Forgotten Miracle and Pond Hockey are sponsoring the 2010 college hockey pickem. Think you know who will win the Frozen Four? Enter your bracket for a chance to win a jersey from your favorite NCAA division 1 hockey team.
Entries close Friday, March 26.
On March 1, 2010, Senator Al Franken spoke on the Senate floor to congratulate the 1960 “Forgotten Miracle” team and the 2010 Minnesota Olympians.
This Day in 1960 US Olympic Hockey
Feb. 27, 1960 – Squaw Valley, CA – Before a national television audience and a crowd of 10,000 spectators filling the 8,500-seat Blyth Arena, the United States shocked the favored USSR hockey team 3-2. Continuing a tradition of a different game, a different hero, US forward Bill Christian netted his only two goals of the medal round to lead the US back from a 2-1 deficit. It was the first time in 10 international games that the United States had beaten the USSR.
Early in the first period, Bill Cleary put the US ahead 1-0, bringing the crowd to its feet. But, the Soviets answered less than a minute later, and added a second goal in the first period to take a 2-1 advantage. It was in the second period that Bill Christian took a pass from his brother Roger and beat Soviet goalie Nikolai Puchkov on a one-on-one. With half of the game yet to play, both goalies kept the puck out of the net until 5 minutes remained in the game. That’s when Bill Christian found a loose puck in front of Puchkov and batted it between his legs. The goal gave the Americans a 3-2 lead with only minutes to play.
The USSR pressed hard in the last few minutes, but goalie Jack McCartan was stellar, as he had been all tournament. The raucous crowd counted down the final 10 seconds as the United States players killed the final 6 on 5 Soviet attack. The team rushed to center ice to celebrate their second improbable win in three days. The victory gave the US a 4-0 record in the medal round, with one game the following morning against Czechoslovakia to decide the gold medal.
Box Score
USA vs USSR | February 27, 1960
|
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Scoring
| Period 1 | ||
| USA | 4:04 | W. Cleary (R. Cleary) |
| USSR | 5:03 | Alexandrov (Sologubov) |
| USSR | 9:37 | Bychkov (Grebennikov) |
| Period 2 | ||
| USA | 11:01 | W. Christian (R. Christian) |
| Period 3 | ||
| USA | 14:59 | W. Christian (Williams, R. Christian) |
Goalie Saves
| 1 | 2 | 3 | Total | |
| USA, McCartan | 14 | 8 | 5 | 27 |
| USSR, Puchkov | 9 | 9 | 13 | 31 |
John Mayasich, Jack McCartan and Bill Cleary visit with Brian Williams and the NBC Nightly News.
Visit msnbc.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy
This Day in 1960 US Olympic Hockey
Feb. 26, 1960 – Squaw Valley, CA – One day after defeating Canada 2-1, the US Olympic hockey team has a final day of rest before back to back contests against the USSR and Czechoslovakia. With no hockey games planned, Blyth arena is home to the men’s figure skating programs. American David Jenkins wins gold joining fellow American Carol Heiss as the only two gold medalists for the USA thus far.
The US hockey team is back in action on Feb. 27, and with interest in the team growing around the country, CBS makes the decision to air the USA vs USSR game live in its entirety, the only hockey game to be broadcast as part of the 1960 Olympic winter games.
Free Shipping on New 1960 Forgotten Miracle Hockey T-shirts during the Winter Olympics. (The Tees come in both Red and Blue and are comfortable, high quality, distressed tees, made in the USA, just like the 1960 gold medal) 
This Day in 1960 US Olympic Hockey
Feb. 25, 1960 – Squaw Valley, CA – Before the game, the Canadians anticipated a dominant win. The Americans had beaten them for the first time 4 years earlier, and Canada had revenge on its mind. But it wasn’t to be. A first period rebound goal by Bob Cleary and a second period slapshot by Paulie Johnson were all the scoring that the Americans needed to edge Canada 2-1.
