cleared with 3: 50 to play in the game. He's intercepted by Harleba. He moves it up to Kruton. Kruton for the buck through the neutral zone. We'll begin on the net. That's stuck by Krey. What are you doing, boys? Loose buck in the corner. Kruton chasing it. Schneider right behind him, fighting for it. Bring it off the board.

Bring it off the board.

319, left of the play with Callahan moving out. Clears up. How are you doing, Doc? It's good. It's good. Change him up. Change him up. Let's go. Kola Goff will be up to center-right. Please it for McCart. Save by frame. What is this? What is this? This is clear. This is how. Boys in control. Mccart. Scraping for it. They're not looking their dead. Hard hit by Mike Ramsey. 17 remaining. The United States on top. No more changes until the next point.

Police, talk in the corner.

My name is Paul Mishgen. I want Fred play. O'cee.

I'm really amazed how well-conditioned this US team is.

I've never seen The Real Oviedo has outskated this late in the game, and that's exactly what the US team is doing at the end. Roller call across the backdrop. Shot, kick the way by Craig. Over the ball, sir. We'll begin on the net. Then start by Craig.

Chip it out. Come on, guys. Chip it out. No, no, no, no.

No, no, no, no, no, He doesn't know what to do. Thirty-six seconds. Macabre over the blue line to Morse. But, what does he say? Fighting for possession for a man. He doesn't know what to do. Thirty-six seconds. Macabre over the blue line to Morse. But, Dr. Sey, fighting for possession for a man. He doesn't know what to get away from Harlem on the long of the boards.

Again, coming here from the Olympic place, around the US.

Huge underdog. Slated by Soviet Union. Johnson over to Randy.

Will you look at him up there?

He's going to get left in a safe by Randy. Mcclanehan is there.

The pocket is still loose. 11 seconds.

You got 10 seconds. The count-count going on right now. Tomorrow. Up to two.

Five seconds left in the game. You believe in there? Oh,

Two days later, the miracle was made complete.

My boys defeated Finland to win the gold medal, coming from behind once again. As I watched them out there celebrating on the ice, I realized that Patty had been right. It was a lot more than a hockey game, not only for those who watched it, but for those who played it. I've often been asked in the years since Lake Placid, what was the best moment for me? I was here. A sight of 20 young men of such differing backgrounds. Now, standing as one. Young men willing to sacrifice so much of themselves, all for an unknown. A few years later, the US began using professional athletes at the games, dream teams. I always found that term ironic because now that we have dream teams, we seldom ever get to dream. But on one weekend, as America and the world watched, a group of remarkable young men gave the nation what it needed most, a chance for one night not only to dream, but a chance, once again, to believe.

Mike, what Was it like standing at podium and bringing the team up when that was all complete?

Oh, that was pretty special. To stand and to hear the whole building, the whole building singing the Star-Spangled Banner and see our flag being risen just a little higher than everybody Nobody else's was pretty special. I was standing there and I ended up obviously calling all my teammates up onto the podium because one person shouldn't be there. It should be everybody. And the next Olympic Games, and since then, it's a long platform where all the players stand, and that's the way it should be.

He changed that. Let's hear for that.

You can see we all fit. I don't know if we all fit now, but we all Although there's only, unfortunately, three of my teammates have passed since 1980. But we'll all be together next week in Minnesota doing one of those memorabilia signing things. This company hires our team for, I think every three years we do, we sign like five or 600 prints, and then they use them for charities or whatever. So we'll get together and we'll have some fun.

Then you have a Netflix show. You're in Lake Placid.

What's going on? Netflix special should be coming out in January or February. They finished that. They interviewed all of us. All of us went back to Lake Placid, which was fun. It's typical Hollywood or whatever. So Netflix comes to my hometown, and they walked around with me and talk to people. I don't know what's going to end up on the editing floor or not the editing floor. But they interviewed my wife, and my wife doesn't say anything. She's very quiet and very shy. So they said, Can we talk to her? I said, Yeah, you can talk to her. You're not going to get much out of her. She was sitting there and the guy looked at my wife and he said, When Mike was elected captain of the team and he called you and told you, what did you think? What did he say? She looks and goes, Call me? You think he called me? He didn't call me. He called his friends and his father. I'm the last person he called. I said, God, I hope that makes it onto the show. That's pretty funny. I'm curious what Netflix is going to do, but they usually do some good stuff, so I think that'll be fun.

