CHICAGO (WBBM) — Where were you 30 years ago?
It was February 22, 1980 when the world witnessed the “Miracle on Ice” as the U.S. defeated the heavily favored Soviet Union, 4-3, in men’s hockey at the Winter Olympics in Lake Placid.
The Americans would then go on to defeat Finland to win the Gold Medal two days later.
The gold medal run by the Americans, highlighted by that win over the Soviets during the height of the “Cold War,” remains a favorite sports memory for many Americans and made celebrities out of the players, including defenseman Jack O’Callahan who would go on to have a solid five-year career with the Blackhawks.
O’Callahan is now a businessman in the Chicago area and he spoke to Newsradio 780 about that magical time 30 years ago as well as the Olympics today.
O’Callahan told Newsradio 780 that every year on February 22nd his phone keeps ringing and his email inbox fills up as people call to to remind him of that win over the Russians. O’Callahan says it’s “one of the nice things about having been part of it….it’s something that I really enjoy. I can’t say enough how proud I am to have been a part of it (the entire Olympic experience)…I’m so thankful.”
O’Callahan says the Soviets in 1980 were possibly the “greatest hockey team ever assembled” and the U. S. margin for error was “razor thin.”
Olympic hockey was far different in 1980 than it is today. Back then, the U.S. used amateurs, college kids, even though the Russians and some other nations were professionals. Now, the U.S. team is full of NHL veterans but O’Callahan thinks that’s fine, saying he actually things Olympic hockey is better now because the best players in the world are playing. As for those who pine for the old days of “amateurs” O’Callahan says it’s never going to happen, just like we’ll “never going to go back to rotary dial phones!”
Read the original article from WBBM News Radio.
Distributed via Chicago Press Release Services