On Frozen Blog

Well, we’d hoped to receive some deeply reflective and moving testimonials about the impact of the Miracle on Ice on our readers’ lives as part of our contest to award two copies of the Blu-ray DVD of ‘Miracle’ before its nationwide released June 16. We’ll let you read a Michigan hockey mom’s reminiscence and see if you think it qualifies:

Dear On Frozen Blog,

I am a 40 something HockeyMom of 3 boys and wife to a farmer. We love hockey in our family and have since son #1 got on the ice at 2 years of age. Hubby has even gotten his coaching card (although he doesn’t skate very well) so that we can extend our family activity even more.

We happened to be at my grandmother’s that Sunday of the Gold Medal game and watched with beating hearts as the scrappy US Men’s Hockey Team beat Finland for the Gold Medal. I don’t remember much of the actual Russian game, except for the blur of hockey and Al Michaels’ call at the end of that fateful clock. I knew it was a turning point of sorts for our boys, and went back to re-read what had transpired up to that point for the team. We waited with great anticipation for the game Sunday afternoon and leaped with glee when we won — now remembering everything that had happened to get them to this point. I was never prouder to be an American than at that moment in time. It was a great victory. I can remember Rizzo, Jimmy Craig and many of the other players as the nation was introduced to this incredible group of young men. It was a statement of who we were as Americans — tough, scrappy, underdogs that you shouldn’t take for granted.

I cut out every news article I could find, every magazine photo, and hung them with prominence on the wall of my bedroom. I bought a USA Hockey t-shirt and wore it with pride wherever I went. My mom was a teacher and we rode together to school each day.  Later that summer was the beginning of my freshman year in high school and I remember, as we were in the car together after school waiting for a traffic light, she asked me, “Do you have any heroes?” I don’t have a clue where this question came from, but after a moment’s thought, I had to ask, “Can a hero be more than one person?” After an affirmative reply from my mom, I answered without hesitation, “The US Hockey Team.” To this day, I still have the t-shirt (it, of course, doesn’t fit nearly as well) and I still get goose bumps every time I watch the movie ‘Miracle’ (the one with Karl Malden was not nearly as good, but I watched with great interest anyway). My (then) 7-year-old son picked ‘Miracle’ to bring along for his Mite 3B State Championship game in Wisconsin to get him pumped. About 3/4 of the team was in our room, on our bed, watching this incredible recreation of the historic game — it was a sight to see!

I took that same son to see the movie in the theater when it came out and took great delight in telling him what happened, because I actually lived through it! He found that a little hard to believe (ah, the faith of children to think of their parents as never being old!!).  There were two ladies sitting next to us who were a few years older than I was when I took Riley to see the movie. I overheard their conversation and came to the conclusion that they had no idea that this event actually took place! Were their heads in a sand pile during that time? I thought EVERYone knew where they were, what they were doing, and what was going on in the world when our boys beat Russia and then took gold!!

The one moment that I can clearly remember from the Finland game and the subsequent medal ceremony, was when Rizzo called the entire team up to the podium after getting their medals — showing the world that truly this was a TEAM sport and that these incredible young men overcame odds, dislike of their coach, and lack of faith from those around them and proved to the world that ours was a team, a coach, a country to be reckoned with — don’t mess with U.S.!  I just knew that what occurred on that platform could never be duplicated by another team, but what they did was beyond incredible.

I’m sorry to have rambled — this ended up being much longer than I had anticipated. But it is difficult to put into a short paragraph or two the impact that team had on my life, and subsequently, the life of my kids as we are truly a hockey family — and much of that is because of the Boys of Winter 1980. Thank you for letting me be able to tell you how much they meant to me and my family.

Sincerely,

HockeyMom Molly 

Admittedly, it’ll be tough to outperform this Michigan hockey mom in our contest, but remember that we actually have two copies of the ‘Miracle’ Blu-ray DVD to award. And we’ll be accepting submissions throughout the entirety of Monday before gathering them up and passing them along to our Miracle eyewitness friend Herb Driscoll of St. Albans, Missouri. He’s our judge in this contest.

Meanwhile, how about a quick stroll back through perhaps the film’s most stirring scene?

Your Time