Feb. 28, 1960 – Squaw Valley, CA – It was tough to get up for this game, literally. Only 1,000 fans made it to their seats for the Sunday, 8am puck drop between the US and Czechoslovakia. And the Americans, still working out the kinks from a Saturday night game against the USSR, gave up a goal 8 seconds into the game and still trailed with 20 minutes to play.

But, as Bill Cleary would say years later, the Americans “were not to be denied.” Behind 4-3 after two periods, the Americans poured it on the third stanza. Taking 28 shots and scoring 6 goals to meet their destiny, an Olympic gold medal, the first for the United States.

The third period onslaught actualy began in the American locker room between periods. The US got a surprise visit from  Soviet captain Nikolai Sologubov, who used pantomime to suggest the Americans take Oxygen to rejuvenate themselves in the high mountain air. Though Sologubov was a friend from years of international play, the unusual visit owed more to the Soviet’s desire for a medal which required a loss from their border rivals the Czechs.

Some players took the oxygen, but some didn’t. As fate would have it, the three Americans who found the back of the net in the third Roger Christian (3 goals), Bob Cleary (2 goals) and Bill Cleary (1 goal) didn’t take the oxygen, and they obviously didn’t need it.

It was a fitting end to the USA’s remarkable running of the tables at the 1960 Squaw Valley games. This was a deep and talented team, and even on the only night that goalie Jack McCartan wasn’t the best player on the ice, the deep American team found a timely hero in Roger Christian (4 goals total), got solid contributions from their controversial late additions the Cleary brothers (3 goals between them) and even got a lift from the unlikeliest of players when third-liner Dick Rodenheiser took one for the team int he third period, leading to a three-goal power play for the USA.

When the final buzzer sounded, the Americans and their fans hugged at center ice, they were Olympic champions. It had never happened in 40 years of Olympic play and it wouldn’t happen again for another 20 years: an American holding the gold medal at the top of the Olympic hockey podium.

Box Score
USA vs Czechoslovakia | February 28, 1960

Scoring

Goalie Saves