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

If I had never played in that summer league game, I never would have gone to Boston University. And if I had never gone to Boston University, I never would have ended up playing on the U.S. 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. And 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 morning at 630 in the morning to take you guys to the White House. 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. Oh, thank you. Thank you very much. All right. Thank you. Wow. You people were born when I played. Some of you. I told Mr. Mike Arruzzione that if we had the opportunity to have Bruce Springsteen, Taylor Swift, or Beyonce, you guys would prefer him. Was I telling the truth? If yes, say yes. I'd rather see me than those three as well. So Mike, it is such an honor and privilege to have you here today. But before we get started, we wanted to share a couple of thank yous. And you met Nicole Tink Maello back there. So she's going to read a couple of thank yous 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. Arruzzione, on behalf of Unblinded, our certification partners, Unblinded Elite, the entire Unblinded ecosystem, my co-founders and leaders, Sean Calgi, 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. Arruzzione, for making the trip to Long Beach Island to be with us at this Unblinded immersion. 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 into 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 conflicts, the pressure, and showing us all that greatness is born in the fire. Thank you and your team for carrying a nation. Thank you, Mr. Ruzzioni and your entire 1980 U.S. 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, integrous, 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 Oh, thank you. Thank you, sir. Thank you, Sean. Thank you, Mike. I think we could use a 1980 now. Yeah, we really could, for sure. And it feels very difficult for me to call you, Mike. Yeah. When we spoke on the phone, you asked me to do that. I didn't get my last name until I was in the fourth grade, so yeah, 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, and it was very much like my high school experiences. I would love to call him Mr. Rosioni. I won't in honor of his request to call him Mike, but it feels like you should always be Mr. Rizzioni. 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 in the second floor. I have four sisters and a brother. This kind of gets a little crazy upstairs was my mother's brother who married my father's sister Told you was gonna get crazy and they were five kids in that family and My father's other sister lived on the first floor and they were four in that family so 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 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. 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. And I said to her, who moves to be with their family? So as we talked about earlier I have seven grandkids now which is kind of fun Watching them play hockey football lacrosse they all at that the oldest is 12 the youngest is 18 months but again back to you know my childhood growing up is you you worked i caddied as a kid my dad worked three jobs my mother stayed home and took care of six kids um there wasn't a lot of money in the house but there was a lot of love there's a lot of support and that's kind of how i grew up sports was was your vehicle i played football i played baseball probably played more baseball than anything and hockey was something you did in the wintertime it got cold you you went and played hockey because your friends played i remember uh 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 and 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 and and 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 sit and 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 and hockey's a macho kind of game and not only was i in white figure skates but she had these blue pom-poms on her and that's how I started to play ice hockey and in those days you could save some people might remember maybe not you could save snh green stamps and I came home one day and there was a pair of hide ice skates on the table and my mom saved up enough stamps to get me a pair of ice skates and 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 and like all great parents you support your kids and what they want to do so that's kind of how hockey started for me but cool like i said i i probably played more baseball and and i actually you know i was an all-state football hockey and baseball player so sports were was my life as a kid and mike do you think that was you know how much of that was baseball football hockey was genetic how much do you think you worked harder you know you had better coaching like what do you 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. 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. And 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 gonna lead, like I said, to an Olympic games, but as a parent, you support your children in what they wanna do. And 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. And I look back on my coaches, my high school football coaches, a big influence in my life. Obviously, my college hockey coach, Jack Parker, at Boston University, where I played and work right now. And 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. And I was given an opportunity to play a game, never knowing, thinking, or believing, or dreaming it would get to where it got to, but it did. But I remember graduating from high school. I wanted to go to the University of New Hampshire, and my grades weren't really good in school. One thing I kind of messed up was, as long as I was eligible, I was happy. So I wanted to go to the University of New 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 I hockey player, So I had no school to go to Wow. I was You know 17 years old with no college and nobody interested So one school that was interested was a school called Merrimack College and Merrimack College was a division three They weren't division one. They were division three school and they offered me a full scholarship and for all you parents out there It was thirty five hundred dollars my freshman year. I think Boston University's I think eighty something thousand now, but that's thank God I'm not around now So I wanted to go to college at UNH, but I ended up going to Merrimack. Well, in the summer, I played baseball in the summer. I didn't play hockey in the summer. So 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 a player. 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 the referee. And when the game was over, Jack Parker pulled me aside. He says, hey, I'm Jack Parker. from the assistant coach at Boston University We have a kid from Canada that decided not to come Would you like to come to Boston University And I like yeah I mean BU coming off back national championships at the time And I said to him, it has to be a full scholarship because my dad can't afford, you know, $3,500. He goes, no, it's a full scholarship. So 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 So I went from centering the fourth line to playing left wing on the second line and led by team and scoring my freshman year Wow, let's hear for that so I Tell you this story because if I had never played in that summer league game I never would have gone to Boston University and 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 Here I am today, so it's kind of funny how life works that sure is so going back for a sec though I I didn't know that part of the story, that you're coming out of high school, you don't have Division I offers. Fun footnote, by the way, my daughter Courtney went to the University of New Hampshire for starting her college career, just as a quick fun footnote. And you have a Division III opportunity. And were you coming out of high school thinking and hoping about playing college baseball or football or hockey? like what was that 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 they wouldn't let me play football because it was kind of the beginning of the of the hockey season but uh yeah my my mind was to play all three sports in college but ended up just doing too at Boston University, although the next my junior senior year I didn't play because I made the US national team and went over to Europe for the World Championships. So like how so and just I think this is important for the audience How often we could just be overlooked so obviously Michael Ruggioni was incredibly talented he goes out and ends up starting and be one of the leading scorers in his first year at Boston University but yet nobody's and this is a defending national championship team but nobody else is even offering you division