I think after the Netflix and then the Commemberment of the Lord, that's got to be it. What else can they give us? It's over.

It's never over.

Do you think it's over? No, I get that. But still, it's just like, okay, what else can we have?

So legacy. Do you think about those things? Do you think about... I know a simple person. Do you think about what you'd want people 100 years ago, 100 years from now, when you leave this world, what you want to be remembered for? Has that ever come across your mind, your heart?

No, I guess I think it's what I talked about earlier. My teammates and I had to be remembered as a good group of guys who worked hard to accomplish their dream, and that we were good people. Like I said, if you spent time with my teammates, you'd get a total understanding of how we were successful. Not only were we good, we were the type... We were the guys that you wanted as a neighbor, as a friend. I think I'd like our team to be remembered as just a bunch of good guys who worked hard and had incredible values, who loved our country. We took great pride in putting USA jersey on. I think we represented our country the way that I think people in this country were proud of and our team wanted to be remembered for that, being a good group of guys that you would want to hang with and sit with and talk with and you could trust and who you respected. I guess things that my dad always told me about. It's easy to be a good person, and I think our team was that.

Amen. It's okay if we're getting down to it, final couple of minutes. Okay if we ask two or three quick questions? Sure. Okay. Let's go start partner questions. Any CERP partners have a question for Mr. Micrizioni? Just raise your hand real quick, and let's get them the microphone. Actually, Lance, did I also would if Lance and then if Nathan had his hand up, great, if not, fine. But after what Nathan did today, I think that would be earning a question. And let's try to get one of the women of CERP as well. But Lance, you had your hand up?

Mike, I just wanted to say I've never-Oh, by the way, Nathan is a retired Lieutenant Colonel, United States Air Force, Commercial Airlines pilot now and doing many incredible things.

Mike, my nephew, a separate subject, just retired as a full bird colonel in the Marine Corps. All right. He went to the Naval Academy, and then he took the Marine end of it and works for the government now, and he can't tell me what he does.

Outstanding. I won't hold the Naval Academy part against him, but I'm sure he's a standard man. I never really knew your full story. This man here is responsible for my full knowledge of this and how special it is to everyone in this audience. First I've ever met you or heard you speak. I just want to say you are a national treasure, and not just because of the way you told this story, but for being a lunch pale and hard hat guy, and the values that you espouse and talk about and just it oooses out of you. So this isn't a question. I just wanted to acknowledge you for that. And also how you tell her, Brooks, a story. And I think the witness that you provide for what he did and who he was is the greatest gift that I believe you can give another human being, being a witness for somebody's life the way you are for him. We all believe in miracles in this room. And as you said, maybe we meet another 1980, this day and age. And because of this man and the witness that he is for your team and your life, I think one of us as a retired fighter pilot myself I've said this before, but I believe that the mission that we're on now is more crucial to our nation, to the furthering of that dream for what you fought for, what you represent, than the mission I serve when I was actually flying over the skies and defending my country.

They do believe in miracles, and I think that the next miracle that happens will be created in this room. Thank you for being here tonight to tell that story. Thank you for everything.

Thank you for having me.

Thank you. Thank you. Amen, Nathan.

I wrote a book a few years ago. It's called The Making of a Miracle, and it's my life story. I don't tell you to buy the book, but you can if you want to. But I remember when they contacted me, they wanted to write a book about our team.

This is simple, Mike. I'm buying a book for everybody in the room. Done. I'm seriously, order the book. I don't know. You can get Amazon, whatever.

But I remember they wanted to write a a book about our team, and I called my teammates up and they said, No, not interested. Like I said, if you move to my teammates, they don't like any attention at all whatsoever. They said, No, we're not interested in a book. I said, Okay. I called the guy back and he goes, Why don't you write one? I don't want to write a book. Then I got to talk about myself. Then I got to go to book signings and you got to see people. Then I thought about it and I talked to my wife. I said, You know what? I'm going to do it. I wrote the book, and I wrote the book for one reason. I want my grandkids to know that papa's life wasn't one game one goal or one moment. I want my grandkids to know about their grandfather, their great grandfather, and their family, because family is very important to me. So I did write the book, and it actually became a best seller. And thank God, COVID hit because I didn't have to go around I did two book signings. I did two signings, and that was enough for me.

