← Unblinded with Sean Callagy
Unblinded with Sean Callagy
Mike Eruzione: USA Wins Gold, the Miracle on Ice, and the Mindset of a Champion
02:03:57
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- [00:00]
Mike Eruzioni
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. 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 6:30 in the morning to take you guys to the White House. Other than being a police officer, a firefighter, or somebody in the military, there's no greater feeling than putting on a USA Jersey. Sure. Oh, thank you. Thank you very much. All right, sit down. Thank you. Wow, you people were born. When I played
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Tink
some.
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Mike Eruzioni
Some of you.
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Sean Callaghy
I told Mr. Mike Eruzioni 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.
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Mike Eruzioni
I'd rather see me than those three as well.
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Sean Callaghy
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 thank yous. And you met Nicole, Tink, Myelo back there. So she's gonna read a couple 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?
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Mike Eruzioni
That's fine. Thank you very much.
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Sean Callaghy
Tink, are you ready?
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Unblinded Co-founder
Absolutely. Mr. Ruzioni, on behalf of Unblinded, our certification partners, Unblinded Elite, the entire Unblinded ecosystem, my co founders and leaders, Sean Callaghy, 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. Oruzioni, 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 conflict, 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. Ruzioni, 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.
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Mike Eruzioni
Thank you.
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Sean Callaghy
Thank you, sir.
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Mike Eruzioni
Thank you, Sean.
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Sean Callaghy
Thank you, Mike.
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Mike Eruzioni
I think we could use a 1980 now.
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Sean Callaghy
Yeah, we really could, for sure. And it feels very difficult for me to call you Mike.
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Mike Eruzioni
Yeah.
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Sean Callaghy
When we spoke on the phone, you asked me to do that a couple.
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Mike Eruzioni
I didn't get my last name till I was in the fourth grade, so, yeah, Mike's a lot easier.
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Sean Callaghy
Yeah. So, you know, 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. Was very much like my high school experiences. You know, I would love to call Mr. Ruzzioni. I won't in honor of his request to call Mike, but it feels like you should always be Mr. Ruzzioni. So thank you for that privilege to call you Mike. So, Mike, who Were you in high school? Like, what was growing up like? And you live, you know, small town, big, lots of family around?
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Mike Eruzioni
Like, yeah, lots of family. You know, I thought my life was like any other kid's life. You know, I grew up in a. 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 it was gonna get crazy. And there were five kids in that family, and my father's other sister lived on the first floor, and there were four in that family. So I grew up in a house of about 15 kids and understood the importance of hard work. Learned at a young age how important it was to be a good person, be a good brother, be a good friend, be a good neighbor. Values that my mother and father taught me as a kid. Growing up in this three family. I thought everybody lived in a three family. I didn't know people had their own homes. And as, you know, fast forward. My wife grew up, four houses for me, and she's one of 13 kids. Wow. And 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, and I have seven grandkids now, which is kind of fun, watching them play hockey, football, lacrosse, they're all at that. The oldest is 12. The youngest is 18 months. But again, back to my childhood growing up is. You worked. I caddied as a kid. My dad worked three jobs. My mother stayed home and took care of six kids. There wasn't a lot of money in the house, but there was a lot of love. There's a lot of support, and that's kind of how I grew up. Sports 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 went and played hockey because your friends played. I remember wanting to play hockey because my friends played, but I didn't have any ice skates. My parents didn't have enough money to go buy me ice skates if it wasn't something I wanted to show them I wanted to do. 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 I remember wanting to play hockey because my friends played, but I didn't have any ice skates. But my sister had these white figure skates, and I fit into her white figure skates. And I'd get the white figure skates and down the hill I'd go on the tennis courts and learn to skate or try to skate. Hockey'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 S and H 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 9 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 used to support your kids and what they want to do. So that's kind of how hockey started for me. But like I said, I probably played more baseball. And actually, you know, I was an Allstate football, hockey and baseball player. So sports were. Was my life as a kid.
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Sean Callaghy
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 attribute?
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Mike Eruzioni
I think it's a little of both, but. But, you know, without hard work, you don't accomplish anything. So I, you know, nobody steps on the field, nobody makes major league baseball or football or NHL players by just skill. There's a lot of work, there's a lot of time, There's a lot of effort. There's a lot of sacrifices that go into people becoming successful. And again, I think of sacrifices. Like I said, my dad worked three jobs. You know, he had a supportive family. So the sacrifices he made, giving me a chance to play a game, never knowing it was going to lead, like I said to an Olympic games. But as a parent, you support your children and what they want to do. 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, you know, 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, and work right now. And I'm going to tell you, this is, you know, 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 or get to. But it did. But I remember graduating from high school. I wanted to go to University of New Hampshire. And my grades weren't really good in school. One thing I kind of messed up was as long as I was eligible, I was happy.
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Tink
So.
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Mike Eruzioni
So I wanted to go to the University of New Hampshire. I so 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 1 hockey player, so I had no school to go to.
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Sean Callaghy
Wow.
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Mike Eruzioni
I was 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 Division 3. They weren't Division 1, they were Division 3 school. And they offered me a full scholarship. And for all you parents out there, it was $3,500 my freshman year. I think Boston University's, I think 80 something thousand now that's, thank God I'm not around now. So I wanted to go to college at unh, but I ended up going, I'm going to go to Merrimack. Well, in the summer, I played baseball in the summer. I didn't play hockey in the summer. So a friend of mine called me and he said, look, we have a summer league game and we need some guys to play. 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. I'm the assistant coach at Boston University. We have a kid from Canada decided not to come. Would you like to come to Boston University? And I'm like, Yeah, I mean, BU's coming off back to back national championships at the time. And I said to him, it has to be a full scholarship because my dad can't afford $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 my team in scoring my freshman year. Wow.
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Sean Callaghy
Let's hear for that.
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Mike Eruzioni
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 a 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.
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Sean Callaghy
It sure is. So, going back for a sec, though, I didn't know that part of the story that you're coming out of high school, you don't have Division One offers. Fun footnote. By the way, my daughter Courtney went to University of New Hampshire for starting her college career. Just as a quick, fun footnote. And you have a Division 3 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?
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Mike Eruzioni
In college, I wanted to play all three. I wanted to play football, hockey and baseball. And even at Boston University, I ended up playing hockey and baseball. They wouldn't let me play football because it was kind of the beginning of the hockey season. But, yeah, my mind was to play all three sports in college, but ended up just doing two at Boston University. Although the next my junior senior year, I didn't play because I made the US national team and I went over to Europe for the world championships.
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Sean Callaghy
I think this is important for the audience how often we could just be overlooked. So obviously, Mike Ruzioni was incredibly talented. He goes out and ends up starting and being 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?
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Mike Eruzioni
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. And I never thought about why they didn't like me. I thought I was pretty damn good.
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Sean Callaghy
Yeah, I mean, you think he was pretty damn good? Say yes.
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Mike Eruzioni
No, but you guys missed. And I look at the college coaches that I played against, these teams say, you missed the boat.
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Sean Callaghy
Yeah.
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Mike Eruzioni
And you know, Boston University, four years, I graduated as the all time leading scorer, which has since been passed because players today are a lot better than when I played. But, you know, I've always been. The one thing I've always been is very confident in myself as an athlete and as a person. You know, I was talking to 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 earlier about respect. And I tell kids today, you know, it's easy to be a nice person. You gotta go out of your way to be an asshole. No, you really don't. Pardon my language, but Mike, these people
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Sean Callaghy
have heard a few F bombs in the space, so we're okay.