one to come play like why do you think that was was it just you didn't have opportunities to be exposed to college coaches like what why weren't you getting those opportunities do you think because they weren't smart enough to realize how good I was I mean that's I'm again you know Sean you and I know each other a little but I'm not a real deep thinker I'm not that in depth on things I just do things yeah and I never thought about why they didn't like me I like I thought I was pretty damn good yeah I mean I you guys you think he was pretty damn good say yes no but you guys missed and I look at the college coaches that I played against these teams that you missed the boat yeah and and you know Boston University four years I graduated as the all-time leading scorer it's crazy since been passed because players today are a lot better than than when I played but um you know I I've always been the one thing I've always been is very confident in myself as As an athlete and as a person You know, I was talking a group of people the other day and I'm kind of 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 really about respect and I tell kids today, you know It's easy to be a nice person You've got to go out of your way to be an asshole No, you really don't pardon my language But Mike these people have heard a few f-bombs in the study. So we're okay, but it's easy to be nice it's easy to be a good a good a good teammate a good neighbor a good friend and Those are things that I always believed in and always taught even at a young age And I think those are values that that carried with me that carry 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 I care about and what's important to me and 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. And not everybody's a great day. I had challenges over 70 years of my life I haven lived the greatest I made stupid mistakes and that part of life That part of being in the world that we live in But I think when the smoke clears I can look back on my athletic career, and what I've been doing for the last 45 years, since the 1980s, 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. You know, what we did was 45 years ago, and I can talk, 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. I'll sit for that. Which is the ultimate, yeah, which is, I think, the ultimate honor. You know, it's not a sports award, it's not an ESPN award, this is from your country. This is, if you look at the recipients of it, it's, you know, 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 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, and 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. And I'm not playing for Chicago or Boston. You're playing for your country. And 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. Think about it. There was no Facebook or Twitter. There were three TV stations. The social media didn't exist. And yet when we won, when we got out into the country and realized that this thing was, wow, pretty big, And 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, you know, if you believe in something and you're willing to work hard, you can accomplish it. And 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 follow 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. So Mike, as you, a couple quick things. So some of the things i love to think about of ice hockey so um like as you a couple quick things so some of the things i love to think about are things and i'm it's exciting for me that you hadn't thought about that before because one of the things that we 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 you know 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 seized that opportunity hearing you loudly and clearly and 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 if i could do you think that you know at that time because today i know that you know this is part of your world there's all these showcases and club teams and every sport imaginable. It was a different world then, right? And in the 1970s, was there anything out there? Was it just like your college coach, I'm sorry, 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 seen I mean 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 you know there were no showcases that you played in your hometown you know I played in and where I live now I've played in Winthrop I played peewee hockey I played youth hockey played high school hockey and played bantam hockey they were no all-star teams there were no travel teams. Today it's crazy today. The cost, you know, 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 know, 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. So, I mean, that's basically what it was. We live in a whole different... You know again I work at Boston University We got three kids from Sweden we got two from Finland We got one from Russia We recruiting all over the world And our coaches are out there at these showcases But all these kids are paying a lot of money to play. And to me, there's only a few that are going to make it. And I personally think these kids spend too much money spending, searching, trying, traveling. But that's the culture. You want to play Division I baseball, you've got to be on the aau team that's 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 and did you so when you're winthrop then um did you have coaches did you have one two five ten college coaches come see like how many overlooked you was it just a small number or was it a lot of coaches that were coming to your house now i would say they were probably a small number because there weren't many colleges 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 play. 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. So, you know, 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. So 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? 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, or whatever. It always went well athletically. but I you know I again it was a different era and a different time I don't know how I would be in today's era you know because I I know one thing my parents wouldn't have had the money for me to play the travel that the kids are like today right so then when 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 Were you practicing more intensely than the people on your team Or you were just flat out better already? I think the practices continue. If 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 again, it was a different thing. I watch our players today. I mean, 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. The kids, they go in this room and they just sit there and just kind of, I don't know what they do in a sensory room. We didn't have any of that shit. You just played. And when the season ended, you know, the summertime, you know, 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 now. We have a few bears and we'll go to school classes tomorrow and then we'll get up and go to hockey practice. And 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 in the National Hockey League. I wanted to go to Boston University to play at Boston University. And if it happened that maybe I could play pro hockey after then that was something. But I didn't go, you know, we have freshmen that come in now, first round draft picks, second round draft picks. Then you got the name, image and likeness kids getting paid money. You know, we lost 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's giving him $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 $9 million. Shadar 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. There's more to making money. For me my scholarship was plenty But now it a different environment in the college sports for men and women you know this is the girl I think I UCLA the gymnast is making like stupid money but that just that that the arena or in now that was never there when I played when I played you just played yeah so when you're just playing and you're be you and you're obviously just standing out scoring goals leading the team on the way to breaking the scoring record at any point did you I mean you're just playing you're focusing do you remember when the first time you ever thought or heard of the olympics in hockey like when 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 case we trained for six months it was a Whole different mindset in 1980 than it was in 76. So 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 games were in Innsbruck. And I think the U.S. team came in fourth or fifth. So I missed that and passed that opportunity up. So again, I talk about how my life turned and things in your life that happened. So I graduated from Boston 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. So I went to camp with the New York Rangers, and I had