Thank God for COVID.

Thank God for COVID. That's amazing. Who's got the next question, team?

Can't ask me any later.

Here's a question for you. This is Mama Soul Wisdom. She had her face on a Times Square billboard, 40 feet for a month, rotating. She's an incredible human being. Please, Mama Soul. Thank you.

Mr. Iruzioni, what do you hope the Miracle on Ice teaches future generations about what's possible for the human spirit When vision outweighs fear. I think the message is what I talked about. If you believe in something and you're willing to work hard, you can accomplish it. So I think value of work. I think hopefully our team will instill that in people. Miracle is a catchy phrase. Sounds great, but it wasn't a miracle. It was accomplishment by a group of people who believed. We believe, and I said this earlier, in ourselves, and we believed in each other. And I think that's an important value to have about belief and faith and hope. And don't ever quit despite the obstacles and the challenges. I guess that would probably be our message because nobody thought we could win. We believed that we had a hope and a dream, but let's go play and find out. So I think that would be a great legacy and message. I remember when we were named Sportsman of the Year, Sportsillustrated, EM Swift wrote an article about our team, and it was entitled The Lesson and Message of What We Can Be.

And the article didn't talk about goals that were scored or saves that were made. It talked about our values. It talked about our work ethic. I think that's the key to our success. And then it was named The Greatest Sports Moment of the 20th century. And a lot of it was because of those values. And that's what I hope people take away from the movie or take away from our team is the hope and belief that we had.

Let's hear for that.

Thank you.

Mike, I'm going to take a final question. I was 10 years old, as I told you, and maybe I was too naive, or maybe I just hadn't been brainwashed about why you can't do things. But when I went home that day to watch that game, I believe with every cell in my body that we, that's what you guys did, we, you made it a we for everybody in America who actually could still not be conditioned to a negative headspace that we were going to win. And I thank you for that. And because of that incredibly impossible dynamic of me being 10 years old, it's the right age, the right time, that imprinted on me, just in all these circumstances that I am in my life and lives of others. Yeah, that it's truly possible. And I mean it with every part of me. Thank you. And I feel so blessed to I have the miraculous timing of being 10 years old and that night happening. So thank you.

Thank you. It's funny. My grandkids want to watch the movie sometimes, and I've never sat with them and watched it at some point. I'm going to, but about a month ago, my grandson wanted to watch the movie, and I took the tape out, and he looks at me and goes, What's that? I said, That's the movie. What movie? That's the movie Miracle. What's that? That's a tape. That's the tape of the movie. We spoil little brat. That's It's not a CD. It's not a VHS tape. Here, watch it.

Mr. Ruzioni, and I have to say when I share this, far be it for me to ever, ever even give you any advice, but would it be okay if I offered a thought really quickly? Yeah. Please watch it with them because it will be, I am absolutely certain, a remarkable experience for you and them forever. You have I so earned what that will imprint on them forever.

I'll watch it, and I think someday I'll watch the Soviet game with them as well. I don't want to be watching the Soviet game, which is on VHS. I don't want to be watching the game, and all of a sudden, one of my buddies shows up. Let it go, Mike. It's over. But I do have a VHS tape of every game that we played, and maybe that will be something. Maybe when the 18-month-old is a little older, we can all watch it together.

Let's hear for that. Final question. Tony Marielo. Listen, We talk about you think you're not smart. I don't think I'm not smart. This dude's a brain surgeon, literally an actual brain surgeon. So yes.

I'm glad he's not a dermatologist.

We'll get to that in a second.

