USA ICE HOCKEY OLYMPIC HISTORY US Olympic History: I was on an airplane flying from Chicago to Boston for a medical school interview at Dartmouth the next day. As we neared Logan Airport that afternoon, the pilot came over the PA and announced, “Ladies and gentleman, we have an ice hockey score from the Winter Olympics – the score is the Soviet Union – 3 – (long pause) and the United States – 4.” The plane erupted in cheering and applause. My parents were in Lake Placid, that day, having an early dinner at a restaurant when some guy burst into the restaurant with the news – “Hey, everybody, we just beat the Russians!” The cheering and applause likewise broke out and then everybody, filled with elation, settled down to their winter’s libation and repast. All was quiet after the Eastern affront. But as the restaurant returned to normalcy, one lone diner stood up in a corner far from my parents and started singing “God Bless America.” Everyone in the restaurant, including the waiters and cooks, stood up and joined in, the entire place awash in song, their smiles awash with tears. Such was the day that the United States beat the Soviet Union in ice hockey at the 1980 Winter Olympics in Lake Placid, winning the gold medal two days later with a victory over Finland. It was the greatest upset in Olympic ice hockey history and the biggest win ever in USA Olympic ice hockey. There was another surreal victory, however, in 1960. It also came with a win over the Soviets in the penultimate match, followed by the gold-medal winning victory over Czechoslovakia. It carried none of the socio-political intrique of 1980, when the two nations were embroiled in a decades-long bitter Cold War, with the Soviets having recently invaded Afghanistan. And the Soviet ice hockey leviathan was only getting started in 1960, before they would prove themselves in the 1970s as the greatest hockey team in the world, often defeating NHL squads. Those are the only two gold medals for the United States men in ice hockey, both on home ice, but they have won eight silver medals and a bronze over the years, most recently a silver in 2010, losing to the Canadians in sudden-death overtime. Women’s ice hockey became an Olympic sport in 1998, with the United States winning the inaugural gold medal that year. They have won medals at each Winter Olympics since, with silvers in 2002 and 2010, and a bronze in 2006 when they were upset by Sweden in the semi-finals. The United States and Canada are the two dominant squads in this sport, and should share the gold and silver medals in Sochi, looking to fight out the gold in the final. The low point of Olympic ice hockey participation certainly came in 1948, when the United States sorta finished fourth, but was disqualified. Two teams attempted to compete for the United States, one representing the American Hockey Association of the United States (AHAUS) and one representing the Amateur Athletic Union (AAU). The USOC wanted the AAU team to compete, but the AHAUS team was affiliated with the International Ice Hockey Federation (IIHF), while the AAU team was not. The IIHF threatened to withdraw ice hockey from the Winter Olympics if the AHAUS team was not allowed to compete. Eventually, they did compete and initially finished fourth, however, they were later disqualified and their finish was not counted in the final standings. Because of the