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The final day of next month’s Winter Olympics in Milan Cortina will mark 46 years since what was arguably the biggest sporting upset of all time.
On February 22, 1980, amateur hockey players from the United States shocked the world when they defeated the Soviet Union, 4-3, in what is known as the “Miracle on Ice.”
Nearly 46 years later, captain Mike Eruzione, goaltender Jim Craig, leading scorer Mark Johnson and play-by-play announcer Al Michaels returned to what is now called Herb Brooks Arena to “Run Back the Miracle.”
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(LR) Mark Johnson, Jim Craig and Mike Eruzione visit their locker room from Miracle on Ice. (Michelob Ultra)
Powered by Michelob Ultra, the event reimagined pivotal moments from the US Olympic men’s ice hockey team’s legendary victory using high-definition holograms, full-surface ice projection and historic imagery, allowing fans to relive the magic of one of the most celebrated moments in sports history.
“What we can do here is relive the moment that we never had the opportunity to do. When the Olympics ended, you know, I think within five days, I was playing in the National Hockey League. So was Mark Johnson,” Craig said in an interview with Pak Gazette Digital hours before Thursday’s event. “We just, all of a sudden, were on a team and we just left. And this is going to be great. We’re going to relive years of experience. It’s going to bring this memory back to different generations.”
For Michaels, whose famous call has spanned generations, it was only the third time he had returned to Lake Placid since those Olympics.
Mike Eruzione, Jim Craig and Mark Johnson participate in the “Run Back the Miracle” celebration in Lake Placid, New York, on January 15, 2026. (Michelob Ultra)
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“I mean, I can feel it. I can feel it in my bones, in my fiber to come back to this building, even though it’s obviously been remodeled and renovated, but I can still remember that night and 1980,” Michaels said.
The “Miracle on Ice,” where today’s famous “USA” chant was born, was much more than a hockey game, as global tensions were sky-high in the midst of the Cold War. For Craig, that made representing the Stars and Stripes that much more important.
“Some of us were lucky enough to play in the World Championship in 1979 at the height of the Cold War, and the games were in Moscow. So we really saw how the USSR back then used sport as propaganda. To me, it’s not about politics, but you can’t stop some of them from participating. It’s really about pride in being and representing your country, right? And understanding that that brand is bigger than you,” Craig added.
Michaels has been on the mic for probably thousands of games since then. But his last words as he sat next to the late Ken Dryden are saved only for when necessary.
Miek Eruzione walks on the ice at Herb Brooks Arena. (Michael Ultra)
“If I do [say ‘miracle’]then people think, ‘Hey, there he is, you know, patting himself on the back.’ No. I’m very careful when I use that word,” Michaels joked.