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Mike Eruzioni
But it's easy to be nice. It's easy to be 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 carried with me to this day, but I think carried me through my athletic career too, was, I don't care what other people think. I know what I think and what I care about and what's important to me. And I'm not gonna 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, you know, not everybody's a great day. I've had challenges over, you know, 70 years of my life. I haven't lived the greatest. You know, I've made stupid mistakes. And that's part of life. That's part of being, you know, the world that we live in. But I think, you know, when I, when the smoke clears, I can look back on my athletic career. And what I've been doing for the last, you know, 45 years, since 1980, is take great pride in knowing that I've done a good job at the opportunities I've been given and that I think people look at me and respect me and clearly respect my teammates. 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, which is the ultimate. 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 something my teammates and I take incredible, incredible pride in because our game was more than a hockey game. We didn't know it at the time, but realized that it was a moment that, that's why I said earlier that that touched the lives of a lot of people. In 1979, 1980, we, we were looking for something to feel good about. The hostages, the gas lines, inflation. And all of a sudden we come along and, and I've said this, and I'll say this till the day I die, other than being a police officer, 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. That was. 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's three TV stations. The social media didn't exist. And yet when we won, 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't 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.
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Sean Callaghy
So, Mike, as you. A couple quick things. So some of the Things I love to think about are things and 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 idling 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 co. Your. I'm sorry, your high school coach was gonna be talking to college coaches, or were there any showcases. How broken was the talent assessment system of high school hockey at that time that you weren't seeing? 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.
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Mike Eruzioni
You know, there were no showcases. You played in your hometown. You know, I played in where I live now. I played in Winthrop. I played pee wee hockey. I played youth hockey, played high school hockey. I played bantam hockey. There were no all star teams. There were no travel teams. Today, it's crazy today, the cost, you know, these kids are 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. You know, we got three kids from Sweden, we got two from Finland, we got one from Russia. We're recruiting all over the world.
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Sean Callaghy
Wow.
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Mike Eruzioni
And our coaches are out there at these showcases, but all these kids are paying a lot of money to play. And, you know, to me, there's only a few that are going to make it. And I personally think this. Kids spend too much money spending, searching, trying, traveling. But that's, you know, that's the culture. You know, you want to play Division 1 baseball, you got to be on the AAU team. You got to. 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 have.
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Sean Callaghy
So when you're at Winthrop, then did you have coaches? Did you have 1, 2, 5, 10 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 high school?
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Mike Eruzioni
I would say they were probably a small number because there weren't many colleges playing hockey at that time. You know, the game has grown. It's, you know, we're, you know, when I was a kid, you were from Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, maybe Maine, upstate New York, places like that. Who are hockey players now? California, Arizona, Texas, Florida. Look at how many players played. Not just men, our women, our women's program. You can't believe how good the women are now than they were 10 years ago. So the game has grown, the sport of hockey has grown, and more and more kids are playing. 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 1 programs.
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Sean Callaghy
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?
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Mike Eruzioni
No, I just. I just played. You know, I never. I wasn't that smart to think ahead other than just, I'm going to be a senior next year, and let's. Hopefully my senior year will go well athletically, academically or whatever. It always went. 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, because I know one thing. My parents wouldn't have had the money for me to play the travel that the kids play today.
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Sean Callaghy
Right, right, right. So then once you get to college and all of a sudden you become this standout, like your mastery is rising at that point. Were you doing things differently than the other kids? Like, were you doing extra things, or were you practicing more intensely than the people on your team? Or you were just flat out better already?
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Mike Eruzioni
No, I think the practices continue. I mean, you want to play At Boston University, you better be ready year because there's new recruits coming in next year and new players challenging you. But it was, again, it was a different thing. I watch our players today. 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. You know, we have a sensory room now. Kids have. They go in this room and they just sit, sit there and just kind of. I don't know what they do. In a sense, we didn't have any of that. We just, you know, 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.
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Sean Callaghy
Wow.
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Mike Eruzioni
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, what's going on? We have a few Bears and we'll go, 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. It's now, it's a different, different whole scenario and good for them. I think it's great for the, for the players because these guys have aspirations of playing the National Hockey League. I wanted to go to Boston University to play at Boston University and if it happened that maybe, 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.
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Sean Callaghy
Wow.
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Mike Eruzioni
Then you got the name, image and likeness. Kids are getting paid money. You know, we, 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, was coming to Boston University. He's going to Penn State because Penn State's giving him $800,000.
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Sean Callaghy
Wow.
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Mike Eruzioni
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. You know, Shadow Sanders, the football player, he took a pay cut to play for the Cleveland Browns. The money he was making in Colorado. So you're dealing with a whole different mindset now. This to making money. For me, my scholarship was plenty. But now it's a different environment in the college sports for men and women. You know, there's a girl I think out in ucla, the gymnast is making, like, stupid money. But that's just. That's the arena we're in now. That was never there when I played. When I played, you just played.
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Sean Callaghy
Yeah. So when you're just playing and you're BU 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?
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Mike Eruzioni
Okay, again, crazy story. I got asked to play in the 1976 team. Olympic team.
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Sean Callaghy
Wow.
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Mike Eruzioni
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 US 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 happen. 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 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, says, mike, you had a great camp. We really like you. We think you're going to be a really good player, but we don't. We're not signing any new players. We have our first pick, which a kid named Ron Dugay, 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 Slap Shot?
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Sean Callaghy
Yes, that.
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Mike Eruzioni
That's where I was.
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Sean Callaghy
You played for the team from Slap Shot.
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Mike Eruzioni
That was the league.
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Sean Callaghy
Oh, okay. Wow.
- [29:27]
Mike Eruzioni
Ogie 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 go to. I get sent to Toledo, the New York Rangers 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, going to sign with the New York Rangers. John Ferguson got fired. A guy named Fred Sherrow, who used to be with the New York, with the Philadelphia Flyers, he becomes the general manager of the New York Rangers. And he calls my agent and says, look it, 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. 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 raise, but I still got repaid 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 tryouts, I make the team, and here I am today. If John Ferguson never got fired, I would have signed with the New York Rangers and I would have been considered a pro and not given an opportunity to play on the 80 Olympic team. 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.
- [31:27]
Sean Callaghy
Wow.
- [31:28]
Mike Eruzioni
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 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, they wanted me to do 10 appearances. Five at the Fontainebleau in Florida and five at the Drake in San Francisco. I'd never been to California and I'd never been to Florida. And they were going to give me $3,000 just to walk out on the stage and wave. I didn't even have to do anything. I made more in those 10 appearances 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 get into broadcasting, then I get 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 5. I got a good gig at BU. But it's just funny how your life works, never knowing what you're going to do, what is available. But like I said, after the Olympics, I was going to coach and teach. That's what I was going to do. And then 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, again, I tell my kids all the time the same thing about, I was very happy with who I was before the Olympics. Why should your life change because of an athletic event? It clearly changed a lot of things in my life, but it shouldn't change who you are. My friends are my friends, my family's my family and I still live where I belong and stay where I am because if we didn't win, I'd be living in that town. I'd be probably have more than three kids because I'd have been home more.
