Winter 1980: Glorious Ice Heroes!

Categories: Sports , Movies & Books , Local Interest , Nonfiction

Hockey is by far my favorite sport. I love the slap shot, the body check, the zamboni, and the fights. I sit and cheer and wish for skates as those "little boys" fight it out to get the tiny puck in the elusive net. And when they do, boy oh boy!

In 1980 something wonderful happened. Our young, green little boys duked it out with the big, seasoned Russian hockey team in the Olympics, and they won!

Wayne Coffey's 2005 book The Boys of Winter tells their story, which is even more fascinating than you think. The coaching was unconventional, and by using tactics that were unpredictable and new the Boys outsmarted the Men. They simply played better hockey, newer hockey, and their devotion and grit paid off in a gold medal.

Something wonderful happened in 1998 too: The US Women won Olympic Gold in hockey! Read about it in Crashing the Net by Mary Turco.

The story of the 1980 Olympic win by the US hockey team is beautifully told in the recent movie, Miracle, which is available at our libraries. 

If you are interested in Hockey, The Official Rules of Hockey by James Duplacey is an annotated list of the rules and why we have them.

Ohio has a National Hockey League team: The Columbus Blue Jackets, and they are pretty amazing.

Other hockey books:

Ice Time: A Tale of Fathers, Sons, and Hometown Heroes by Jay Atkinson is a very readable memoir of life on the ice of teenaged boys and their dads. High School Hockey is serious business.

She Shoots...She Scores! by Barbara Stewart bills itslf as "A Complete Guide to Girls' and Women's Hockey", and it is. It outlines, somewhat briefly, the rules, has information on equipment and where to get it and how much it will cost (2002 prices), has team rosters and short biographies, and gives refreshingly positive but non-condescending information on women's hockey. There is contact information as well for US and Canadian hockey associations for girls who want to start playing.