NASCAR 2015: Week Two (Atlanta) Australian Foxtel TV Guide

Week Two of the 2015 season features all three national series' racing on the 1.5-mile Atlanta Motor Speedway, which is actually in Hampton, Georgia. FOX Sports will broadcast both the Sprint Cup and Xfinity Series races live, with an early morning Monday replay of the 200-mile Camping World Truck Series event,.
 
The Sprint Cup Series takes the green flag at approximately 5.16am AEDT on Monday morning.

All times AEDT


Sunday 1 March 2015

Xfinity Series Hisense 250 (6.00am; FOX Sports 2) LIVE

Monday 2 March 2015

Camping World Truck Series Hyundai Construction Equipment 200 (2:30am; FOX Sports 5)
Xfinity Series Hisense 250 (12:30am; FOX Sports 5)

Sprint Cup Series Pre Race Show (4:30am; FOX Sports 5) LIVE
Sprint Cup Series Folds of Honor QuikTrip 500 (5:00am; FOX Sports 5) LIVE

[Note: there are two replays of the Sprint Cup Series race on Monday, at 2.00pm and 10.00pm.]

Opinion: NASCAR’s Suspension of Kurt Busch Sets A Dangerous Precedent

Last season, current NASCAR Truck Series driver Travis Kvapil was convicted in a court of law of assaulting his wife. There was no penalty handed down by the powers that be in Daytona Beach and Kvapil continues to race. He competed in the Truck Series’ season opener on Friday night, and will line up next weekend in Atlanta.

That, of course, was before the Ray Rice incident, which has clearly changed the thinking of so many professional sporting leagues in America. The former Baltimore Ravens football player was caught on video assaulting his then-fiancé in a Las Vegas elevator. It was incredibly damning footage that put an end to Rice’s season – and probably his NFL career as a whole – and touched off a firestorm of epic negativity aimed directly at Commissioner Roger Goodell.

Fast forward less than a year, and although a judge, in granting a protection order in a civil court for the polarising Patricia Driscoll – I wrote recently about her strange courtroom battle with the driver known as The Outlaw – decided that it was more likely than not likely that Sprint Cup Series star Kurt Busch assaulted her, there has been no criminal conviction, yet Busch has been suspended indefinitely.

Busch, the driver of the #41 Chevrolet for Stewart-Haas Racing, appealed twice, but both were denied. With a few strikes against his name already, the Outlaw seems at long odds to ever pick up the pieces of his racing career.

It’s important to stress that Busch has been barred from contacting Driscoll by a restraining order from a civil court. He is yet to go to criminal trial. No charges have even been laid. Yet NASCAR has suspended him indefinitely. Compare that to the Kvapil incident, and there are double standards here, and controversial ones at that.

Clearly, NASCAR has pulled the trigger here to avoid the sort of PR nightmare that engulfed the NFL and continues to, but the key difference between Rice and Busch is that Rice was convicted. All that’s happened thus far to Kurt Busch is that he has been the subject of what is effectively a restraining order. I’m reliably informed that those are relatively easy to obtain.

Busch is yet to have charges laid against him in a criminal court, and imagine if he is never charged, or, perhaps, the charges are unfounded. The judge in Delaware did admit, during his explanation, that some of Driscoll’s testimony was unbelievable, and Busch’s lawyers say they have new evidence from those who have come forth since the ruling that will cast further doubt on the veracity of Driscoll’s statements and on her version of events.

What concerns me is the knee-jerk reaction by NASCAR. You can see why they have suspended Busch – violence against women should not be tolerated – but there are myriad reasons why they should’ve waited until a criminal court conviction. Regardless of the Ray Rice situation, Busch, like anyone else, is entitled to a presumption of innocence until such time as he’s proven guilty. It’s one of the pillars of law.

You’re innocent until proven guilty. If Busch is cleared of any wrongdoing, he’s understandably going to be upset that he’s missed out on a large portion of his salary (not to mention potential race winnings) and that, essentially, he’s been wrongfully suspended, his name dragged through the mud, particularly with Driscoll’s somewhat questionable and very visible PR campaign of late. It looks even worse with Kvapil being allowed to race after being convicted of the same thing.

As some folks observed on Twitter after the Busch suspension was handed down, when questioned about the differences between Kvapil and Busch, basically the answer was: that incident was pre-Ray Rice. Things have changed. The playing field is not the same. Lucky, for  Kvapil. Desperately unlucky for Busch.