a really good camp, and a guy named John Ferguson was the general manager of the New York Rangers. And 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're not signing any new players. We have our first pick, which a kid named Ron Duguay, who had a great career with the Rangers and 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. So they sent me to Toledo, Ohio 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. Oh, okay. Wow. Oggy Goglethorpe, remember him? Yes. He was on our team in Toledo for a week and then he got traded. But anyway, so I go to camp, I get sent to Toledo, the New York Rangers number two farm team, but I didn't have an NHL contract. week and then he got traded. But anyway, so I go to camp. I go to, I get sent to Toledo, week and then he got traded. But anyway, so I go to camp. I go to, I get sent to Toledo, the New York Rangers, you know, number two 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 rookie of the year. I'm going to sign with the New York Rangers. John Ferguson got fired. A guy named Fred Shero, who used to be with the Philadelphia Flyers, he becomes the general manager of the New York Rangers. And 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. So here I am in limbo. What am I going to do? So I go back to Toledo to stay an amateur, hoping to get invited to try out for the 80 Olympic team. So I go back to Toledo. they gave me $8,000 and a van because I didn't have a vehicle when I played there so I had a van and I got $4,000 raised 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 so I go back to Toledo, that summer I got a call from Herb Brooks inviting me to try out for the 80 Olympic team so I go to the eight tryouts I make the team and here I am today that's 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 so 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 and the best decision that ever happened. And then the Olympic Games and then you know we win and 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 and I was going to coach and teach and then found out that this moment, this event was bigger than we could have imagined. And And I remember I was talking to my phys ed school administrator in my high school asking if there might be a phys ed job open next year because I want to teach And then I was thinking about maybe coaching at Boston University because they might be looking for an assistant coach And then IBM this was in February and then IBM called my agent advisor and they wanted me to do 10 appearances, five at the Fountain Blue 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 dollars just to walk out on the stage and wave. I didn't even have to do anything. I made more in those 10 appearances than 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, probably been there five. I got a good gig at BU. But it's just funny how, you know, 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 kind of turned 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, you know, I always 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. You know, 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 probably have more than three kids because I'd have been home more. So for everybody, we had these conversations over the last couple of days about these dark moments and the hero's journey. So Mike's this phenomenal player, has nothing going on with colleges besides a Division III opportunity. We 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 really amazing that Mike comes out second round draft pick Mike correct me if I wrong most second round draft picks end up on the team isn that isn that relatively normal or yeah yeah so Mike doesn't this is normal course like 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 I mean I'm you know we're getting a sense of Mike and Mike seems like a pretty 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 kind of like 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, right? 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, there's more to life than athletics. And at some point, the game ends. You know, Michael Jordan had to stop playing someday. You know, these great athletes, eventually it ends. But your life doesn't end. And just because I didn't play, let's just say this, 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 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. And why should I be different? And just because I won a gold medal doesn make me better than people in this room There are certain things that you can do that I sure as hell can do So 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 yeah so this is and for everybody here and I really lock in on this, the lack of attachment that Mike has to 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 and tools. A hockey stick's 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 be a mirror for me. I'm like, yeah, I took things a lot harder than you did. And I had a strong psychology, not as strong as yours. As a high school athlete, as a college athlete, I almost played my way out of college baseball my sophomore year, pouting. I was runner for Ivy League rookie 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. I was very respectful, but I would pout more. I would take things more personally. I would be more upset about things. And what I'm hearing from you is it sounds like you didn't, and if I could ask, when the Rangers didn't sign you, did you spend, 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 like a week you're upset at all? And if so, for how long? when i was pissed off yeah what do you mean you don't want to sign me look what i just did but then again hey that's that's that's your decision i'll go in a different direction yeah um let's hear it how strong is that but it's right yeah look at look not 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'll just well i mean most people do you don't know why if you pout and quit sometimes Say yes. Yes. So thank you. Yeah, no, that's not in my, that was never in my vocabulary. And I think part of it is the way I grew up. You know, like I said, I saw my dad get up every morning and go to work, come home, Yeah, no, that's not in my, that was never in my vocabulary. Yeah, no, that's not in my, that was never in my vocabulary. And I think part of it is the way I grew up. You know, like I said, I saw my dad get up every morning and go to work, 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. so my mindset was as and again that's that's my wife and I get into these discussions all the time why are you such a in such a good mood all the time I says because I don't want to be miserable I don't wanna I don't want to live a life of wondering I'm just gonna do what I want to do and I'm gonna go ahead and do it despite the challenges and like I said not every day is a great day sometimes things don't work out the way you want it to work out I missed a two-footer yesterday for $20. I was so pissed off. The next time I have that two-footer, I better make it. So again, I'm not that deep a guy. I'm not that smart a 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. And usually, things are going to work out well. And if they don't, there's another day and I'll figure that out yeah and mike thank you and just so we're like level set i failed freshman high school geometry for the year as a freshman high school um i had a lower uh gpa in high school than i did in law school so i i wasn't i went to columbia because of baseball you know 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 like this these are people who are trained like this is not a sales program these are people trained to think about how do you 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 that, because my job, the way I look at people is I try to find out what's the simple formula that causes micro-Rizzioni to be micro-Rizzioni and that's present for me. That's here. That's just clear to me. And while you're saying it as yeah it easy If you think it not easy for you yeah yes yeah it not easy for me either but because you do it what they trained to do what i trained to do is like we're gonna have the the self-mastery according to micro rizzioni which is very simply don't get attached get everything you got like the micro rizzioni 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 so 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 of work at some point in your life you'll be successful and it might not be today or tomorrow and 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. And those 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 worked hard at everything that I've done, whether as an athlete or if I happen to go in a different direction. You know, if sports ended and I went, 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. Yeah, and I think that's to me. It's pretty simple. It's like I said earlier. It's easy to be nice It's really hard to be an asshole So Mike said I live with that and it and if you feel that from Mike say yes Yeah, if you feel his authenticity say yes. Yeah, and his mastery. Yes. Yeah, so Mike you go and These be you ends the draft with the Rangers playing hockey in Toledo and and now Herb Brooks calls you up. And what happens from there? Do you then, was there, in the movie, right? 