- [33:55]
Sean Callaghy
So for everybody, we had these conversations over the last couple 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 3 opportunity. Talked about my opportunities where nobody's looking at me and all of a sudden there's 100 schools looking at me and how God makes all things work together for good or the universe or whatever you believe. And same thing. I mean, it's really amazing that Mike comes out second round draft pick. Make Mike correct me if I'm wrong. Most second round draft picks end up on the team. Is that Isn't that relatively normal? Or.
- [34:35]
Mike Eruzioni
Yeah, yeah.
- [34:37]
Sean Callaghy
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, 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. With self Masters of our language for psychology, that he's just like, hey, let's go. And he knows that he's gonna make whatever happens in his life turn into the right thing. Am I hearing that correctly, Mike? That's how you operate?
- [36:00]
Mike Eruzioni
Yeah. I mean, my dad always said to me, even as 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, you know, just because I didn't play. You know, 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. You know, 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 would 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. Why should I be different? You know, just because. Because I won a gold medal doesn't make me better than people in this room. There are certain things that you can do that I sure as hell can't do. 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.
- [37:20]
Sean Callaghy
So this is. And for everybody here, when I really lock in on this, the lack of attachment that Mike has, the outcome, he shows up, he gives everything he's got, and then what happens, happens. And I'm inspired. I'm not only inspired, it's a really. We talk about the difference between inspiration tools. You know, like, right, a hockey stick's a tool. How you use the hockey stick is, you know, part of your tool. And then you have psychology. And for me, what I'm clear about is I get more attached than Mike does. And I invite you to consider the same for yourself. So thank you, Mike, already, for helping me, like, be a mirror for me. I'm like, yeah, I took things a lot harder than you did, you know, and that, you know, I had a strong psychology. Not as strong as yours. As a high school athlete, as a college athlete, I must play my way out of college baseball. My sophomore year, pouting. I was, you know, runner for Ivy League run, 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. It's very respectful. But I would pout more. I would take things more personally. I would be more upset about things. And when I hearing from you is. It sounds like you didn't. And if I could ask, when. When the Rangers didn't sign you, did you spend. If you remember, did you spend, you know, the night getting upset? You go have a few beers, you call somebody, you're like, hey, F it. Like, here I go. Or is it like a week? You're. We're upset at all, and if so, for how long?
- [38:47]
Mike Eruzioni
When I. I was pissed off.
- [38:49]
Sean Callaghy
Yeah.
- [38:49]
Mike Eruzioni
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.
- [38:57]
Sean Callaghy
Yeah. Let's hear how strong is that? But it's right. Yeah.
- [39:01]
Mike Eruzioni
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 gonna do? Pout? Quit? No, I'll.
- [39:13]
Sean Callaghy
I mean, most people do. You don't? No.
- [39:16]
Mike Eruzioni
Why?
- [39:16]
Sean Callaghy
If you pout and quit sometimes say yes. Yes. So thank you. I mean.
- [39:20]
Mike Eruzioni
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, go to work, come home and go to work, come home, 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. And again, that. That's my wife and I get into these discussions all the time. Why are you in such a good mood all the time? I says, because I don't want to be miserable. I don't want to live a life of wondering. I'm just going to do what I want to do and I'm going to go ahead and do it despite the challenges. And like I said, not every day is a great day. Sometimes things don't work out the way you want them to work out. I missed a 2 footer yesterday for $20. I was so pissed off. Like this. 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, with total respect for my family and my, 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.
- [40:34]
Sean Callaghy
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, I had a lower GPA in high school than I did in law school. So 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, 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, My job, my. The way I look at people is I try to find out, like, what's the simple formula that causes microorizioni to be microorizzioni. And that's present for me, like, that's here. Like, that's just clear to me. And while you're saying it as yeah, just like it's easy, if you think it's not easy for you yet, say yes. Yeah, it's not easy for me either. But because you do it, what they're trained to do, what I'm trained to do is like, we're gonna have the, the self mastery according to microorizioni, which is very simply, don't get attached, get everything you got, like the microusian learned 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?
- [42:24]
Mike Eruzioni
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 or next month, but when you're the best at what you do, I guarantee it's the time and effort and work that you put in. And those are 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 work damn hard at what I do in order to be successful at what I do. 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.
- [43:17]
Sean Callaghy
So Mike said, I live with that. And if you feel that from Mike, say yes. Matt, you feel his authenticity, say yes. Yeah. And his mastery. Yes. Yeah. So Mike, you go, and these BU ends the draft with the Rangers playing hockey in Toledo. And now Herb Brooks calls you up. And what happens from there? Do you. Then was there the movie? Right. These guys have seen the movie lots. We show clips all the time. So in the movie, there's the shortened version of the tryout. Like, could you please take us through what happens?
- [43:56]
Mike Eruzioni
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 bigger. And the 68 players tried out for the AD Olympic team. I shouldn't say that hundreds tried out. 68 got selected. 68 of us went to Colorado Springs, competed against each other in a kind of a mini tournament. And tryouts were over. 26 players made up the AD Olympic team, but only 20 were going to Lake Placid. Six guys are going to get cut.
- [44:48]
Sean Callaghy
Can I just slow you down for a second? Is that okay? So in Colorado Springs, when this happens, what's that, two weeks? Like, where. And I'm just going to give you a couple of, like, multiple choice. Where Were there fist fights? Were people getting along? Were people like, you know, kind of in the same boat of, you know, being friends, buddies? Were there rivalries from college? Like, how was all that? What was Colorado Springs like?
- [45:12]
Mike Eruzioni
Well, it was a tournament, it was competitive, and there was a team from Massachusetts, which I was not on. I was on the at large team. 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.
- [45:26]
Sean Callaghy
And that had players hurt Coach Brooks's college team.
- [45:32]
Mike Eruzioni
A lot of the kids played under Herb at the University of Minnesota.
- [45:34]
Sean Callaghy
Right. Because for everybody. So Coach Herb Brooks coached the University of Minnesota. They were a top program in the country. Mike played at Boston University, a top program in the country. And correct me if I'm wrong, there's a big rivalry.
- [45:47]
Mike Eruzioni
Yes, we had the year before the Olympic tryouts, in the national championship, Minnesota and Boston University got into a bench clearing brawl.
- [45:57]
Sean Callaghy
I would call that a big rivalry.
- [45:58]
Mike Eruzioni
Yeah. Four minutes into the game, national championship. Yes. Both teams should have been thrown out of the tournament because you can't fight in club college. So we ended up losing a player, they lost a player, they ended up beating us in the game.
- [46:09]
Sean Callaghy
Then they went, who was the player you guys lost?
- [46:11]
Mike Eruzioni
We lost Terry Mahara, who was our leading goal scorer at the time.
- [46:14]
Sean Callaghy
Right.
- [46:14]
Mike Eruzioni
And they lost one of their guys who wasn't quite their leader.
- [46:17]
Sean Callaghy
And the guy, Terry Mahar.
- [46:19]
Mike Eruzioni
Yes.
- [46:20]
Sean Callaghy
Did he make the 80 Olympic team?
- [46:22]
Mike Eruzioni
No, Terry was from Canada. Got it. He was the captain of our team in 19, in 1976.
- [46:27]
Sean Callaghy
And Jack O', Callaghan, he played for.
- [46:28]
Mike Eruzioni
Jack was a freshman at Boston University at that time.