So just watching the clips and hearing the story, there's a lot of similarities to medicine and the way we were trained. And would you say that Herb Brooks was the toughest coach that you played for? No, my high school football coach and my college hockey coach were pretty intense. But then again, we were talking about earlier, that's how coaches coach in the '70s. You deal with it. Live in the house of my father for for 40 years and see how tough it was. Herb was like your dad. You know you love your dad, but sometimes you hate your dad because he makes you do things you don't want to do. That was Herb. So that's the way it's going to be. Okay, I can deal with it. You're only going to yell at me for two hours. Practice is over and I'm out of here. But he was demanding and he was challenging, but that's the way it was going to be. So if that's the way it's going to be, that's the way it's going to be. I'm not quitting. I want to be on this team. Yeah. Some of the physicians here with me, we all trained in an error where our attendings treated us like that and again and again and again.

Our results were better because of that. We keep them in a special place in our heart because they made us who we are. It makes you stronger. Yeah. I wonder if some of that's missing today. You're with the university now. Do you notice that things have changed? It's a lot different. Coaching kids today, don't coach them the way you used to coach. Don't yell at Johnny because you'll get in trouble. But I think the era that we grew up in was that an era. Now they grew up in a different era. You got to learn how to coach today differently than you could coach 20 years ago, 30 years ago. The great coaches adjust that way. The great coaches understand things. They can still be firm and disciplined and things like that, but you got to find a different way of doing it than I think the The old coaches did.

Thank you. Thank you, Tony. Mike's got a great new doctor. Can you just share that real quick?

My wife's a fanatic about going to the doctors. Got to go to the doctors. My dermatologist retired, so she gets me this new dermatologist. This was about, I'm going to say, six, eight months ago. I go into the guy's office, go to the room four. I go to room four, I sit down, I'm waiting for the doctor. Doctor comes in, take your shirt I take my shirt off and he's got the thing and he's looking. He's, That's good. That spot's good. That's good. After the Olympics, my girlfriend, who's my wife, I had this replica gold medal made for me. She worked in a jewelry business. He looks at it and he sees Lake Placid. He goes, Lake Placid. I went there last year. You know that's where the US hockey team won the gold medal? Swear to God. I think he's messing with me, right? They have the oval where Eric Hyden five gold medals right next to this arena. They have a museum, and they can watch ski jumpers, and there's a bobsled and a looge. Have you ever been there? I still think he's messing with me, right? I looked at him and I went, I was on that team.

He goes, No, you weren't. I said, No, I was. I was on that team. He goes, Oh, my God. I leave and I go home and I tell my wife the story. She goes, What do you think? I said, I think I need a a new doctor. This guy had no idea who I was. He never looked at my chart. It's not like my name is Smith. My name is in the... If you go to Lake Placid in the arena, there's a big billboard with all our names all around the rink. It says, Michael Grusioni in the rink, and he was there, and he never looked at my chart. So I'm getting a new doctor. That's That's a true story. That actually happened. No idea.

Anything left that you want to accomplish that is unaccomplished yet here your family, the Congressional gold medal, you obviously have incredibly successful speaking. No.

Like I said to you, I take each day as it comes. I look forward to going home tomorrow. My grandson's got a football game. I tomorrow night and go watch him play and live every day and enjoy every day and watch my kids, my grandkids grow, and hopefully live a little longer to see them have kids someday. I told my wife, and this is funny. I know you aren't going to agree with me, but when I first became a grandfather, I said to my wife, The worst thing about being a grandfather is I'm sleeping with a grandmother. She didn't think that was funny. I I thought it was hilarious. I slept on the couch. I slept on the couch for the next month. Like I said, I just... I cherish the things that I'm doing, continue to do, opportunities that I still have. Working at Boston University is awesome. We're going to have another good hockey team this year. Three years in a row, we went to the frozen four, final four, and maybe this year we can win it, which would be great for the kids themselves. But no, I just hope the plane lands on time tomorrow, and I'll make maybe nine holes in the afternoon with the boys.

That's a beautiful thing. Can't thank you enough for everything you've done here.

Thanks for having me.

The appreciation, nos no bounds. And what I think would be a wonderful way to have Mike call this an evening would be to give him a little USA, USA on our feet. What do you guys think? So let's rise to our feet as Mr. Mike Arruzioni heads off the stage. Let's first of all give him a hand. Thank you.

Thank you very much. Thank you. Thank you, Sachin. Thank you, Sarah. Thank you.

Let's hear a little USA, USA, USA, USA, USA.