Sports Then and Now

The hit heard around Russia.

Alex Ovechkin is one of those players who can change the flow of a game with one play. Sometimes, it’s with a scintillating goal from some obscure position. Other times, Ovechkin just knows how to be in the right place at the right time.

Sunday during the Czech Republic vs. Russia game was a perfect example of Ovechkin’s good timing. While Ovechkin is known to be a great scorer, he is also known for delivering the big hit from time to time. It was in this game where Ovechkin put a hit on Czech superstar Jaromir Jagr that declared Russian control of the game.

In the final period Russia lead 2-1, the Czechs had to make some moves offensively to tie the game, and they had to do it soon. Jagr had possession of the puck on his way toward Russian territory.

Back when I played hockey, I rarely heard any other piece of advice as much as I heard, “Keep your head up!” Especially in open ice.

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Team USA was jumping for joy with their win versus Canada.

On the eve of the Miracle on Ice and wearing throwback 1960 jerseys, Team USA made history again.

This time it was against Canada at its own game. It was the first time the US beat their neighbors to the north in Olympic play in the last 50 years.

No one gave the US squad much of a chance again.

It wasn’t the Soviets this time but a Canada team littered with NHL All-Stars.

Just like Jim Craig did 30 years ago, Ryan Miller kept his team in the game with save after miraculous save.

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The  top six teams in the men’s Olympic hockey tournament play each other today in the final game of the seeding round.  The winners today and the loser with the best record will grab the four tournament byes into the quarterfinals. Win the quarter final game and you’re guaranteed to play for a medal.

The match-ups feature the countries that met in the last three olympic gold medal games. Group A features the USA versus Canada game a reprise of Salt Lake City. The Czech versus Russian gold medal game from Nagano is also the final match-up in group B. Group C is a game  between Turin’s gold and silver medalists Sweden and Finland.

The point system for this olympics has a bureaucratic complexity that makes one fear the NHL will be adopting it for their regular season immediately.

The Russians have lost a shoot-out game to the Slovaks already.  A loss to the Czechs will drop them behind Slovakia to be seventh seed in the tournament. Canada with their overtime win over Switzerland garnering them only two points will not  get a bye without a victory over the Americans.

Hopefully it won’t come down to goal differentials to determine final seeding. Then the complexities will grade into byzantine ones. Read the rest of this entry →

The Massachusetts Miracle Men with BU official(middle).

The world was in a state of turmoil. The Cold War was at epic heights between the Soviet Union and the United States.

America was secretly funding the Afghan rebels to defeat the Soviets in Afghanistan.

There was no love loss between the two countries whether it was world affairs or on the ice.

The 1980 Winter Olympics in Lake Placid, New York was not just an international athletic competition, but a showing of superpower muscle.

And a band of collegiate hockey players from the Midwest and New England, were David trying to take down the Soviet Goliath.

Jim Craig, Mike Eruzione, Dave Silk, and Jack O’Callahan grew up playing hockey on rinks in the Boston area.

Jack O’ Callahan hailed from Charlestown, Mass.

Jim Craig called North Easton home.

Mike Eruzione grew up in Winthrop.

Dave Silk was raised in Scituate.

These four sons from the Bay State all attended Boston University, one of the country’s collegiate hockey powerhouses which was coached by the now legendary, Jack Parker.

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The US men's hockey team will look to earn gold in Vancouver.

The US men’s team has actually had a good record historically in international hockey. The two gold, seven silvers and one bronze medal the US has won at the Olympics puts them third in Olympic men’s hockey medals behind only Canada and the Russian/Soviet/CIS teams. They’re ahead of such perennially successful hockey powers Sweden and Czechoslovakia/Czech Republic. This historical international success hasn’t generally translated in the ability to produce top quality NHL players. It generally speaking, hasn’t correlated with America’s ability as a hockey playing nation.

Despite amateur international success the US was producing very few hockey players in general and much fewer good enough to play in the original six NHL. Despite four franchises in the United States the NHL was dominated by Canadian born players. There were a few great American players at the time. Frank Brimsek the hall of fame Bruin goalie comes to mind.

Major Frederic McLaughlin the first owner of the Chicago Blackhawks was famous for a variety of things he did with his new franchise. One of the more bizarre things though was to ice a starting lineup of all American born players towards the end of the 1936-37 season. It wasn’t really an indication of how good American players had become and in fact had a side-show promotional feel to it. Read the rest of this entry →

Jim Craig

The February Sports Then and Now Athlete of the Month, was a crucial member of a squad that registered one of the most unexpected and memorable performances in Winter Olympic history.

Massachusetts native, Jim Craig was an integral part of the impossible dream and Olympic victory in Lake Placid, New York. February will mark the 30^th anniversary of the “Miracle On Ice” when the United States hockey team stunned the powerful Soviets and went on to capture the gold. Read the rest of this entry →