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. Like, 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. And 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. So 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 And Herb Brooks sat in the stands evaluated the players and we were in a room maybe kind of like this maybe a little a little bigger and the 68 players tried out for the 80 Olympic team Wow I shouldn say that hundreds tried out 68 got selected. 68 of us went to Colorado Springs competed against each other in a kind of 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 gonna get cut okay just slow you down for a second is that okay so in Colorado Springs when this happens what's that two weeks like we're and I'm just gonna give you a couple of like multiple choice where where there fist fights where people getting along where people like you know kind of in the same boat of come you know being friends buddies where their rivalries from college like how was all that what was Colorado Springs like well it was a tournament it was competitive um and there was a team from Massachusetts which I was not on I was on the at-large team which so my team was guys from Michigan Minnesota New York then there was the Minnesota team and then there was another at-large team and that and that had players her coach Brooks's college team right a lot of the a lot of the kids played under her but the University of Minnesota right because it for everybody so coach her Brooks coached the University of Minnesota they were a top program in the country might played at Boston University a top program in the country and correct me if I'm wrong there's a big rivalry yes well we had 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 robbery yeah four minutes into the game both national championship yes both teams should have been thrown out of the tournament because you can't fight in college so 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. Right. And they lost one of their guys who wasn't quite their leading player. And the guy, 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. And Jack O'Callaghan, 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 and 13 of the players then if I counting correctly nine from Minnesota four from BU so 13 of the players were from this big rivalry was nine from Minnesota and four from Boston University well in Wisconsin and Minnesota had an huge rivalry Oh because the national championship battles for years so there was a lot of animosity between the two programs but so we're in room and 68 players try it out and uh herb came up to the to the stage and he he said if i call your name please stay and if i don't thanks for coming okay forgive me for interrupting just want to really let these guys get it because they've seen somebody's clips right right right so 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 you know probably b because i 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 and 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 right it was an eastern coach that he was going to pick most of the guys going to be from the east because he knew them so my concern was is herb gonna take an eastern guy so we're all in the room and I remember the first name he called was Ken Morrow Kenny was a great defenseman from Michigan he will approve the Islanders he played he won four Stanley Cups right after the Olympics that's a pretty good run and I'm sitting there thinking I hope this is an alphabetical called and then my name was called it so there were 26 players in the room. 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? Yeah, we all antsy, wondering, kind of listening. Is it going to be me? Is it going to be me? And it's interesting because now we have the Winter 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 26 players make up the team, and then we're going to embark on six months of training, six guys are gonna get cut throughout the course of the season and you're still up until I was elected captain in October but 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 October. Was this by the players? By the players. But I don't think I was voted by the players. 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. And 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. And Billy actually was the assistant captain of the 80 team. But for whatever reason, they gave me the captaincy, 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. So it was a great group of leaders and people. So the captaincy 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. Wow. Okay. Take it back for a second. Is that okay? So 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? No, he was coach Brooks and that's the way it was going to be. We were going to travel, I think we played 60-some-odd games all around the country. Went to Europe for a month, played overseas. And then throughout the course of the six months, he evaluated all the players. He threatened to cut me two weeks before the Olympics. He said, look, you're just not doing it. I just don't know what I'm going to do. And I'm like, wait a minute, I'm the captain. And I'm thinking, well, he's the coach. And it's even funnier. Years later, Herb would call my house, and this was before cell phones, and my wife would answer the phone, and she'd go, it's Coach Brooks, and I'm like, oh, shit. Here I am. I've 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 kind of jab at me to get me going. For whatever reason, I don't know, but he was an incredible mind kind of guy. He loved to get into people's heads and players' heads. And part of me said he can cut me on the captain and the other part said you know he just might He crazy enough to do it So in the you guys get together like the movie depicts a moment that Mike told me actually didn't happen. He didn't say, who do you play for? I play for Team USA. But there was a night of crazy skating. So can you take us through that night? And if that was, was there a time the team was, the movie Miracle shows great division between the players. Was there that kind of division or is 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 can, can the Minnesota and the Massachusetts guys get along? Can the Wisconsin, Minnesota guys get along? And we bonded right from the beginning. And 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 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 do 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. And 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 ourself But we had to believe in each other and that's a great place to be that's all I go to practice every day knowing everybody's willing to Sacrifice to be the best and that's that was our mindset from the beginning so the teams picked 26 guys then right before the Olympic Games We he cuts the last two players, okay? The again again night the skating skating right we played Norway and the game ended in a 3-3 tie and her But I very happy with the way Norway was not like a world power No we should be able to handle the Norwegians did not known for its hockey And it ended in 3 tie And 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 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. And only 15 of us dressed that night. The other 10 guys were in the stands watching. So 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 smash 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 smash against the glass, you'll skate till you die. That is called Zeus energy, ladies and gentlemen. Then they shut the lights off in the building, just had the electrical lights on, and we finished the skate, and he brought us in the locker room. This way again tomorrow, you're going to skate again. Well, we beat Norway 8-0 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. And 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 could in with a six pack of beer, I have no idea. My dad was sitting waving at me like it was a high school game and 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 and i looked 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 wavered 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 Herman and I, like I said earlier, our team didn't know it was that big a deal, he never wavered from that fact. Respect your success. And that's an important value that you have to have in life, not just sports. And I think that's, and 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. And, you know, I can mention that we just got awarded, our team's going to receive the Congressional Gold Medal, which is, I think, 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. And I think that's, you know, what makes our team and separates our team from other athletic achievements is that it was a u.s story and not boston or chicago so i think herb was the right guy to keep and maintain those values that are so important in life and he he was an old school guy you know he was he was you know lunch pail hard hat that was our team that's the way he coached us that's the way he was and mike so 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, it was just like a game and like hey, you watched it all, yeah. Well, for me, it was the last. And 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 For me, it was the last. 