I don’t know whether Kurt Busch is guilty. That is for a court of law to decide, and his guilt, or lack thereof, isn’t so much the point of the issue. It’s the kneejerk way NASAR has done and suspended the driver already. Maybe they did it to avoid An NFL-type nightmare, but they’ve made their bed and now they must lie in it. They can’t rescind the suspension now, and nor can they undo the fact that they’ve pre-judged Kurt Busch on the facts presently at hand, without letting due process take course.

If NASCAR thought there’d a publicity nightmare if they allowed Kurt Busch to race the Daytona 500 on Sunday…well, it’s nothing compared to the one they’ll be inviting down on themselves if he’s found guilty. It seems like the sport’s governing body has convicted Busch before anyone else has, and there are almost certainly going to be major ramifications.

The case is being watched closely by a lot of people. Where it goes next will be very fascinating, and there are serious credibility and fairness issues on the part of NASCAR that may be called into question if Busch is free to go about his life.

Your Guide to V8 Supercars on Television in 2015

If you’re a V8 Supercar fan and have Foxtel, you’re pretty happy. The pay television broadcaster will televise, live and commercial-free (except at Bathurst) the entire 2015 V8 Supercar Championship Series. That means every V8 session and every other on-track sessions from every race weekend. It’s the sort of coverage that’s long been a feature of Formula One, MotoGP and NASCAR weekends, and it’s finally here in Australia.

Conversely, if you don’t have Foxtel, you’re likely not to be so happy, because Channel Ten will broadcast only six marquee events live – Adelaide, Bathurst, Sandown, Townsville, Sydney and the Gold Coast – whilst the remaining weekends of racing will be shown as highlights package in a regular timeslot, for a duration that’s yet to be determined.

Without doubt, it’s a blow for fans used to seeing the entire series on free-to-air television, helped along by Channel Ten’s dire financial situation and giant money offered by Foxtel., but falls in line with other premiere racing series in the world, and, indeed, with coverage of MotoGP and Formula One in Australia, this year and into the foreseeable future.

After the end of the Channel 7 era of V8 Supercar coverage, the sport is ready for a new media dawn, with a whole stack of new bells and whistles set to be debuted at the Adelaide street circuit this weekend. On the talking head side of things, some familiar faces return, some old faces and voices are back, and there’s a few new faces thrown into the mix, as well.

Here’s your 2015 broadcast form guide:

V8 Supercar Television

The sport’s own broadcast unit provides coverage of all racing sessions, which both FOX Sports and the Ten Network will carry. Greg Rust returns to the series after resigning from Channel Ten to become chief caller for the V8 Supercar Series (though Rust will contribute sporadically to the returning, and very popular motorsport review show, RPM, which returns to Ten this year).

Joining Rust in the commentary box is the knowledgeable Neil Crompton, who might very well be the foremost motorsports expert in Australia. Crompton and Rust have worked together previously, and their friendship was evident during coverage of the SuperTest a few weeks ago. They will be a solid team.

Riana Crehan returns on pit road, and will be joined by Greg Murphy, who steps away from his part-time endurance drive, swapping a steering wheel for a microphone. Aside from reporting on happenings in the pits, Murphy will team with Rust to broadcast the V8 Supercar Dunlop Development Series.

Up and coming broadcaster Chad Neylon will call all the support events at each weekend, joined by various expert commentators.

Reporter Kylie King will contribute feature-type pieces throughout the season.

FOX Sports

Live coverage: every session of every category on every race weekend, commercial free, flag-to-flag, excepting Bathurst, which will feature limited commercial interruption.

Former SPEED Channel host Jessica Yates teams with former Holden heroes (and noted on-track adversaries) Mark Skaife and Russell Ingall to host FOX Sports’ coverage.

The Skaife/Ingall partnership is an interesting one, thanks to their history, and one thing is pretty much guaranteed: their time on-camera between racing sessions certainly won't be boring. When he tones down the pro-V8 rhetoric, Skaife is a good analyst, and Ingall, if he applies the take-no-prisoners manner he exhibited on track to his new career as a talking head on TV, will be a hit with fans, too.

Ten Network

Live coverage: Clipsal 500, Bathurst 1000, Sandown 500, Gold Coast 600, Sydney 500 and Townsville 400.

