Greater Long Island coverage is funded in part by Toresco & Simonelli, a boutique injury and family law firm in West Islip. They fight for their clients. Click here to get in touch.
“Ten seconds … the countdown going on right now … Morrow up to Silk … five seconds left in the game … do you believe in miracles? Yes!”
Those were the words of Al Michaels on Feb. 22, 1980, when the United States Olympic hockey team stunned the Soviet Union, 4-3, in Lake Placid on its way to winning the gold medal.
“Forty-six years later, I still get chills when I hear that call and to hear my name in the last 10 seconds,” Islanders great and 1980 U.S. Olympic team defenseman Ken Morrow told Greater Long Island. “It’s indescribable.”
It was indescribable then — and nearly five decades later, the footage remains unbelievable, the kind that still delivers goosebumps.
There have been movies and documentaries about the team over the years, but now Netflix has entered the conversation with “Miracle: The Boys of ’80,” a film that could rank among the very best at telling the story of what that team meant to the country.
This past summer, Netflix brought Morrow and several of his teammates — including Mike Eruzione, Mike Ramsey and Buzz Schneider — back to Lake Placid for a few days to rewatch the “Miracle on Ice” game and film new footage at Herb Brooks Arena, including a return to the USA locker room.
“It turned out to be an incredible experience,” said Morrow, who followed the Olympic gold medal by winning the Stanley Cup with the Islanders three months later — the first of four straight championships for the franchise.
“Whenever we’re able to get together as a team, especially now that we’re getting a bit older, it’s always tremendous for us to take advantage of something like that,” he said.
Whether it was the made-for-TV movie “Miracle on Ice” that aired on ABC in 1981, the HBO Sports documentary “Do You Believe in Miracles” in 2001, or the theatrical release of “Miracle” in 2004, there has been no shortage of retellings about the group of college kids who shocked the world.
With this new documentary, Netflix brings a different perspective to the legend.
“I just think they did a tremendous job with this documentary,” Morrow said. “They came away with about 160 hours of footage that had never been seen before. For me, watching it, it was like I was seeing things for the first time through a new lens. I’m very happy with the way it came out.”
While most remember the victory over the Soviet Union and then the win against Finland two days later that clinched gold, the magical run may not have happened without a tournament-opening 2-2 tie against Sweden on Feb. 11, when Bill Baker scored the equalizer with 27 seconds left in regulation.
It came the day before the opening ceremony, and the atmosphere had not yet reached a fever pitch.
“The building was half full because people were still arriving in Lake Placid,” Morrow said. “We had to come from behind as we did in six of the seven games. We were down 2-1 in that game, and Herb Brooks pulled Jimmy Craig and we scored a goal in the last 30 seconds. That really started the momentum and the snowball rolling.”
At the time, the United States was mired in economic recession, high inflation, energy shortages and the Iran hostage crisis. The country needed something to lift its spirits.
The U.S. Olympic hockey team delivered.
“The greatest joy for me over the last 46 years is to have people come up to me and tell me their story, and everybody has a different story,” Morrow said. “Some people will have tears in their eyes, and it just tells you how much it meant to so many people.”
All these years later, the “Miracle on Ice” still brings tears of joy to those who lived through it — and to younger generations discovering it for the first time. “Miracle: The Boys of ’80” offers a powerful new look at what those players and their accomplishments meant to Americans.
Trailer
Top: Ken Morrow of the 1980 U.S. ice hockey team walks on stage during a “Relive the Miracle” reunion at Herb Brooks Arena on Saturday, Feb. 21, 2015, in Lake Placid, N.Y. The inset photo is courtesy of Netflix.