- [46:31]
Sean Callaghy
Got it. On that team.
- [46:32]
Mike Eruzioni
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 they were. Of the 20 guys, 12 of the 20 players were from Minnesota.
- [46:51]
Sean Callaghy
Wow. And 13 of the players then, if I'm counting correctly, nine from Minnesota, four from Bull. So 13 of the players were from this big rivalry with nine from Minnesota, only four from Boston University.
- [47:02]
Mike Eruzioni
Well, in Wisconsin and Minnesota had a huge rivalry because of national championship battles for years. So there was a lot of animosity between the two programs. But so we're in the room and 68 players try it out. And Herb came up to the stage and he said, if I call your name, please stay. And if I don't, thanks for coming.
- [47:24]
Sean Callaghy
Okay. Forgive me for interrupting. I just want to really let these guys get it because they've seen some of these clips. 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,
- [47:39]
Mike Eruzioni
probably B, because I was on the Great Lakes team and I was elected captain of the Great Lakes team. And then we, the Great Lakes team won the tournament 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 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 going to 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.
- [48:19]
Sean Callaghy
He will approve the Islanders.
- [48:20]
Mike Eruzioni
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. My name's not gonna get called. And then my name was called. So there were 26 players in the room. And then her.
- [48:36]
Sean Callaghy
You were the second name called?
- [48:39]
Mike Eruzioni
No, I was called later on down the road. I forget who was Cloud.
- [48:41]
Sean Callaghy
We started to get concerned.
- [48:43]
Mike Eruzioni
Yeah, we all antsy, wondering, you know, 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 and six guys are going to get cut throughout the course of the season. And you're still up. Until I was elected captain in October.
- [49:12]
Sean Callaghy
Was this by the players?
- [49:13]
Mike Eruzioni
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. 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 20 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.
- [50:14]
Sean Callaghy
Wow. Can I take you back for a sec? 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?
- [50:30]
Mike Eruzioni
He was Coach Brooks, and that's the way it was going to be. We were going to travel, play. 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. And, you know, 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, you know, and always. 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 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. And 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't cut me. I'm the captain. And the other part said, you know, he just might. He's crazy enough to do it.
- [51:42]
Sean Callaghy
So when in the you guys get together? Mike. 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?
- [52:22]
Mike Eruzioni
The division was what they thought was gonna happen Once the team was picked, everybody. 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 defenseman 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 ourselves, but we had to believe in each other. And that's a great place to be.
- [53:38]
Sean Callaghy
That's awesome.
- [53:39]
Mike Eruzioni
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. The.
- [53:56]
Sean Callaghy
Again. Again. Night.
- [53:57]
Mike Eruzioni
The skating.
- [53:58]
Sean Callaghy
Skating, right.
- [53:59]
Mike Eruzioni
We played Norway, and the game ended in a 3, 3 tie.
- [54:02]
Sean Callaghy
And Herb wasn't very happy with the way Norway was. Not like a world power.
- [54:06]
Mike Eruzioni
We should be able to handle the Norwegian. They're not known for its hockey. And it ended in three, three tie. And in the movie Miracle, they have the guys on the bench looking at the girls in the stands that look at her. Look at her that. Trust me, that didn't happen. I told my wife that didn't happen. I said the guys from Minnesota were looking at the girls. I was not. But we did skate. We skated for an hour and a half. They shut the lights off in the building. We didn't go 20 at a time. We only went waves of five guys at a time. And only 15 of us dressed that night. The other 10 guys were in the stands watching. So we did the Herbies 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.
- [54:55]
Sean Callaghy
I say that one more time. What did Coach Brooks say?
- [54:57]
Mike Eruzioni
If I hear another stick smash against the glass, you'll skate till you die.
- [55:02]
Sean Callaghy
That is called Zeus Energy, ladies and gentlemen. Yes.
- [55:05]
Mike Eruzioni
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 this way again tomorrow. You're going to skate again. Well, we beat Norway eight to nothing the next day. I'm going to tell you why I tell the Story about why we skated. It wasn't because we were looking at the girls in the stands. To me, this is the message from Herb was this. There are a lot of important values in life, and the most important one is respect. 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 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 get 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 is 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 at Herb and I said, who's going to watch me? I got to tell you the truth. We stayed 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 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 something 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 it. We just got awarded. Our team's gonna receive the Congressional Gold medal, which is, I think. Did I say that earlier?
- [57:53]
Sean Callaghy
You did, yeah, I did.
- [57:54]
Mike Eruzioni
Well, I repeated myself. But that is an ultimate honor for our team. And I think that's what makes our team and separates our team from other athletic achievements, is that it was a us story and not Boston or Chicago. So I think Herb was the right guy to keep and maintain those values that are so important in life. And he was an old school guy, you know, 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.
- [58:27]
Sean Callaghy
And Mike. So now we're getting towards the Olympics and there's the game against the Soviets at Madison Square Garden. And do you think that. Why do you think Herb wanted to play that game? Was it just, hey, this is part of the schedule. Was there, you know, any deeper thought, you think, by, you know, coach Herb Brooks, and the game did not go well for you guys? And how, how did that all fit into what would happen at the Olympics if at all was just like a game and like, hey, you watched it all?
- [58:59]
Mike Eruzioni
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 68 games against colleges, minor league teams. We had a great series with the Canadian Olympic team. We played him 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, you know, NHL teams, as they prepared. So the last game was in Madison squad.
- [59:31]
Sean Callaghy
So you guys understand this like. So they're 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 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.
- [60:11]
Mike Eruzioni
Yeah. So we, we step on the ice. You got to remember one thing, too. Some of the Soviet players were going for their third consecutive gold medal. That's playing together for 12 years. Some of these guys. The average age of our Olympic team in 1980 was 21 and a half, 22 years old. Matter of fact, I don't Know if anybody here follows college hockey, but our Olympic team in 1980 would be the youngest team in college hockey today. Wow. And I was 25 at the time. And Buzzy Schneider was 25. Neal 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 three, 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 Lake Placid. Never mentioned, talked about the game. So the next morning, I pick up the New York Post. Wrong newspaper to pick up. And the article talks about how the US Team has no chance in the upcoming Olympic Games. The Soviets are the best team in the world. They will win. They will win the gold medal in the US 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 Kolamov, there's Yakhachev, there's Krutov. 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, are coming 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 him. When you guys are 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 them 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 3 was never, ever talked about again. Even when we got to play him the second time in Lake Placid the day before at practice, Herb never said, remember what happened last time? That game 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. Perv said it in the movie. I think a lot. I haven't seen the movie in years. But play your game. Play your game. That was constant on our bench. We were never concerned about what other teams were doing. We needed to control the things we needed to control and do the things that we needed to do in order to be successful. So play your game. Play your game. Throughout the Soviet game, that's what he talked about. Never once did he bring up anything negative about what had happened before. So your mindset's different. Your mindset's totally different. This game didn't. It was like it didn't even exist. It was something in the past, and
- [64:17]
Sean Callaghy
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? Did. Or how was that psychology?