Former network favourite Matthew White, who departed to Channel 7 a few years ago, and called V8 Supercar racing there for all but the last half of the 2014 season, is back at his prodigal home, and will host coverage from trackside at all six marquee events that the Ten Network will broadcast live. White, who is a polarising figure, replaces Greg Rust, who will call the races simulcast on FOX Sports and Ten. White will also host RPM Sundays on Ten.

Making a new home with Ten is fan favourite Mark Larkham, whose irreverent wit and deep knowledge will be missed on race broadcasts, but after universal worry that the man commonly known simply as ‘Larko’ would not be seen on our screens, it’s a relief to know that we’ll at least see him on the Ten Network.

Joining Larkham and White will be Rick Kelly, driver of the Jack Daniels Nissan. In something of a first, Kelly will be accessible to the Ten Network except when he’s on the track or conferring with engineers immediately afterward. He will appear in formal attire, to distance himself from his other job, and seeing whether the former Bathurst champion will be happy to call out fellow drivers will be one of the interesting television stories of the 2-15 season.

Additionally, Formula One turned sports car star Mark Webber will join the team at Adelaide and Bathurst, and plays a role in the network’s coverage of the Australian Formula One Grand Prix later in March.

Team Penske’s Joey Logano wins the 2015 Daytona 500

Joey Logano is a Daytona 500 champion!

A week before one of Roger Penske’ Shell-branded race cars looks to take out one of Australia’s biggest motorsports events, one of Roger Penske’s Shell-branded race cars has won one of America’s biggest motorsports events.

This afternoon on the high banks of Daytona International Speedway, the fifty-seventh running of NASCAR’s biggest event, the prestigious Daytona 500 – otherwise known as the Great American Race – was won by Team Penske’s Joey Logano, marking the heavyweight team’s second Daytona 500 triumph.

Penske’s bright yellow #22 Ford, driven by the just-married Logano, of Connecticut, which isn’t exactly a stock-car racing hotbed, took the chequered flag ahead of defending NASCAR Sprint Cup Series champion Kevin Harvick and two-time, defending Daytona 500 winner Dale Earnhardt as a huge wreck broke out on the final lap of a race that had already gone over the scheduled 200-lap distance, and into a green-white-checker finish.

Once the white flag had been waved, the next flag would end the race, and it was the yellows that waved first, as a melee broke out behind the lead pack, encapsulating pole sitter Jeff Gordon, a three-time Daytona 500 champion, who will retire from the sport at the end of the gruelling Sprint Cup Series season in November.

Logano’s win was something of a redemption story for a guy who debuted in the Sprint Cup Series with Joe Gibbs Racing when he was just eighteen, and nicknamed “Sliced Bread” as in, he was going to be the best thing since sliced bread. Strapped into one of the sports’ best rides, Logano was supposed to be a superstar immediately.

Four years later, an underwhelming stint at Joe Gibbs Racing was over and many wondered if perhaps Logano would ever have a successful Sprint Cup Series career. Apparently Roger Penske, as shrewd a judge of talent as there is in motorsports, didn’t have any concerns, because he hired Logano to fill the vacant #22 car. Penske says he never hesitated in hiring Logano.

The #22 team really gelled last year, winning five races, and now, Logano has paid back Penske’s faith in spades, winning a Daytona 500 crown. Not that we ever doubted it, but Penske’s legacy is even richer now. Logano’s win in NASCAR’s biggest event is Penske’s second, and it sits nicely alongside  record-setting Indianapolis 500 victories, a handful of IndyCar championships, a Sprint Cup Series championship, last year’s NASCAR development Xfinity Series championship and a few sports car wins, including the famed 12 Hours of Sebring.

As for Logano, perhaps this will be the season where he breaks through and wins a
Sprint Cup Series championship. That’s the progression, to go from a consistent race winner at the highest tier of the sport to a championship contender. He showed plenty of speed last year, and, many forget that, at just twenty four years of age, he’s still got the bulk of his career ahead of him. He’s getting faster and smarter, and Penske’s equipment has elevated the team to the head of the Sprint Cup Series field. All the things you need to have a legitimate shot at the gruelling championship. Logano has shown that he isn’t afraid to mix things up on the track, either – he isn’t the most popular driver, thanks to a few incidents that’ve seen him earn the ire of fellow drivers – and that, when a championship is on the line, can be a help rather than a hindrance.