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. So the last game was in Madison Square Garden. So you guys understand this? So 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. And 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. And I repeat, they were beating NHL teams and NHL all-star teams. But Mike, back to you and going into Madison Square Garden. Yeah, so we step on the ice. You've 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 that's and i was 25 at the time and buzzy schneider was 25 neil broughton was 18 mike ramsey was 18 davy christian was 19 so 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. So we lose 10 to 3, 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. And 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 from 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 U 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. The U.S. 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. And 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. And it was like, there's Kalimov, there's Yakishev, 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 six to nothing after one period. And I tell you that because he turned a negative into a positive right away. He said, look how even you played with them when you guys were ready to play. So 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. And 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. So we get on the bus clearly excited about what just happened. We played even and we don't know if we're even going to play him again. So our mindset going into Lake Placid was totally different than if he had screamed and yelled at us. So we get to Lake Placid and the tournament starts. But that game that we lost 10 to three 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 didn't, 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 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 the soviet game that what he talked about never once did he bring up anything negative about what had happened before wow so your mindset's different your mindset's totally different this game didn't it was like it didn't even exist it was something in the past yeah and i wouldn't have expected to hear that that's extraordinary right i mean would you guys have expected to hear that yeah extraordinary so now you're at the Olympics and as it starts and I think you play Sweden game one am I right okay so going into the Sweden game as you're you know 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 didn't guys talk about things that how was that psychology 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 gonna 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 gonna wear a cowboy hat and boots and jeans but anyway that was the you know 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 speed skating bobsled luge 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, and the Czechs had the three Stasny brothers who were great players, they might, 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 tenth 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 and I remember seeing it the second time it Reminded me my high school football coach my high school football coach told me that that ability and a dime gets you a cup of coffee And 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 measure commitment And those are intangibles I 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 So 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 started. And there were maybe 2,000 or 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 2-2. And it was a huge point because nobody thought we could beat Sweden. At the end of the game, sorry. So they're losing by a goal into the final minute, correct? 28 seconds. 28 seconds left. If they're losing, if they lose this game, then basically there's no way you're going to make the medal round. Yeah, 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 ceremonies, which was incredible. Next day, Czechoslovakia, the only team that anybody thought could beat the Soviets, and we blow them out. We beat them 7-3. Now everybody's talking about the U.S. 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. So we didn't know what was being written. And we were in a little village in Lake Placid, which is about the size of this church. And, you know, we beat them. Then we beat Norway. Then we beat Romania. and then we beat West Germany and now we're in the medal round. That was our goal. Get to the medal round. And as it turned out, we were second in our division because Sweden had a better 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 we got the next game is the soviets and now we'll play them yeah and so uh the movie shows the pre-game speech i think when we had spoken um a few months ago you had mentioned i think that more of what herbrook says in the movie in the soviet pre-game speech he said in practice the day before is that right right the speech when i saw the movie for the first time and i heard his speech i went oh that's long i don't remember him saying that but i remember 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. You are meant to be here. You are 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're ripe. They're ready to be beaten. If anybody can beat him, you guys can beat him. And 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 over the... Was that a real thing that the wall yeah letters? Yeah, we got telegrams I mean every day you'd get bags of telegrams from people all across the country That's the only kind of way that we knew people were watching but I remember we got a telegram from a lady in Texas and I live in Boston and all the telegram said was beat those commie bastards Where'd it go? That's all it said and I was like wow that's cool. So that went up on the wall and a lot of telegrams would come to individual players, family, friends and some just to the team in general and it was great way to spend it you know you come to practice and it'd be telegrams you'd open up and read it and put it up on the wall so we're walking out of the locker room onto the ice and that wall of telegrams were there so we knew people were you know watching from afar but no way nowhere did we have an idea the world was watching the way they were so that was kind of motivating for us as a team and then we went out and obviously beat the soviets four to three and two days later we had to play finland would it be okay if we watched a couple clips from the movie yeah hey tink so maybe let's show the the pre-game talk which is a combined talk from the day before in practice and then you know leading up to going on the ice and we're ready to play that quickly or does it take a minute just go on the mic ting just how long Yeah, perfect. Great moments are born from great opportunity And that what you have here tonight boys That's what you've earned here tonight. One game. If we played them ten 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 down 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. Oh, what does that bring up, bring back, if anything for you? 