- [64:51]
Mike Eruzioni
Well, we got to Lake Placid, and the first thing you do is you go into the room where they're going to give you the clothing that you're going to wear for the opening ceremonies. In our case, it was sheepskin jacket, jeans, cowboy boots, cowboy hat. I live in Boston. That's the last Time I'm going to wear a cowboy hat 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. The United States will be anywhere from seventh to 10th place. And 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, reminded me of my high school football coach. My high school football coach told me 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 right. It's like, now 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 hard, and I can't measure pride, and I can't measure commitment. And those are intangibles. I've said this. Little things separate good teams from great teams, and little things separate good business from great business. Intangibles, hard work, qualities that our team had. So we open up the Olympic Games against Sweden, and there's nobody in the building at that time because the opening ceremonies were the next day, so the games hadn't officially, officially started, and there were maybe 2,3000 people in the stands. Billy Baker scores arguably the biggest goal of the Olympics. With 28 seconds left to go, we tie Sweden 2 to 2. And it was a huge point because nobody thought we could beat Sweden at
- [66:59]
Sean Callaghy
the end of the game. Sorry. So they're. They're losing by a goal into the final minute. Correct.
- [67:05]
Mike Eruzioni
28 seconds.
- [67:06]
Sean Callaghy
28 seconds left. They're losing. If they lose this game, then basically there's no way you're going to make the medal round.
- [67:13]
Mike Eruzioni
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 seven to three. Now everybody's talking about the US Hockey team. You can't go anywhere. You can't talk to anybody. The good thing was there was no media. There was no Facebook and stuff like I told you earlier. 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, 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, and they were averaging seven goals a game. They beat Japan 16 to nothing two nights earlier. Wow. And we're going to play them. That's the deal. You're in the tournament. The next game is the Soviets, and now we'll play them.
- [68:23]
Sean Callaghy
And so the movie shows the pre game speech. I think when we had spoken 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?
- [68:39]
Mike Eruzioni
Right. The speech. When I saw the movie for the first time and I heard his speech, I went, holy shit, that's long. I don't remember him saying that, but I remember him saying, you were born to be a player. You were meant to be here. This moment is yours. Tonight is your night. But in the movie, they lengthened it because of what he talked about in practice the day before. They're ripe. They're ready to be beaten. If anybody can beat him, you guys can beat him. And, you know, went on and on and on about that. So I think they incorporated what he said the day before into the speech before the game. So.
- [69:13]
Sean Callaghy
And they show the wall in the game.
- [69:15]
Mike Eruzioni
Yeah.
- [69:16]
Sean Callaghy
How did that build over the. Was that a real thing, that the wall?
- [69:20]
Mike Eruzioni
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. Swear to God, 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 a great way to spend. 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.
- [70:19]
Sean Callaghy
Would it be okay if we watched a couple clips from the movie? Yeah. Hey, Tink, so maybe let's show 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 in the mic ting just how long? Yep, perfect.
- [71:13]
Herb Brooks (voice in clips)
Great moments are born from great opportunity. And that's what you have here tonight, boys. That's what you've earned here tonight.
- [71:34]
Tink
One game.
- [71:37]
Herb Brooks (voice in clips)
If we played them 10 times, they might win nine. But not this game. Not tonight. Tonight we skate with them. Tonight we stay with them and we shut them 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.
- [72:37]
Mike Eruzioni
This is your time.
- [72:43]
Herb Brooks (voice in clips)
Their time is done.
- [72:47]
Mike Eruzioni
It's over. Over.
- [72:50]
Herb Brooks (voice in clips)
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.
- [73:09]
Sean Callaghy
Oh, what does that bring up? Bring back, if anything, for you, just
- [73:13]
Mike Eruzioni
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 brought, like I said, Neil Broughton, 18 years old, he'd have a slice of pizza before he'd go on the ice. And I'm sitting there going, how can he eat anything like that? But this game here just. I remember how walking in the locker room, how deadly quiet it was. And I'm thinking, wow, 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 like that. And then I think the. You know, the speech, as I said to you, a lot of that stuff he talked about the day before that. I'm sick and tired of the Soviets and everybody talking about them. 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 was. I told you, he was amazing as Herb Brooks, although friendlier in the movie.
- [74:06]
Sean Callaghy
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 what he saw in the movie.
- [74:20]
Mike Eruzioni
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 scenes in the movie that he smiles, and I'm like, that's the. Not the guy that coaches.
- [74:34]
Sean Callaghy
So did you ever see her, Brook smile?
- [74:36]
Mike Eruzioni
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. It was good cop, bad copy. 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. You know, we'll prove you wrong. Really? You're gonna yell at Buzzy, then you're yelling at me. And we understood that. He says, he said many times, there's a method to my madness. But he did say after the Olympic Games, he would have loved to have been closer to that team, but choose not to be.
- [75:45]
Sean Callaghy
Wow. And so he was sacrificing what he wanted emotionally for himself, for some greater outcome. Yes. Okay. Any. And we'll get to. We're ready for the come out to the game tank, 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 may have 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?
- [76:23]
Mike Eruzioni
No, he was. He was just a prick to Play for he. John Harrington used to write down. We called them Brooks isms. Herb would come up with these statements and Harrington would write them all down. And we kept them a book of them. You know, one thing, one time he said, weave, weave, weave, but don't weave for the sake of weaving. And weaving was intricate, you know, cross, crisscross. 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 Morrow one day in practice that he was skating like he had a 10 pound fart on his head. And Kenny 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.
- [77:10]
Sean Callaghy
Yeah.
- [77:11]
Mike Eruzioni
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.
- [77:26]
Sean Callaghy
And there's a scene in the movie with an interaction after the Soviet game between Jim Her Brooks and Jim Craig. Did that happen? How did he relate to Jim Craig come Coach Brooks?
- [77:37]
Mike Eruzioni
I don't know that. That must have been. Something 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, you know, whatever they said, I wouldn't have. I wouldn't have remembered. I thought about.
- [77:54]
Sean Callaghy
And it is correct, by the way, the team has never been back to get. Did the whole team make it onto Air Force One the next day or.
- [78:01]
Mike Eruzioni
They didn't. Just Jim Craig did not. He went to Atlanta because he signed with the Atlanta classy team.
- [78:07]
Sean Callaghy
So it is true that not even at the White House the next day has the team ever been back together again since they were all on the podium together. Is that correct, Mike? Is that crazy?
- [78:21]
Mike Eruzioni
I remember sitting on the plane going back to Boston after we go to the White House and then found out that this thing was huge. And I remember getting on the plane, Eastern Airlines, that's how long ago that was. And I'm sitting next to Dave Silky. And Silky's kind of got tears in his eyes. And I said, silky, what's the matter? And he just looked at me and he went, it's over. We're never gonna 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 the 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. My mother made breakfast the next morning and had a car out limousine taking me to the airport to take me to New York. And I got on the Eastern airline 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 do people watch? 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 were here because you're not allowed to be here. You're not a member of Eastern Airlines. And I remember getting off the plane and New York lined with people, they were all clapping and patting me on the back. I'm like, hell, you know what happened here? You people watched. It was crazy, you know, to go from having no idea to oh my God, Mike.
- [80:14]
Sean Callaghy
I was 10 years old. I was not a hockey player. I did like the Islanders at 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. And 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.
- [80:44]
Mike Eruzioni
That was tape delay, the Soviet game,
- [80:46]
Sean Callaghy
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. My parents house, small house on a main road. We weren't three families, two family. And listened to this go on. And as a 10 year old, somehow, I mean, couldn't stand the Soviet Union, commie bastards. Like 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, 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 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 Herbrook's put that together. You as captain, such an incredible leader amongst leaders, as you always say, all these leaders, and you really did do something that was virtually impossible, that changed the course of human history. And it's so unbelievable. And remember, you know, Mr. Michael Rizioni isn't on television. He's not in movies, he's not on social media, but he's at the Seashell today. And what happened?