Logano, who grew up wanting to race with Jeff Gordon – who led the most laps, but was caught up in the late-race accident – at Daytona, led home all comers, including some of the sport’s icons.  He showed maturity that we haven’t often seen. They say marriage steadies a man, and Logano, in his first race since tying the knot, slyly quipped that if he’d known this was the result, he might’ve gotten married sooner.

After a Daytona Speedweeks that put NASCAR in the headlines for all the wrong reasons – a domestic violence case involving Kurt Busch and a terrible crash by his brother in Saturday’s Xfinity Series Race that could’ve been involved had the track installed some form of protection, the ‘safer barrier’ or good old fashioned tyre bundles – it was a relief to talk about racing for a change.

Unfortunately, the 2015 edition of the Great American Race was anticlimactic. This despite a ferocious pace over the last fifty miles that fell by the wayside when Justin Allgaier’s stricken brought out the race’s final caution, pushing it to a green-white-checker finish. As the field came down the backstreet, cars three and four wide, going for the win at Daytona, Austin Dillon made contact with Gordon, and it was a chain reaction event from there.

Cars went every which way mid-pack as the leaders charged back to the line. Then, yellow flag, and the race was over. What a shame, because the finish, with Harvick, Earnhardt Junior and Jimmie Johnson lurking behind Logano and looking to pounce late, might well have been legendary.

For Joey Logano, it will still be a legendary day. No matter that he’d scarcely led all day, and Ford had shown themselves to be far weaker than Toyota and Chevrolet, but a little luck and a propensity to put himself in the right place delivered Logano his maiden Daytona 500 crown. And the way the guy is driving, I get the feeling it won’t be his last.

5 Thoughts from the 2015 NHL Stadium Series

A few ponderings in the aftermath of the NHL Stadium Series game between the San Jose Sharks and Los Angeles Kings at Levis Stadium in Santa Clara, home to the NFL’s San Francisco 49ers. For the record, and for very crucial points, Los Angeles won 2-1.

1. The Kings look set for a deep playoff run. Both teams currently sit outside looking in as far as tickets to the Western Conference playoffs go, but the Kings’ win tonight was their seventh straight, and after a slow start to the season, they finally look like the team that won the Stanley Cup last year.

Looking down their roster as it sits, and despite a few depth issues defensively, there’s plenty to like. Jonathan Quick is back to his old self in goal, star D-man Drew Doughty is playing about half an hour a game, and then there’s Marian Gaborik. He’s as streaky as they come, but when he’s hot, he’s red-hot. Just ask Kings fans about how Gabby caught fire. His game-winning goal was vintage Gaborik. If he can somehow unleash form like he did last year in leading the Kings to glory, watch out.

2. Two outdoor games worked well this year. The gap between the New Year’s Day Winter Classic and the Stadium Series contest on Saturday evening was just long enough to keep the two separate, and to create a little anticipation. That anticipation led to a sold-out crowd at Levis Stadium. For a non-traditional market, that’s no small thing.

Last year’s schedule was choked with games in early February – a lot of that was to do with Super Bowl Week in New York, where the NHL scheduled two outdoor games at Yankee Stadium – and I personally was bouncing from one to the next without really knowing the difference. The League is clearly trying to market these as special events, so the separation between Nationals Park on January 1 and Levis Stadium on February 21 was great.

The crowd, which numbered more than 70,000 (more than has yet attended a 49ers game, for what it’s worth) probably didn’t like the result – it was a pro-San Jose group – but the experience in basically a brand-new stadium was unparalleled. Importantly, also, it looked great on television.

Next year, there’ll be three outdoor games – the New Year’s Day Winter Classic between Boston and Montreal, and two Stadium Series games – and that will I’m willing to give the NHL the benefit of the doubt as far as scheduling goes. Given that three of the participants next year have never played a Stadium Series or Winter Classic game, the buzz should be large. Especially on New Year’s Day when the B’s and Habs get into it at the Foxboro, Massachusetts home of the New England Patriots.

3. Los Angeles and San Jose deserved their appearances. Yes, the Kings played an outdoor game last year, but the fact that they are Stanley Cup champions was a good enough reason to put them into this one. San Jose were equally deserving. They’ve been there or thereabouts at the top of the Western Conference for many seasons now, before the emergence of the Kings as year-in-year-out Stanley Cup contenders, and have carved out a nice niche market in San Jose. This was their reward.