controversy, the IOC originally announced that the 1948 ice hockey results would be unofficial, but they reversed this decision during the Olympic tournament. For years, USOC Quadrennial Reports did not even carry the name of the AHAUS team members who competed in 1948, but instead listed the AAU team members. One other omission from the USA ice hockey record occurred in 1928. The US normally enters a team in every sport at the Winter Olympics, but in 1928 no US team competed in ice hockey. The AAU ice hockey committee approached several teams about sending a squad to St. Moritz, including the University Club of Boston, Harvard University, the University of Minnesita, Augsburg College, and Eveleth Junior College, but only Augsburg accepted the opportunity, the others refusing because of classes or lack of finances. Gen. Douglas MacArthur, chairman of the USOC, refused to approve Augsburg, terming the team, represented by five Hanson brothers (presumably not related to the brothers in the movie “Slap Shot”), as “not representative of American hockey.” The University Club of Boston had a strong team, playing the University of Toronto, the eventual 1928 Olympic Champions, twice before the Olympics, and defeating them once, but a lack of finances prevented them from going to St. Moritz. Thus no US ice hockey team competed in 1928. Ice Hockey Olympic Program Event Class Years Games Début Ice Hockey M 1920-2014 23 1920 Ice Hockey F 1998-2014 5 1998 Totals All 1920-2014 28 USA Ice Hockey Competitors by Year Year Site Men Women Both 1908 London --- --- --- 1920 Antwerp 11 --- 11 1924 Chamonix 9 --- 9 1928 St. Moritz 0 --- 0 1932 Lake Placid 14 --- 14 1936 Garmisch-Partenkirchen 11 --- 11 1948 St. Moritz 14 --- 14 1952 Oslo 15 --- 15 1956 Cortina d'Ampezzo 17 --- 17 1960 Squaw Valley 17 --- 17 1964 Innsbruck 17 --- 17 1968 Grenoble 18 --- 18 1972 Sapporo 17 --- 17 1976 Innsbruck 18 --- 18 1980 Lake Placid 19 --- 19 1984 Sarajevo 20 --- 20 1988 Calgary 22 --- 22 1992 Albertville 22 --- 22 1994 Lillehammer 22 --- 22 1998 Nagano 22 20 42 2002 Salt Lake City 23 20 43 2006 Torino 23 20 43 2010 Vancouver 22 21 43 Gross Totals 373 81 454 1 Olympic Winter Games 260 31 291 2 Olympic Winter Games 39 15 54 3 Olympic Winter Games 9 4 13 4 Olympic Winter Games 2 2 4 Actual Totals 310 52 362 US Ice Hockey Placements by Year Year Site Men Women 1920 Antwerp 2nd --- 1924 Chamonix 2nd --- 1928 St. Moritz DNC --- 1932 Lake Placid 2nd --- 1936 Garmisch-Partenkirchen 3rd --- 1948 St. Moritz DQ --- 1952 Oslo 2nd --- 1956 Cortina d'Ampezzo 2nd --- 1960 Squaw Valley 1st --- 1964 Innsbruck 5th --- 1968 Grenoble 6th --- 1972 Sapporo 2nd --- 1976 Innsbruck 5th --- 1980 Lake Placid 1st --- 1984 Sarajevo 7th --- 1988 Calgary 7th --- 1992 Albertville 4th --- 1994 Lillehammer 8th --- 1998 Nagano =5th 1st 2002 Salt Lake City 2nd 2nd 2006 Torino 8th 3rd 2010 Vancouver 2nd 2nd Most Medals, Men 2 Bill Cleary, Jr. 2 John Mayasich 2 Dick Meredith 2 Weldy Olson 2 Dick Rodenhiser 2 Herb Drury 2 Frank Synnott 2 Chris Drury 2 Brian Rafalski 2 John Garrison 2 Gordon Smith Most Gold Medals, Men 1 36 athletes tied with one. Most Medals, Women 4 Angela Ruggiero 4 Jenny Schmidgall-Potter 3 Tricia Dunn-Luoma 3 Katie King 3 Julie Chu 3 Natalie Darwitz 2 Chris Bailey 2 Laurie Baker 2 Karyn Bye 2 Sara DeCosta 2 Cammi Granato 2 Shelley Looney 2 Sue Merz 2 A. J. Mleczko 2 Tara Mounsey 2 Sarah Tueting 