- [83:18]
Mike Eruzioni
Somebody recognized me.
- [83:20]
Sean Callaghy
And then what happened?
- [83:21]
Mike Eruzioni
Then they wanted to take pictures, then they wanted autographs. Then they started chanting, usa. Usa. And I'm like. I got my. I just wanted a drink. And it was. Who's gonna 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'm still pissed off. We'll get.
- [83:43]
Sean Callaghy
We'll get you a few drinks.
- [83:45]
Mike Eruzioni
We'll get a few later.
- [83:47]
Sean Callaghy
Tank, can we hit it? Let's hit it.
- [83:58]
Mike Eruzioni
Sam, Sa.
- [84:52]
Tink
Hold up here a second, guys. Wait for the.
- [84:54]
Mike Eruzioni
Okay.
- [85:33]
Tink
The excitement, the tension building.
- [85:34]
Sean Callaghy
Let's pause. So fairly accurate, not failure accurate. And how were you so focused that you don't Even remember hearing USA? Were you all aware of the moment and the magnitude, or are you just like, I'm focused and we're gonna go play this game. Like, how is it for you, you
- [85:57]
Mike Eruzioni
know, when you're on the ice, you don't hear anything. You hear a teammate, you know, asking for a pass or Herb Yellen changing up the lines or whatever, so you don't hear any chance you're on the bench. You could hear the crowd A little. But you're still, you know, you're just so geared to what you're doing, what you're watching, that you don't. Everything's kind of blocked out. And it's funny because I'm not that smart a person, but it's amazing the focus that you can have in a situation like that where you're just. The mindset is just on the ice, you know what's happening in front of you.
- [86:32]
Sean Callaghy
Awesome. Do you miss playing at all? Oh, no.
- [86:38]
Mike Eruzioni
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 kids, the grandkids come over and we'll skate and things like that. But do you check them? I don't want it because I may fall and miss them. I'm a golfer, so I'd much rather do that than then skate around the ice. I don't need the aggravation. Plus, I just can't do things, you know, I try to lift the puck and my shoulder hurts. I'm like, so quick.
- [87:11]
Sean Callaghy
Fun fact. And we're gonna take, then go to the next spot. The game is tied three to three, and, I don't know, some guy scores a goal that puts the USA up 4 to 3. So maybe we'll go there next. But not that long ago, Mike was scoffer, 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 is considered to be the greatest golfer in history by many. Jack Nicklaus son and, oh, 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.
- [88:00]
Mike Eruzioni
Well, I. 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 at his club. So I was going to play that day, but Jack Nicklaus, his son, ended up playing. I was going to be the fourth in the group. So they'd done golfing, and I was sitting at a table, and the president called me over and sit down, and 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 here for that. And he looked. He just.
- [88:35]
Sean Callaghy
He went.
- [88:35]
Mike Eruzioni
He went. That's funny.
- [88:40]
Sean Callaghy
Tink, we're ready. We ready, Guys, Just give me a heads up. Oh. So games going. Okay, one sec. Games going. You're playing and is it. What I'm hearing is. It's for you. You're so focused. The team, it's like just another hockey game. But I think a. Keith, 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 no longer were elevated. You guys weren't elevating the Soviets. You're playing hockey, and the game is now 3 to 3 in the third period. Correct? Not correct. Or is 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? Like, did you come into the game just as a game, or did your confidence as a team, do you think, build over the game?
- [89:33]
Mike Eruzioni
You know, first of all, you know, 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 if, you know, 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, you know, the game just kind of goes the way it does. And, you know, obviously, Mark Johnson scores a goal with no time left on the clock to tie the game at
- [90:17]
Sean Callaghy
the end of the first period.
- [90:18]
Mike Eruzioni
The end of the first period was a huge goal because we didn't play really well in the first. We weren't terrible, but we didn't play well in the first. Jimmy played great. So it's two, two, you know, then it's, you know, it's three, two, them, and it's three, three, us. And like I said, if it got to be 4, 2 them, the game's over, because now we get to chase them. Now we got to change the way we want to play, the fact that the game stayed the way it was going.
- [90:40]
Sean Callaghy
Because you guys were. You were never down two goals in the game.
- [90:43]
Mike Eruzioni
No.
- [90:43]
Sean Callaghy
Right. Yeah.
- [90:44]
Mike Eruzioni
No, we were never down. You know, I'll give you a statistic that I didn't know about till a couple of years ago in the third period of the Olympics, the third period, we outscored our opponents 16 to three. That is unheard of. We gave up three goals in the third period all tournament long. Wow. We didn't give up any to Finland, we didn't give up any to Sweden, and we didn't give up any to the Soviets.
- [91:08]
Sean Callaghy
That was conditioning, mindset, conditioning.
- [91:11]
Mike Eruzioni
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 when I scored, there were 10 minutes left to go.
- [91:25]
Sean Callaghy
Can we see that for a sec? Is that okay? This part thinks.
- [91:29]
Mike Eruzioni
Does it go in again?
- [91:30]
Sean Callaghy
I hope so.
- [91:33]
Tink
Hey, Jimmy. Harrington up to Schneider. Schneider gets rid of it and heads to the bench.
- [91:46]
Sean Callaghy
Buzzing.
- [91:49]
Tink
Picks up the top of the corner. Checked by Harry.
- [92:08]
Sean Callaghy
Let's hear 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, and you're like, listen, I'm not that deep. Do you feel anything when you watch that, or.
- [92:32]
Mike Eruzioni
No, I'm happy that it goes in, you know. Yeah. Obviously it brings a smile to your face for me, knowing I was able to help out our team at a time when we needed something to happen. I. 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 at a team, and I did, and There was still 10 minutes left to go in the game. It was a long 10 minutes. But in the movie, like I said, I haven't seen it in years, but in the movie, they have, 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 10 minutes. We totally. We totally shut them down in the third period and especially the last 10 minutes. But again, you know, I look at it. Yeah, it's nice. It went in, I got the winning goal, and we win 4 to 3.
- [93:29]
Sean Callaghy
And so what that means is. And take. Let's get ready to watch the last very End of the game. So for everybody, that means that they just kept playing the game. And as the Soviets became more desperate and urgent, sounds to me like what Mike Rizzioni is saying is that they were taking that momentum as a team and they were shutting down the Soviets. They weren't just playing great defense. They were still playing offense. They were outplaying them at every level because the Soviets only had five more shots on goal the rest of the game. Am I hearing that correctly?
- [94:07]
Mike Eruzioni
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.
- [94:20]
Sean Callaghy
Tink, please.
- [94:24]
Tink
And now we've got F.
- [94:27]
Mike Eruzioni
Anyone who
- [94:28]
Tink
was in Madison Square Garden two weeks ago who's watching this game says Knight has done pretty sh. I love Brooks's reaction. And the chain resumes. Bike Aruzian out of Boston University. The captain of this US Team has just put the US Ahead for the first time. Exactly halfway through the third period,
- [95:10]
Mike Eruzioni
This
- [95:11]
Tink
US Team was demoralized by the Soviets. Very tentative, very nervous. Very much in awe of the Soviet team. And this is a US Team that tonight is not in love.