4. Arctic conditions aren’t necessary to make an outdoor game work. Those days are long gone, simply because he NHL are so proficient at making nice ice wherever they go. Dan Craig’s team has had plenty of time to master the art of the process, and proved last year, when the Kings and Ducks played at Dodger Stadium, that they could make a sheet of ice capable of having good hockey played on it outside of cold-weather environments.

I accept that the quality of the ice is obviously not going to the same as if Saturday night’s game had been played at Staples Centre in Los Angeles or SAP Centre in San Jose (as does everyone), but considering the relatively warm weather on the west coast, Craig’s team did a good job. It was an eminently playable surface, probably not much worse than an arena rink in late May or early June – the ice at Madison Square Garden is definitely suspect at that time of the year.

It seems that the quality of ice at these outdoor games gets better and better each time one is staged, not just because of increased technology, but because of the ability of the team building the rink. I’m often quick to criticise the NHL when they do something wrong, but they deserve compliments for the surface tonight.

5. John Fogerty might be nearly 70, but he can still sing. The former front man for Creedence Clearwater Revival, and a Bay Area resident, played a medley of his biggest hits during the first period intermission. He was better than Billy Idol and Lee Greenwood, who did the same thing at the Winter Classic in Washington D.C., and the cringe factor, normally high in these intermission gigs, was in the negative.

The NHL really outdid themselves in the first period, but Melissa Etheridge was an interesting choice for the second. So the League wanted locals? What, the Counting Crows and Train were busy?

Miracle on Ice: 35 Years Later, Where Are They Now?

Goalies

Jim Craig: Had a short career in the NHL, starting games with the Atlanta Flames, Boston Bruins and Minnesota North Stars. Never became a superstar. Now, resides in Boston where he divides his time between working as a sales strategist and doing motivational speaking tours. He has quite the story to tell.

Steve Janaszak: The only man on the US roster in 1980 not to get a game, Janaszak played just three NHL games in the early eighties with Minnesota and Colorado, and was a back-up for Team USA at the 1982 World Championships. Scarily, was working in the World Trade Centre for an investment company as close to six months before 9/11, before taking another job.

Defence

Ken Morrow: Played 550 regular season NHL games in the 1980s for the New York Islanders and won a Stanley Cup less than 6 months after wining gold at the Lake Placid Olympics and won three more Cups with the Isles in 1981, 1982 and 1983. Quite possibly the luckiest man in hockey. Now works for the Islanders in their scouting department, and is in their own Hall of Fame.

Mike Ramsey: Like Morrow, went to the NHL immediately after the Miracle. A four-time All Star, Rammer never won a Stanley Cup, though. Worked as a coach in Buffalo and in his home state of Minnesota, and has a son, Jack, who was drafted into the NHL by the Chicago Blackhawks in the 2014 Entry Draft.

Bill Baker (assistant captain): Like so many on the Miracle squad, Baker played sparingly in the NHL, amassing just 143 games over three years. Now lives in Brainerd, Minnesota working as, of all things, an oral surgeon.

Jack O’Callahan (assistant captain): O’Cee, who damaged his ligaments in the 10-3 exhibition loss to the Russians before the Olympics, played in the minors and then the NHL after the Miracle, first with Chicago and then New Jersey. He never won a Stanley Cup. Now runs Beanpot Financial, and was inducted into the International Ice Hockey Hall of Fame in 1999.

Bob Suter: Retired from hockey in 1982 without playing a single game in the NHL, though he represented America in the 1981 World Championships and played some time in the Central Hockey League.  Died last year, of a heart attack, at age 57. His son, Ryan, is a two-time Olympian, and a legitimate superstar in the NHL, playing now with the Minnesota Wild, and previously in Nashville.

Forwards

Mark Johnson: Son of the legendary coach ‘Badger’ Bob Johnson, the two-goal hero of the Miracle game went on to play 669 NHL games between 1980 and 1990, and was voted to the NHL All-Star Game roster in 1984. Has coached at the top level of female hockey, both with Wisconsin’s squad and at the 2010 Vancouver Winter Olympic Games, where Team USA won silver under Johnson’s tutelage.

Rob McClanahan: Had a three-year professional career that alternated between the NHL and the second-tier American Hockey League. Represented Team USA at the 1981 Canada Cup tournament.  Works as a financial broker in Minnesota, where he keeps a close eye on his alma mater, the University of Minnesota’s hockey program.