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. You know, Neil, like I said, Neil brought an 18 years old. He'd have a slice of pizza before you go on the ice and I'm sitting there, how can he eat anything like that? But this game here, um, just, I remember how walking in the locker room, how deadly quiet it was. And I'm thinking, wow, we are, we are just, 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 And then I think the speech as I said to you a lot of that stuff he talked about the day before that I sick and tired of the Soviets and everybody talking about them And I thought they did a great job of combining everything And I think the music adds a little to it too. And 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. Like 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 not the guy that coached me. So did you ever see Herb Brooks smile? Yeah, years later. because I was a broadcaster for the New York Rangers when Herb was the head coach. So I got to see a little another side of Herb. Herb made a choice to coach our team that way. He was going to be the, 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. You're going to yell at Buzzy, then you're yelling at me. We understood that he says many times as 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 any and and we'll get to or ready for to come out to the game think yeah so we'll go there in one sec and so 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 made me 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 a book of them. One time he said, weave, weave, weave, but don't weave for the sake of weaving. And weaving was inter-crisp, cross, criss-cross. That's the style of hockey that we were going to play. So weaving was the international thing. And I remember sitting there going, weave, weave, weave, but don't weave for the sake of weaving. And he told Ken Murrow 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 kind of 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 kind of had fun with it sometimes without him knowing it. And there's a scene in the movie with an interaction after the Soviet game between Jim Herbrooks and Jim Craig. Did that happen? How did he relate to Jim Craig, you know, Coach Brooks? I don't know that. That must have been something that was separate. You know, goaltenders, you usually just leave them alone. We had a goaltending coach who could probably maybe deal with Jimmy. But for the most part, whatever they said, I wouldn't have remembered or thought about. And 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 didn't? Jim Craig did not. He went to Atlanta because he signed with the Atlanta hockey 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 man 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 at Eastern Airlines that's how long ago that was and I'm sitting next to Dave silicon silky's kind of got tears in his eyes and I said silky what's the matter and he just looked at And he went, it's over. We're never going to play together again. And it was like, fuck, you're right. And we all went our separate ways. it's over. it's over. We're never going to play together again. And it was like, fuck, you're right. And we all went our separate ways. You know, Neil Broughton signed, Mark Johnson signed, all these guys, you know, signed pro contracts. And I remember going home and we won a gold medal on Sunday and Monday night my mother's making me dinner. And I'm like, what the hell just happened to me? And I had to get up early the next morning to go to New York to do Good Morning America. and I slept in my own bed. You know, my mother made breakfast the next morning and had a car out of limousine taking me to the airport to take me to New York and I got on the Eastern Airlines shuttle and everybody on the plane started applauding and I turned around. I didn't know who got on the plane. I swear to God, I went, what the, what, you people watched? And 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. And 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. And I remember getting off the plane in New York, lined with people. They were all clapping and patting me on the back. I'm like, what the hell? What happened here? You people watched? It was crazy you know to go from having no idea to oh my god my god 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 baseball football basketball fan and player and nobody in 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 it wasn't in 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 i was a huge usa person so i loved 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 three families two family And listened to this go on And as a 10 somehow I mean couldn't stand the Soviet Union, commie bastards. I was in a commie 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 it is so unbelievable and it is totally believable and what how i relate to what you guys did personally and what we talk about here is it 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 and the heart coach herbrooks put that together you as captain was 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 you know mr michael rizzioni isn't um on television he's not in movies he's not on social media but he's at the seashell today and what happened? Somebody recognized me. And then what happened? Then they wanted to take pictures. Then they wanted autographs. Then they started chanting, USA, USA. And I'm like, I just wanted a drink. And it was, who's going to recognize me here? And, you know, so I finished my drink and took some pictures and signed some autographs and left my drink at the bar I still pissed off We get you a few drinks Hold on we get a few later Tank, can we hit it? Let's hit it. Hold up here a second, guys. We're going to wait for the okay. Okay. All right, guys, send him in. Okay. Let's go. Let's go. Come on, Jimmy. Let's go, man. Come on, buddy. Let's go. Come on, Austin. Come on, come on. There we go. Come on, Darius. Come on, Brian. Come on, Darius. Let's go, let's go. Come on, boys. Let's go. Let's go, boys. Let's go. Let's go. The excitement. The tension building. 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 and we're going to go play this game? Like how was it for you? You know, when you're on the ice, you don't hear anything. You hear a teammate, you know, asking for a pass or Herbie Ellen change up the lines or whatever so you don hear any chants You on the bench you could hear the crowd a little but you still You know it you just so Geared to what you doing what you watching That you don everything kind of blocked out and it funny because I not that smarter person but it's amazing the focus that you can have in a situation like that where you're just the mindset is just On the ice and you know 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, you know, 45 years a volunteer coach. I skate with my grandkids. They play. So 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 to because I may fall and miss them. I'm a golfer, so I'd much 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 puck and my shoulder hurts. I'm like, what the hell? So quick fun fact, and we're going to think then go to the next spot. The game is tied 3-3, and I don't know, some guy scores a goal that puts the USA up 4-3. So maybe we'll go there next. But not that long ago, Mike was a golfer, and he ends up at this place and there's a shared experience and some people around the table. And I think it was Tiger Woods, Jack Nicklaus, who's considered to be the greatest golfer in history by many, Jack Nicklaus' son, and the President of the United States, President Trump. And President Trump's like, come on over. And so Mike is sitting there and I think you 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? And 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. So I was going to play that day, but Jack Nicklaus' son ended up playing. I was going to be the fourth in the group. So they'd done golfing, and I was sitting at a table, and the president called me over and said, Don, we're just talking back and forth about this and that. And 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 just, he went, he went, that's funny. here for that. here for that. And he went, that's funny. Tink, we're ready. We 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 it's for you, you're so focused on the team, it's like just another hockey game. But 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 3-3 in the third period. Correct? Not correct? Or was there any time in the game when it kind of 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. So, I mean, 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 kind of 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 and the game just kind of goes the way it does and obviously Mark Johnson scores a goal with no time left on the clock to tie the game at the end of the first period it 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 4-2 them, the game's over. Because now we've got to chase them. Now we've got to change the way we want to play. The fact that the game stayed the way it was going... Because you were never down two goals in the game. No. We were never down... 