- [95:22]
Mike Eruzioni
Anyway.
- [95:24]
Tink
Come on, boys. Here we go. 10 minutes left to play the big golf. That drops to Harlem. Kutov crossing the US Blue line now. Quick pass back to Malta. Shot safe at the point. A drive. Just wide of the net. Kov with the puck. Right in front. And another huge save by Jim Craig. Play your Johnson. Across to Mcclanahan. It's intercepted by Haro. Leaving the charge up the ice. He fires his shot. Love save. Keep it moving.
- [96:01]
Mike Eruzioni
R SH.
- [96:02]
Tink
Craig again with the stop. Aro back to the corner. He shoot six.
- [96:08]
Mike Eruzioni
Save.
- [96:12]
Tink
Keith Lyrics. Big play. Mclanahan dies to clear the zone remaining in the third period. The US leading. Shift, boys. 30 to 40 seconds. Short shift. 30 to 40 seconds.
- [96:27]
Mike Eruzioni
Keep an eye on
- [96:30]
Tink
a walk past M. Over the blue line. Defect right shot. Sliding save by Craig. Switch it up. Sorry. Go, go, go, go. Over the up to Ca. He sends it around the board. Hit hard by Sil. Picked up and cleared by Mar. The Soviets reveal back in their own to play in the third period. Kara leaves it for Mika. Moves it over to Harlem. Slap shot. Knocked away by Craig. Ramsey moves ahead to Pamp. Get ready. He moves to the neutral zone. Oh, he's running to the board. Five billion let him up.
- [97:20]
Sean Callaghy
And the sh.
- [97:21]
Tink
With 350 to play in the game. It's intercepted by Marlo. He moves it up to Kov. Kov with the puck. Through the neutral zone. Moving in on the net. Back stop by Craig. How you again, boys. Loose puck in the corner. Kov chasing it. Schneider right behind him. Fighting for it. 319 left to play with Allahan moving out.
- [97:56]
Mike Eruzioni
Go.
- [97:56]
Tink
Let's go. Go. Moving it up to center right. Saved by craz. And control. McLanahan scrapping forward in their day. Hard hit by Mike Ramsey. 2:17 remaining. United States on top. No more changes until the next. Come on. In the corner. Send him off. I'm really amazed how well conditioned this US Team is.
- [98:44]
Mike Eruzioni
I've never seen this outskated.
- [98:46]
Tink
This list late in the game. And that's exactly what the US Team is doing right now. Across the Petru shot. Kicked away by Craig.
- [98:57]
Mike Eruzioni
Over to Mor.
- [98:58]
Tink
Moving in on the net. Back stop by Craig. Pulling.
- [99:13]
Mike Eruzioni
Missed him.
- [99:13]
Tink
Harlem off at center ice. To Kutov. He doesn't know what to do. 36 seconds. The car over the boom line to M. Fighting for possession.
- [99:28]
Mike Eruzioni
Mario trying to get it away from Harlem.
- [99:30]
Tink
Up along the board.
- [99:36]
Sean Callaghy
Again.
- [99:36]
Mike Eruzioni
Coming to you from the Olympics. Nice.
- [99:39]
Tink
The US Huge underdog, the Soviet Union. Johnson over to Ramsey. Left it up. Is sick by Ramsey, but Bahan is there. The bucket is still loose. 11 seconds. You got 10 seconds. The countdown going on right now. Tomorrow up and go. Five seconds left in the game. You believe in miracles, Sam?
- [100:29]
Mike Eruzioni
That.
- [100:54]
Tink
Sa.
- [101:20]
Mike Eruzioni
It,
- [101:45]
Tink
Sam.
- [102:29]
Herb Brooks (voice in clips)
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 in it. I've often been asked in the years since Lake Placid, what was the best moment for me.
- [103:12]
Mike Eruzioni
It was here.
- [103:15]
Herb Brooks (voice in clips)
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.
- [103:28]
Mike Eruzioni
For an unknown.
- [103:31]
Herb Brooks (voice in clips)
A few years later, the US Began using professional athletes at the games. Dream teams. I always found that term ironic, because now that we have dream teams, we seldom ever get to dream. But on one weekend, as America and the world watched, a group of remarkable young gave the nation what it needed most. A chance for one night not only to dream, but a chance, once again, to believe.
- [104:14]
Sean Callaghy
Mike, what was it like standing that podium and bringing the team up when that was all complete?
- [104:19]
Mike Eruzioni
Oh, that was. That was pretty special. To stand and 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 I was standing there, and I ended up obviously calling all my teammates up onto the podium because one person shouldn't be. There 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.
- [104:48]
Sean Callaghy
He changed that. It's here for that.
- [104:53]
Mike Eruzioni
We. You can see we all fit. I don't know if we'd all fit now, but we all. Although there's only. Unfortunately, three of my teammates have passed since 1980. But we'll all be together next week in Minnesota doing one of those memorabilia signing things. We sign. This company hires our team for, I think, every three years. We do. We sign, like, five or 600 prints, and then they use them for charities or whatever. So we'll get. We'll get together and we'll have some fun.
- [105:26]
Sean Callaghy
And they have a Netflix show. You're in Lake Placid.
- [105:29]
Mike Eruzioni
What's going on? Special should be coming out in January or February. They finished. They finished that. They interviewed all of us. All of us went back 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't know what's going to end up on the editing floor. Not the editing floor, but they interviewed my wife, and my wife doesn't say anything. She's very quiet and very shy. So they said, can we talk to her? I said, yeah, you can talk to her. You're not going to get much out of her. 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?
- [106:16]
Sean Callaghy
He didn't call me.
- [106:18]
Mike Eruzioni
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 going to do, but it's. 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 got to be it. What else can they give us? It's over.
- [106:41]
Sean Callaghy
You know, it's never over, but. Well, yeah. Do you think it's over?
- [106:45]
Mike Eruzioni
No, I get that. But still, it's like, you know, okay, what else can we have?
- [106:51]
Sean Callaghy
So, legacy, do you think about those things, do you think about, you know, I know, simple person. Do you think about what you'd want people 100 years ago, when you leave this. A hundred years from now, when you leave this world, what you want to be remembered for? Has that ever come across your mind, your heart?
- [107:09]
Mike Eruzioni
No. I guess I think it's what I talked about earlier, you know, like my teammates and I, to be 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. You know, not only were we good, we were the type. We. You know, we were the guys that wanted. 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 proud of and want to be our team, want 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. 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.
- [108:11]
Sean Callaghy
Amen. So, okay, if we're getting down to it, final couple minutes. Okay if we ask two or three quick questions?
- [108:17]
Mike Eruzioni
Sure.
- [108:17]
Sean Callaghy
Okay, let's go. SERP partner questions. Any cert partners have a question for Mr. Michael Rizzioni. Just raise your hand real quick, and let's get them the microphone. And actually, did Lance. If. Did I. Also if Lance. And then if Nathan had his hand up, great. If not, fine. But after what Nathan did today, I think that would be earning a question. And let's try to get one of the women of cert as well. But, Lance, you had your hand up.
- [108:47]
Lance (Retired Fighter Pilot)
Mike, I just wanted to say I've never.
- [108:51]
Sean Callaghy
Oh, by the way, Nathan is a retired lieutenant colonel, United States Air Force, commercial airline pilot now and doing many other incredible things.
