February 28, 1960: The U.S. Hockey Team Wins Its 1st Gold Medal

February 28, 1960: The U.S. team wins the Gold Medal in hockey at the Winter Olympics in Squaw Valley, California, in the Sierra Nevada mountains, near Lake Tahoe. In 2022, the town changed the name to Olympic Valley, to remove the insensitive Native American name.

Despite being the 2nd-biggest hockey-player-producing country behind Canada, where the sport was invented, America had struggled in the sport in the Olympic Games. We had won the Silver Medal at the 1st tournament in 1920, and again in 1924, '32, '52 and '56; and the Bronze Medal in 1936; but won no medal in 1928 and '48, and had never won the Gold Medal.

All hockey games at the 1960 Winter Olympics, and also the figure skating events, were held at the Blyth Arena, which was torn down in 1983.

The U.S. was put into Group C, and beat Czechoslovakia 7-5 on February 19, and Australia 12-1 on February 21. (This remains the only time Australia has entered a hockey team into the Winter Olympics.) This put them into the final round-robin. They beat Sweden 6-3 on February 22, Germany 9-1 on February 24, and stunned Canada 2-1 on February 25.

With that victory under their belts, the U.S. team had no reason to fear the Soviets, and beat them 3-2 on February 27. That left only a rematch with Czechoslovakia on February 28, and it was no contest: The U.S. won, 9-4. Canada won the Silver, the Soviets the Bronze.

Hail the Champions, coached by Jack Riley of Boston, then the head coach at the U.S. Military Academy at West Point, New York:

* Goaltenders: Jack McCartan of St. Paul, Minnesota; and Lawrence Palmer of Malden, Massachusetts. Palmer never got onto the ice: McCartan, who later briefly played for the New York Rangers, on whose uniform the U.S. team's was based, played every minute of every game.

* Defensemen: John Kirrane of Brookline, Massachusetts; Rod Paavola of Hancock, Michigan; Edwyn Owen of St. Louis Park, Minnesota; John Mayasich of Eveleth, Minnesota.

* Forwards: Bill Cleary of Cambridge, Massachusetts; Bob Cleary, Bill's brother and Harvard University teammate, also of Cambridge, Massachusetts; Dick Rodenheiser of Malden, Massachusetts; Eugene Grazia of West Springfield, Massachusetts; Bob McVey of Hamden, Connecticut; Weldon Olson of Marquette, Michigan; Dick Meredith of South Bend, Indiana; Paul Johnson of West St. Paul, Minnesota, Roger Christian of Warroad, Minnesota; Bill Christian, Roger's brother, also of Warroad, Minnesota; Tom Williams of Duluth, Minnesota.

The U.S. team won the Gold again in 1980, with an even bigger upset over the Soviets; the Silver Medal in 1972, 2002 and '10; but even with the admission of NHL players from 1998 onward, the rest of the world has caught up to America and Canada, and even with post-Soviet Russia.

When the U.S. won the Gold Medal in 1980, the head coach was Herb Brooks, the last player cut from the 1960 team, although he did play on the 1964 U.S. team that did not medal. Bill Christian's son Dave played on the 1980 team.

Williams died in 1992, Paavola in 1995, Owen in 2007, Roger Christian in 2011, Grazia in 2014, Bob Cleary in 2015, Riley, Kirrane and Johnson in 2016. As of February 28, 2022, McCartan, Mayasich, Olson, Rodenheiser, Meredith, McVey, Palmer, Bill Christian and Bill Cleary are still alive.

The 1980 win was shown on television (ABC, albeit on tape delay), and has been shown time and time again, so that we all remember it as "The Miracle On Ice," even those of us who weren't born yet. The 1960 win was not shown on television, and has become known as "The Forgotten Miracle."

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February 28, 1960 was a Sunday. Baseball and football were out of season. There were 3 games played in the NBA:

* The New York Knicks lost to the Boston Celtics, 129-125 at the old Madison Square Garden. Richie Guerin scored 39 points in defeat.

* The Philadelphia 76ers beat the Detroit Pistons, 113-111 at Cobo Hall (now Huntington Place) in Detroit.

* And the St. Louis Hawks beat the Cincinnati Royals, 122-105 at the Kiel Auditorium in St. Louis.

And there were 2 games in the NHL. The New York Rangers lost to the Toronto Maple Leafs, 5-3, also at the old Madison Square Garden. And the Chicago Black Hawks beat the Detroit Red Wings, 5-2 at the Chicago Stadium. The Montreal Canadiens and the Boston Bruins were not scheduled.

Also on this day, Dorothy Stratten was born. The model was named Playboy magazine's Playmate of the Year in 1980, after she was murdered by her husband, whom she was divorcing.