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 opponent 16 to three That is unheard of We gave up three goals in the third period all tournament long wow we didn give up any to finland we didn give up any to sweden and we didn give up any to um the soviets if 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 and and when I scored to a ten minutes left to go tweet we see that for a sec okay this part think does it go in again I hope so Let's hear it for that. Do you ever watch the movie and think it might not go in? But, I mean, and 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. You know, yeah, obviously it brings a smile to your face. You know, for me, knowing I was able to help out our team at a time when we needed something to happen. And 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. That 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, like, at the end after I scored, like, the Soviets, they 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 ten minutes. Wow. We totally shut them down in the third period, and especially the last ten minutes. But, again, I look at it, yeah, it's nice it went in. I got the winning goal and we win 4 And so what that means is and tink let get ready to watch the last very end of the game okay so for everybody that means that they just kept playing the game and as the soviets became more desperate and urgent sounds to me like what mike arizioni 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 yeah we they started doing things they normally don't do you know and we just continued to play the way we were playing continue to do the things that made us successful throughout the tournament. Tink, please. Thank you. And the chain resumes. Mike Amuziotti out of Boston University, the captain of this U.S. team, has just put the U.S. ahead for the first time, exactly halfway through the third period. This U.S. 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 love anymore. Woo! Come on, boys! Here we go! 10 minutes left to play. Petrov to Petrov to Harlemar. Grutov crossing the US blue line now. Quick pass back to Moritz. Shot. Saved. Craig. Krasitonov at the point. A drive just wider than it. Grutov with the puck right in front. And another huge save by Jim Craig. Play your game! Johnson moving across to McClanahan. It's intercepted by Orlov. Take him alive, man! Take him alive! Orlov leaving the charge up the ice He fires a shot A love save for the play Keep it moving Great shot from Petrov Craig again with the stop All of them Dr Cossett coming off of the floor He shoots Sticks it Rebound out for McClanahan. Can't clear it. Big play. McClanahan dies. He cleared the zone. Second time remaining in the third period. The U.S. leading 4-3. We're going to go with short 30 to 40 seconds. Short shift. 30 to 40 seconds. Keep an eye on it. Over the moon line. Deflect drop right in front. Shot. Shining save by Craig. Switch him up. Go, go, go, go, go. Over the hall set. Off the catcher's house. He sends it around the board. Picked up by Petit. Hit hard by Silver. Get out. Picked up and cleared by Mario. The Panasovians are back in their own end. One to five minutes to play in the third period. Cusher's on it. Leaves it for Mikhailov. Mikhailov throws it over to Harlema. Slapshot! Knocked away by Craig. Ramsey moves it ahead to Pavlich. He moves to the neutral zone. He's running on the boards. Five billion left enough. And the shorty is cleared with 3.50 to play in the game. He's intercepted by Marleau. He moves it up to Krutok. Krutok with the puck through the neutral zone. Moving in on the net. Backstop by Craig. What are you doing, boys? Moose puck in the corner. Krutok chasing it. Schneider right behind him, fighting for it. Bring it up the board! Bring it up the board! Tip it out now, boys! 3.19. left to the play. McClanahan moving out. Clears the play. How we doing, Doc? Changed him up! Changed him up! Let's go! Goal is off. Will we get up to center right? Leaves it for McClanahan. Let's go! Let's go! Save by Craig. What is Pichot? Pichot is clear! Pichot! Boys in control! McClanahan scrapping for it. Hard hit by Mike Ramsey. Two, 17 remaining. Okay, no more changes until the next one. The United States on top. No more changes until the next one. Come on, Jim. Please talk to the corner. My man, Cole Miskin. I want a fresh play. Oh, she. Come on. until the next one. until the next one. Come on, Trevor. Please talk in the corner. My man Paul Miskin and my friend Clay. All seats. Right on. Barlow off to the big guy love. Ramsey done. They fight. Send him off. That big guy love over the blue line. I brought the back up. Good. See. I'm really amazed how well conditioned this U.S. team is. I've never seen the Soviets outskated this late in the game. And that's exactly what the U.S. team is doing. Yeah! We still have the ball across the back drop. Shot! Kicked away by Craig. Where are you going, Jimmy? Over the mortar. We'll begin on the net. Backstab by Craig. Chip it out! Chip it out! Come on boys, chip it out of there! No, don't give it. We still have, we still have, we still have. They're now pulling this tip. Harlow-Market Center right to Crouton. He doesn't know what to do. 36-yard line. He's got it. He's got it. He's got it. He's got it. He's got it. He's got it. He's got it. He's got it. He's got it. He's got it. He's got it. Oh! McCarver over the blue line to Morse. Fight! McDonough say! Fighting for possession. Trying to get it away from Harlem on the long the board. Come on! Woo! The love is clear! Again, coming to you from the Olympic High School. Come on, baby! The U.S. huge underdog slated for Soviet Union. Johnson over to Ramsey. Will he get left enough to get saved by Ramsey? McClanahan is there. The puck is still loose. He's gonna lose. 11 seconds. You got 10 seconds. The countdown's going on right now. Tomorrow, up to Colt. Five seconds left in the game. Do you believe in miracles? Yes! Oh Woo Woo Woo 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. I was here the 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 U.S. 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 on that podium and bringing the team up when that was all complete? Oh, that was pretty special. You know, 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 else's was pretty special. And, you know, 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 it for that. You can see we all fit. I don't know if we'd all fit now, but we all fit. 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 we sign up this company hires our team for i think every three years we do we sign like five or six hundred prints and then they use them for charities or whatever so we'll get we'll get together and uh we'll have some fun and they have a netflix show you're in late class what's going on special uh should be coming out in january or february uh they finished they finished that they interviewed all of us all of us went back to to Lake Placid, which was kind of fun. And it's kind of typical Hollywood or whatever. So Netflix comes to my hometown and they kind of walked around with me and talked to people And I don know what going to end up on the editing floor or not the editing floor but they interviewed my wife and my wife doesn say anything she very quiet and very shy so they said can we talk to her I said yeah you can talk to you're not gonna get much out of her so 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 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 and I said god. I hope that makes it onto the show So I'm curious what Netflix is gonna do, but it they usually do some good stuff, so I think that'll be fun. I think You know after the Netflix and then the commemorative that's gotta be it. What else can they give us? it's over you know it's never over but well yeah you think it's over yeah no I get that but still it's just like you know okay what else can we have so legacy do you think about those things do you think about you know I know a simple person do you think about what you'd want people a hundred years ago when you leave this 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. Like my teammates and I, we were remembered as a good group of guys who worked hard to accomplish their dream. And that we were good people. And 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. And 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 a USA jersey on. And I think we, you know, 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, you know, 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. And 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. So, K, we're getting down to it, final couple minutes. Okay, if we ask two or three quick questions? Sure. Okay. Let's go to CERT partner questions. amen it's okay if we're getting down to it final couple minutes okay if we ask amen it's okay if we're getting down to it final couple minutes okay if we ask two or three quick questions sure okay let's go start partner questions any sir partners have a question for mr. micro is the only words raise your hand real quick and let's get them the microphone and actually