- [109:01]
Mike Eruzioni
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.
- [109:12]
Lance (Retired Fighter Pilot)
Outstanding. I won't hold the Naval academy part against him, but I'm sure he's a standard. I just. I never really knew Your full story or, you know, this man here is responsible for my full knowledge of this and the. 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 the story, but for being a lunch pail and hard hat kind of guy and the values that you espouse and talk about and just 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 story. And I think the witness that you provide for what he did and who he was is the greatest gift that I believe you can give another human being, being a witness for somebody's life the way you are for him. 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 before, but I believe that the mission that we're on now is more crucial to our nation, to the furthering of that dream for what you fought for, what you represent, than the mission I 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.
- [110:57]
Mike Eruzioni
Thank you for having me.
- [110:58]
Sean Callaghy
Thank you. Amen. Nathan.
- [111:06]
Mike Eruzioni
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 remember when they contacted me, they wanted to write a book about our team.
- [111:21]
Sean Callaghy
This is simple, Mike. I'm buying a book for everybody in the room. Done. I'm seriously. Order the book. I don't know, you can get whatever on Amazon.
- [111:28]
Mike Eruzioni
Yeah, 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. Like I said, if you knew 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? 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 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 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. Became a best seller. And thank God, Covid hit, because I didn't have to go around, do book signings and shit like that. I did, like, two signings, and that was enough for me. Thank God for Covid.
- [112:23]
Sean Callaghy
Thank God for Covid. That's amazing. Who's got the next question? Team
- [112:30]
Mike Eruzioni
can't ask me any later. Here's a question for you.
- [112:37]
Sean Callaghy
This is Mama Soul Wisdom. She had her face on a times square billboard 40ft for like a month, rotating, which is an incredible human being. Please, Mama soul.
- [112:47]
Mike Eruzioni
Thank you. Mr. Arizioni, 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're willing to work hard, you can accomplish it. So I think value of work, I think hopefully our team will instill that in people. 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 believed, 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 EM Swift wrote an article about our team, and it was entitled the Lesson and Message of what We Can Be. And the article didn't talk about goals that were scored or saves that were made. It talked about our values. It talked about our work ethic. 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.
- [114:26]
Sean Callaghy
Let's hear for that.
- [114:27]
Mike Eruzioni
Thank you.
- [114:30]
Sean Callaghy
And my. 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.
- [115:35]
Mike Eruzioni
Thank you. It's funny. My grandkids want to watch the movie sometimes, and I've never sat with them and watched it. At some point I'm going to. But about a month ago, my grandson wanted to watch the movie. And I took the tape out, and he looks at me and goes, what's that? I says, that's the movie. What movie? That's the movie Miracle. What's that? That's tape. That's the tape of the movie, you know, Spoiled little brat. That's. It's not a CD. It's not a desk for your VHS tape here. Watch it.
- [116:04]
Sean Callaghy
Well, and Mr. Ruzziani and I have to say, when I share this, far be it for me to ever, ever even give you any advice, but would it be okay if I offered a thought really quickly? Yeah, please watch it with them, because it 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.
- [116:34]
Mike Eruzioni
No, I'll watch it. And I think someday I'll watch the Soviet game with them as well. The problem with the Soviet. I don't want to be watching the Soviet game, which is on vhs. I don't want to. Watching the game. And all of a sudden, one of my buddies shows up. Let it go, Mike. It's over. You know, But I do have a VH tape of every game that we played. And maybe that will be something. Maybe when the 18 month old is a little older. We can all watch it together.
- [117:02]
Sean Callaghy
Let's hear for that final, final question. Final question.
- [117:11]
Mike Eruzioni
Tony Mariello.
- [117:15]
Sean Callaghy
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.
- [117:22]
Mike Eruzioni
Well, I'm glad he's not a dermatologist.
- [117:25]
Sean Callaghy
We'll get to that in a second.
- [117:28]
Mike Eruzioni
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.
- [117:51]
Sean Callaghy
Really?
- [117:52]
Mike Eruzioni
But then again, you know, we were talking about it earlier. That's how coaches coach in the 70s.
- [117:55]
Sean Callaghy
Yeah.
- [117:56]
Mike Eruzioni
You deal with it. You know, living in the house of my father for, you know, 40 years and see how it's. How tough it was. You know, 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 her. So that's the way it's going to be. Okay. I can deal with it. You only get to yell at me for two hours. Practice is over, and I'm out of here. But he was demanding and he was challenging, but that's. That's the way it was going to be. So if that's the way it's going to be, that's the way it's going to be. I'm not quitting. I want to be on this team. Yeah. Some of the physicians here with me, we all trained in an era where our attendings treated us like that. And again and again and again. And, you know, we just have. Our results were better because of that. 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. Do you notice that it's changed? It's a lot different. Yeah. Coaching kids today, you don't coach them the way you used to coach. Don't yell at Johnny because you know you'll get in trouble. Yeah. But, you know, 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 way, a different way of doing it than I think the old. The old coaches did. Thank you.
- [119:33]
Sean Callaghy
Thank you, Tony. So Mike's got a great new doctor. Can you share that real quick?
- [119:41]
Mike Eruzioni
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 gonna say, six, eight months ago. So I go into the guy's office, go to the room four. So I go to room four. I sit down. I'm waiting for the doctor. Doctor comes in. Take your shirt off. So I take my shirt off, and he's got the thing. And he's looking. He's. That's good. That spot's good. That's good. And I have. After the Olympics, my girlfriend, who's my wife, 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 US Hockey team won the gold medal. Swear to God. And I think he's messing with me, right? And they have the oval where Eric Haydn won five gold medals, right next to the 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, no, you weren't. I. I said, no, I. 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's not like my name is Smith. My name is in the. If you go to Lake Placid in the arena, there's a big billboard with all our names all around the rink. It says, you know, Mikey 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 a true story that actually happened. No idea.
- [121:37]
Sean Callaghy
Anything. Anything left that you want to accomplish that is unaccomplished yet here? Family. The Congressional Gold Medal. You obviously have incredibly successful speakers.
- [121:53]
Mike Eruzioni
Like I said to you, I take each day as it comes, I look forward to going home tomorrow. My grandson's got a football game, I think, tomorrow night, and go watch him play and live every day and enjoy every day and watch my kids, my grandkids, grow and hopefully live a little longer to see them have kids someday. I told my wife, and this is funny. I know you aren't going to agree with me. When I first became a grandfather, I said to my wife, the worst thing about being a grandfather is I'm sleeping with a grandmother. And she didn't think that was funny. I. 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. 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.
- [123:05]
Sean Callaghy
That's a beautiful thing. Can't thank you enough for everything you've done here.
- [123:11]
Mike Eruzioni
Thanks for having me.
- [123:12]
Sean Callaghy
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 Ruizioni heads off the stage. Let's first of all, give him a hand. Thank you.
- [123:35]
Mike Eruzioni
Thank you very much.
- [123:36]
Sean Callaghy
Thank you. Thank you so much.
- [123:37]
Mike Eruzioni
Thank you, Sheryl.
- [123:38]
Sean Callaghy
Thank you. And let's hear a little USA. USA. USA. USA. USA. USA. USA. USA. USA. Mr. Micah Ruzioni, ladies and gentlemen.
- [123:55]
Mike Eruzioni
Thank you. Thank you.