Off a slapshot from John Mayasich, Cleary netted the first goal on a rebound, sneaking the puck past Canada’s Don Head as he was being checked from behind. Johnson’s goal would become the stuff of legend as he stole the puck from the Canadians leading to a breakaway. Instead of taking it in on goal, Johnson unloaded from just past the blueline, shocking an unprepared Head and making the tally 2-0.
Of course, holding Canada to one goal was no small feat, and of Jack McCartan’s performance in the net, his coach, Jack Riley, said “no goalie ever played as well as McCartan played that night.” The outstanding performance included 39 saves, most of which came in defense of the lead, as the Canadians controlled the game in every way but the score over the final two periods, outshooting the Americans 31-10 to close the game.
The victory put the US in control of their own medal destiny, with games against the USSR and Czechoslovakia standing between them and the USA’s first gold medal in ice hockey.
Box Score
USA vs Canada | February 25, 1960
|
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Scoring
| Period 1 | ||
| USA | 12:47 | R. Cleary (Mayasich) PP |
| Period 2 | ||
| USA | 14:00 | Johnson (unassisted) |
| Period 3 | ||
| CAN | 13:28 | Connelly (Martin, Laufman) |
Goalie Saves
| 1 | 2 | 3 | Total | |
| USA, McCartan | 8 | 20 | 11 | 39 |
| CAN, Head | 15 | 6 | 4 | 26 |
Mayasich talks about McCartan’s outstanding performance at the 1960 Winter Olympics in Squaw Valley, CA. McCartan, had 39 saves against the Canadians, was called the Olympic MVP by coach Jack Riley.
John Mayasich discusses goalie Jack McCartan from Forgotten Miracle on Vimeo.
This Day in 1960 US Olympic Hockey
Feb. 24, 1960 – Squaw Valley, CA – Team USA runs their Olympic record to 4-0 with a 9-1 win over Germany. In the victory, Bill Cleary netted 4 goals and an assist and John Mayasich added two tallies. The US scored their first two goals on a Power Play after an interference penalty on Germany. The rules in international competition in 1960 required the player to serve the full two minutes of a minor penalty, even if a goal was scored. This allowed the US to capitalize twice on the same power play.
The win also kept the US in a first place medal round tie with a 2-0 record. Still, the US now faced their toughest competition with three games in four days against the best remaining teams in the tournament, Canada, the USSR and Czechoslovakia. The real competition would begin the following day, Feb. 25 when the US faced Canada.
Box Score
USA vs Germany | February 24, 1960
|
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Scoring
| Period 1 | ||
| USA | 12:37 | W. Cleary (McVey) PP |
| USA | 13:29 | R. Cleary (W. Cleary) PP |
| Period 2 | ||
| USA | 0:55 | Williams (W. Christian, Kirrane) |
| USA | 2:57 | W. Cleary (unassisted) PP |
| GER | 5:42 | Sapp (Unsinn) PP |
| USA | 9:52 | W. Cleary (unassisted) |
| Period 3 | ||
| USA | 5:09 | Johnson (Kirrane) PP |
| USA | 6:02 | Mayasich (Johnson, Meredith) PP |
| USA | 17:58 | W. Cleary (unassisted) |
| USA | 18:49 | Mayasich (W. Cleary, R. Cleary) |
Goalie Saves
| 1 | 2 | 3 | Total | |
| USA, McCartan | 9 | 6 | 8 | 23 |
| GER, Habelsberger | 6 | 13 | 19 | 38 |
This Day in 1960 US Olympic Hockey
Feb. 23, 1960 – Squaw Valley, CA – After one day of competition in the medal rounds, the USA, USSR and Canada all stand at 1-0. Sweden, Czechoslovakia and Germany drop to 0-1. Play resumes on Feb. 24.
Be a Facebook fan of the 1960 U.S. Gold Medal hockey team!