Dave Silk: The cousin of controversial Mike Milbury, Silk played for four NHL clubs (including his childhood team, the Boston Bruins) before a career in Europe beckoned. A member of the Massachusetts Hockey Hall of Fame, Silk remains in Boston, and maintains close friendships with Jack O’Callahan and the last two men to be cut from the 1980 train-on squad, Jack Hughes and Ralph Cox. Worked at Bear Stearns Investments before it’s collapse and sale to JPMorgan Chase.

Neal Broten: The Broten family is hockey royalty in Minnesota. Neal, the older brother of Paul and Aaron, played 1099 NHL games and became the first American to score 100 points in a season in 1985-86. He won a Stanley Cup with New Jersey in 1996, scoring the winning goal in Game Four to clinch against a Detroit squad that had his 1980 counterpart Viacheslav Fetisov. He was the first American to score a Stanley Cup-clinching goal. Fought Wayne Gretzky once.

Dave Christian: Holds the record for the fastest NHL goal, scored seven seconds after a face-off, and was an NHL All-Star in 1991, in amongst more than 1000 NHL games for Winnipeg, Washington, Chicago, Boston and St Louis. His nephew is Islanders player, Brock Nelson.

Steve Christoff: Played just 248 NHL games, including for Minnesota in the 1981 Stanley Cup Finals, where the North Stars lost to a New York Islanders squad that featured Christoff’s Miracle teammate Ken Morrow.

Mike Eruzione (captain): Famously never played another pro hockey game after Lake Placid, deciding that nothing he could achieve would ever come close to topping his Olympic experience. Now a darling of the motivational speaking circuit. As Herb Brooks once famously said, “Mike Eruzione believes in free speech, he’s just never given one.” His game-winning goal in Lake Placid, and the celebration that followed, will never be forgotten.

John Harrington: A short pro career led into coaching, where, amongst other stops, he was head man at the University of Denver, Saint John’s in Minnesota and, strangely enough, the Slovenian national team.

Mark Pavelich: A noted recluse, attended the wake for late coach Herb Brooks but not the funeral, and not the 2002 Salt Lake City Winter Olympics where the team were involved in the Opening Ceremony. Played 355 NHL games for the New York Rangers, Minnesota North Stars and San Jose Sharks. Became the second Miracle player to put his Gold medal up for auction, with bidding starting at $62,500.

Buzz Schneider: Represented America at the 1976 Olympic tournament, as well as in Lake Placid. Worked with the Turkish national squad in recent times. His own son, Billy, portrayed him in the 2004 film, Miracle.

Eric Strobel: Played half a season of AHL hockey for the Rochester Americans before breaking his ankle in the spring of 1980. He retired from hockey thereafter. Suffered a minor stroke in 2006, but leads a normal life regardless.

Phil Verchota: Never played in the NHL. Represented America at the 1984 Olympics in Sarajevo and retired following that tournament. Became senior vice president of First American Bank in Willmar, Minnesota, and was honoured as one of the 50 best players in the long history of the University of Minnesota.

Mark Wells: Spent a long two years in the minor leagues after Lake Placid, and retired in 1982 without having played an NHL game. Was the first man to sell his gold medal, needing the money for medical bills after he fractured a vertebrae working at a restaurant in Rochester Hills, Michigan. Defied doctor’s orders to make the 2002 Winter Olympics Opening Ceremony. Lives every day with a degenerative disease affecting his spine and neck.

Coaching Staff

George Nagobads (team physician): The veteran team physician, Latvian-born, was inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame in 2010. Maintained a long and close friendship (and working relationship) with Herb Brooks that began at the University of Minnesota. 

Craig Patrick (assistant coach): Won 2 Stanley Cup titles as General Manager of the Pittsburgh Penguins, ironically, with 1980 mentor Herb Brooks’ great rival Bob Johnson coaching.  Was responsible for drafting Marc-Andre Fleury, Evgeni Malkin and Sidney Crosby. Named General Manager for Brooks’ 2002 Olympic squad.