2 Courtney Kennedy 2 Lyndsay Wall 2 Krissy Wendell 2 Caitlin Cahow 2 Molly Engstrom Most Gold Medals, Women 1 20 athletes tied with one. Most Appearances, Men 4 Chris Chelios (1984/1998/2002/2006) 4 Keith Tkachuk (1992/1998/2002/2006) 3 Brian Leetch (1988/1998/2002) 3 Mike Richter (1988/1998/2002) 3 Scott Young (1988/1992/2002) 3 Brian Rolston (1994/2002/2006) 3 Bill Guerin (1998/2002/2006) 3 Doug Weight (1998/2002/2006) 3 Mike Modano (1998/2002/2006) 3 Chris Drury (2002/2006/2010) 3 Brian Rafalski (2002/2006/2010) Most Appearances, Women 4 Angela Ruggiero (1998/2002/2006/2010) 4 Jenny Schmidgall-Potter (1998/2002/2006/2010) 3 Tricia Dunn-Luoma (1998/2002/2006) 3 Katie King (1998/2002/2006) 3 Julie Chu (2002/2006/2010) 3 Natalie Darwitz (2002/2006/2010) 2 Chris Bailey (1998/2002) 2 Laurie Baker (1998/2002) 2 Karyn Bye (1998/2002) 2 Sara DeCosta (1998/2002) 2 Cammi Granato (1998/2002) 2 Shelley Looney (1998/2002) 2 Sue Merz (1998/2002) 2 A. J. Mleczko (1998/2002) 2 Tara Mounsey (1998/2002) 2 Sarah Tueting (1998/2002) 2 Courtney Kennedy (2002/2006) 2 Lyndsay Wall (2002/2006) 2 Krissy Wendell (2002/2006) 2 Caitlin Cahow (2006/2010) 2 Molly Engstrom (2006/2010) Youngest Competitor, Men 16-251 Mark Howe (1972, *28 May 1955) 17-163 Jack Kirrane, Jr. (1948, *20 August 1930) 17-175 Ed Olczyk (1984, *16 August 1966) 17-323 Al Iafrate (1984, *21 March 1966) 18-172 David A. Jensen (1984, *19 August 1965) 18-350 Pat LaFontaine (1984, *22 February 1965) 19-070 Mike Ramsey (1980, *3 December 1960) 19-108 Scott Lachance (1992, *22 October 1972) 19-127 Robert Miller (1976, *28 September 1956) 19-307 Tom Williams (1960, *17 April 1940) Youngest Medalist, Men 16-261 Mark Howe (1972, *28 May 1955) 19-082 Mike Ramsey (1980, *3 December 1960) 19-316 Tom Williams (1960, *17 April 1940) 20-042 Robbie Ftorek (1972, *2 January 1952) 20-087 Neal Broten (1980, *29 November 1959) 20-191 Rod Paavola (1960, *21 August 1939) 20-257 Henry Boucha (1972, *1 June 1951) 20-288 Dave Christian (1980, *12 May 1959) 21-101 Patrick Kane (2010, *19 November 1988) 21-169 Bill Cleary, Jr. (1956, *19 August 1934) Youngest Gold Medalist, Men 19-082 Mike Ramsey (1980, *3 December 1960) 19-316 Tom Williams (1960, *17 April 1940) 20-087 Neal Broten (1980, *29 November 1959) 20-191 Rod Paavola (1960, *21 August 1939) 20-288 Dave Christian (1980, *12 May 1959) Oldest Competitor, Men 44-021 Chris Chelios (2006, *25 January 1962) 40-015 Chelios (2002, *25 January 1962) 37-230 Gary Suter (2002, *24 June 1964) 37-184 Brett Hull (2002, *9 August 1964) 37-159 Phil Housley (2002, *3 September 1964) 36-322 Allen Van (1952, *30 March 1915) 36-315 Tom Barasso (2002, *31 March 1965) 36-248 Mathieu Schneider (2006, *12 June 1969) 36-141 Brian Rafalski (2010, *28 September 1973) 36-101 Joel Otto (1998, *29 October 1961) 36-013 Chelios (1998, *25 January 1962) 35-307 Tim Thomas (2010, *15 April 1974) Oldest Medalist, Men 40-030 Chris Chelios (2002, *25 January 1962) 37-245 Gary Suter (2002, *24 June 1964) 37-199 Brett Hull (2002, *9 August 1964) 37-174 Phil Housley (2002, *3 September 1964) 36-332 Al Van (1952, *30 March 1915) 36-330 Tom Barrasso (2002, *31 March 1965) 36-153 Brian Rafalski (2010, *28 September 1973) 35-319 Tim Thomas (2010, *15 April 1974) 35-155 Mike Richter (2002, *22 September 1966) 34-220 Jamie Langenbrunner (2010, *24 July 1975) Oldest Gold Medalist, Men 29-192 Jack Kirrane, Jr.