did less if did I also with 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 to get one of the women of cert as well um but lance you had your hand up mike i just wanted to say uh i've never oh by the way nathan is a retired lieutenant colonel united states air force um commercial airline pilot now and doing many other incredible things 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 stand-up guy. I just 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 time I've ever met you or heard you speak. And 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 pail and hard hat kind of guy and the values that you espouse and talk about and just it oozes out of you so this isn't a question i just wanted to acknowledge you for that and also how you tell her brooks's story and i think the the witness that you provide for what he did and who he was is the greatest gift that i believe you can give of another human being, being a witness for somebody's life the way you are for him. And yeah, we all believe in miracles in this room. And as you said, you know, 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 and, you know, as a retired, you know, fighter pilot myself, I've said this 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 served when I was actually flying over the skies and defending my country So I do believe in miracles, and I think that the next miracle that happens will be created in this room. So thank you for being here tonight to tell that story, and thank you for everything. Thank you for having me. Thank you. Amen, Nathan. I wrote a book a few years ago. It's called The Making of a Miracle, and it's kind of my life story, and I don't tell you to buy the book, but you can if you want to. But I wrote, 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. Seriously, order the book. I don't know. Right, yeah. Amazon, whatever. but I remember they wanted to write a book about our team and I called my teammates up and they said no no not interested and if you 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 so I called the guy back and he goes why don't you write one and 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 and then I thought about it and I talked to my wife I said you know what I'm going to do it I wrote 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 or one goal or one moment. And 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 bestseller. And thank God COVID hit, because I didn't have to go around and do book signings and shit like that. I did like 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 like a month, rotating, which is an incredible human being. Please, Mama Soul. Thank you. Mr. Arruzziani, 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 that the message is what I talked about If you believe in something and you willing to work hard you can accomplish it So I think value of work I think hopefully our team will instill that in people You know 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. And 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, Sports Illustrated, E.M. Swift wrote an article about our team, and it was entitled, A 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. And I think that's the key to our success. And I think that, you know, 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 what we, the hope and belief that we had. Man, let's hear for that. Thank you. And Mike, I'm gonna 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 way 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 is truly possible. And I mean it with every part of me. Thank you. And I feel so blessed to have the miraculous timing of being 10 years old and that night happening. So thank you. Thank you. It funny my grandkids want to watch the movie sometimes and we never I never sat with them and watched it At some point I 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 says, that's the movie. What movie? That's the movie Miracle. What's that? That's the tape. That's the tape of the movie. You know, we spoil Little Brat. It's not a CD, it's not a disc. It's a friggin' VHS tape. Here, watch it. Well, Mr. Rizzioni, and I have to say when I share this, far be it from 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 would be, it will be, I am absolutely certain, a remarkable experience for you and them forever. And you have 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. The problem with the Soviet game, 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. You know, let it go Mike, it's over. But I do have a VH tape of every game that we played and maybe that will be something. When maybe when the 18 month old is a little older, we can all watch it together. Let's hear for that. Okay. Final question. Final question. Tony Mariello. Tony. Tony. Tony. Listen, we talk about, like, you think you're not smart. I don't think I'm that 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 it earlier, that's how coaches coach in the 70s. You deal with it. You know, live in the house of my father for, you know, 40 years and see how tough it was. I tell people, Herb was like your dad. You know you love your dad tell people Herb was like your dad you know 40 years and see how how tough it was you know so I tell people 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 don't 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 that's the way it was going to be so if that's the way it's going to be that's 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 right and um you know we just have uh our results were better because of that um we keep the keep them in a special place in our heart because they made us who we are just makes you stronger yeah and i wonder if some of that's missing today you know you're still you're with the university now and do you notice that things have changed it's a lot different uh coaching kids today's you don't coach them the way you used to coach don't yell at johnny because you you know you'll get in trouble yeah um but you know i i think that the era that we grew up in was that kind of 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 and the great coaches adjust that way the great coaches understand you know 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 old coaches did Thank you Thank you Tony So 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. So I go into the guy's office, he sent me to go to room four. So I go to room four, I sit down, I'm waiting for the doctor. The doctor comes in, he says, take your shirt off. So I take my shirt off and he's got the thing and he's looking and he says, that's good, that spot's good, that's good. And I have, after the Olympics, my girlfriend, who's my wife, I had this replica gold medal made for me. She worked in the jewelry business. And he looks at it and he sees Lake Placid. He goes, Lake Placid, I went there last year. You know that's where the U.S. Hockey team won the gold medal? I swear to God. And I think he's messing with me, right? And they have the oval where Eric Heiden won five gold medals right next to this arena. And they have a museum. And they can watch ski jumpers. And there's a bobsled and a luge. Have you ever been there? And 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 So 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 new doctor this guy had no idea who i was he never looked at my chart it 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 you know mike ruzioni on the in the rink and he was there and he never looked at my chart so i'm getting a new doctor that's not that that that that's a true story that actually happened no idea anything anything left that you want to accomplish that is unaccomplished yet here family the congressional gold medal you obviously have incredibly successful speaking like i i like i said to you i take each day as it comes um i look forward to going home tomorrow my grandson's got a football game i think tomorrow night and go watch him play and uh live every day and enjoy every day and watch my kids my grandkids grow and uh hopefully live a little longer to see them have kids someday and i told my wife and this is funny i know you aren't going to agree with me but my when i first became a grandfather i said to And my wife, the worst thing about being a grandfather is I'm sleeping with a grandmother. And she didn think that was funny I thought it was hilarious I slept on the couch for the next month. But, no, like I said, I just, you know, 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 knows 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 Aruzzione 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, sir. Thank you. And let's hear a little USA, USA, USA, USA, USA, USA. USA, USA, USA, USA, USA. Mr. Mike Arruzzione, ladies and gentlemen. Thank you.