 
Herb Brooks (head coach): Coached in the NHL with the New York Rangers, New Jersey Devils, Minnesota North Stars and Pittsburgh Penguins. Coached Team USA at the 2002 Winter Olympics. Coached France at the 1998 Olympics. Posthumously inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame after losing his life in a single-car accident in 2003, precipitating a Miracle team reunion. St Cloud University’s hockey centre was renamed in Brooks’ honour in April 2013. Portrayed by Kurt Russell in the movie Miracle, which was dedicated to Brooks, who died before the release, saying, “He never saw it. He lived it."

Six Things You Probably Didn’t Know About the Miracle on Ice

1. Team USA’s captain Mike Eruzione never played another game of professional hockey after the 1980 Winter Olympics. Most of his team had dreams of glory in the NHL (and many went on to win Stanley Cup championships) but Eruzione effectively ended his career after leading his team to a come-from-behind win over Finland to claim the Gold medal, realising that he would never play a game with as much meaning as the Miracle.

It was a smart move from Eruzione, because for every Ken Morrow on Herb Brooks’ roster, there’s a Jim Craig. Morrow left the 1980 Olympic squad, went straight to the NHL with the New York Islanders and won the Stanley Cup less than six months later, and three more in the next three years. On the flip side, is Craig, whose NHL career was less than stellar, and ended with more of a whimper than a bang.

Eruzione became – and still is – a permanent fixture on the public speaking circuit, and inspired one of the all-time great quotes from Brooks, who was never short of something to say: “Mike Eruzione believes in free speech. He’s just never given one.”

2. Herb Brooks was worried that he wouldn’t have Mark Johnson on his squad. Because Johnson was the son of ‘Badger’ Bob Johnson, and there was quite a rivalry between the Brooks and Johnson. A lot of it was borne from their coaching styles, which were markedly different, but Johnson coached at Wisconsin and Brooks in Minnesota, and there are few more hotly-contested hockey rivalries than Minnesota-Wisconsin.
Brooks apparently fretted that Johnson would be held back from the squad by his father, which would have been a major blow, because Johnson’s speed and scoring touch was key to Brooks’ audacious plan to beat the Russians at their own game. It was just as well for American hockey that Badger Bob didn’t hold his son back, because Mark scored two goals in the Miracle game, and was probably the best American player other than Jim Craig that night.

3. The Russian team were followed everywhere by KGB officials. It was the height of the Cold War, and the very fact that the USSR squad were on American soil was no small thing, particularly considering US President Ronald Reagan was considering boycotting the 1980 Summer Olympic Games in Moscow scheduled for later that year.

Obviously, coming from communist Russia to a generally more prosperous America, the differences were highlighted, and to ensure that none of the USSR players tried to defect to the United States, they were shadowed just about everywhere they went by undercover KGB officials, likely officially listed as embassy officials.

4. The USSR tried to forget their team lost. There is very little in the annals of Russian hockey history to indicate that the Miracle game even took place. Back at home, there was no mention of the game in the following day’s edition of the Communist-run newspaper, Pravda, and no mention of the game when the newspaper published a wrap-up of the entire Olympic tournament. It was as if the contest never took place. In the Russian Ice Hockey Federation headquarters sits a montage of so many of the country’s defining moments on the ice, but there are exactly zero photos from Lake Placid.

The fact that Russian hockey still wishes to forget Lake Placid gives us an idea of just how much losing that game meant to the USSR. It was, as has been written so often, the Miracle was far more important than a simple hockey game. It was a chance for two nations in the midst of a prolonged Cold War to cross swords and decide who was better.

5. The Miracle was nearly upstaged by one man. The American speed skater Eric Heiden had himself an Olympics to remember. Whilst the country’s hocky squad struggled through the early games, it was Heiden who became the darling of the country. He won Gold in each of the events he skated in, 500m 1000m, 1500m, 1000m and the marathon 10,000m – on the outdoor rink in front of Lake Placid High School, and just a slap shot away from the hockey arena. Heiden goes down in history as being the only skater to have won all five events in one Olympic meet, and one of only two to win an Olympic medal in all speed skating events.

6. The entire team has only been together twice since the end of the 1980 Olympics. One was for an NHL All Star Weekend event in Los Angeles in 2002. Most of the team was together at Salt Lake City that same year, lighting the Olympic cauldron, but not noted recluse Mark Pavelich. 

The second occasion was in 2003, after Herb Brooks died. The entire team gathered in Saint Paul, Minnesota, not for the funeral, but for the wake. Pavelich did not attend the funeral. Bob Suter died of a heart attack in 2014, so the 20-man roster will never be in the same room again.