Mike Eruzione 1980 'Miracle on Ice' Jersey

Ten minutes left in Lake Placid

The Soviet Union arrived at the 1980 Winter Olympics as the heavy favorite. The United States team was mostly college players with an average age of 21, coached by Herb Brooks. Four days before the Games opened, on February 9, the Soviets had beaten them 10-3 in an exhibition at Madison Square Garden.

On February 22, 1980, the teams met in the medal round at the Olympic Center in Lake Placid before 8,500 people. The Soviets led three times: Vladimir Krutov scored at 9:12 of the first period, Buzz Schneider tied it, Sergei Makarov restored the lead and Mark Johnson tied it again with one second left in the period. Aleksandr Maltsev's power-play goal early in the second put the Soviets ahead 3-2.

Johnson tied it again on a power play at 8:39 of the third. Eighty-one seconds later, at exactly 10:00, Eruzione, the American captain, scored to make it 4-3. The U.S. was outshot 39-16 and held on for the last ten minutes, and as time expired broadcaster Al Michaels asked, 'Do you believe in miracles? YES!'

The win did not by itself clinch gold. That came two days later, on February 24, when the Americans came from behind to beat Finland 4-2.

Pete Rose on skates

Mike Eruzione was born on October 25, 1954, in Winthrop, Massachusetts. His father tended bar and worked in a sewage plant. At Boston University he averaged more than 20 goals a season for four years, and his coach Jack Parker called him 'Pete Rose on skates.' He played minor-league hockey with the Toledo Goaldiggers of the International Hockey League and was named its rookie of the year in 1978.

At Lake Placid he was the team captain, and he finished the tournament with 3 goals and 2 assists in 7 games. Despite offers from NHL clubs, including the New York Rangers, he retired after the Olympics.

He went on to broadcast hockey and the Olympics on television, and in 2002 he and his 1980 teammates lit the Olympic cauldron together in Salt Lake City.

From the attic to the auction block

After the Games Eruzione's equipment and travel bags went into his attic and stayed there for 33 years. In early 2013 he decided to sell 18 of his 1980 keepsakes, including the white No. 21 jersey, the stick he scored with, his gold-medal-game jersey, pants, gloves, sweatsuits, an Olympic credential and the cowboy hat from the opening ceremony. He said the idea came after seeing a 1972 Canadian Summit Series jersey sell for $1.275 million.

He kept two things: his gold medal and the ring he still wore on his left hand. 'Those will never be sold as long as I'm alive,' he said. The proceeds were to go to his three children and to charity, including the Winthrop Foundation he founded. 'My parents always taught me to take care of family. What better way than this?'

The sale was held on the evening of Saturday, February 23, 2013, at the Fletcher-Sinclair Mansion in New York, during a weekend that marked the game's 33rd anniversary. The auction house had expected the Miracle jersey to bring at least $1 million. It sold for $657,250, the highest price of any lot in the 134-item session. 'Could I say I thought it would go for more money, yeah, but it went for a pretty good amount,' Eruzione said. The buyer was not named.

The first lot of the night, his winning-goal stick, sold for $262,900, well above expectations of about $50,000, and his blue gold-medal-game jersey from the Finland game brought $286,800. Both went to a 9-year-old Texas boy named Seven, bidding with his own money. Eruzione's six lots that night totaled $1.31 million.

Which shirt is which

Eruzione sold two of his Lake Placid game jerseys, a white one and a blue one. The white No. 21 with his name is the one he wore against the Soviet Union on February 22, the night of his goal. The other, the jersey he wore two days later in the gold-medal-clinching win over Finland, is a different garment, and it sold separately.

The Miracle jersey was the centerpiece of the auction. The 310-page catalog's holographic cover morphed the team's on-ice celebration with the white No. 21. Its value rests on its direct, unbroken line from the Lake Placid locker room to Eruzione's attic to the auction, with the man who wore it sitting front row center as it sold.

Not everything survived. Eruzione told reporters he did not know where his helmet or skates had gone.

Where were you?

Sports Illustrated named the 1980 team its Sportsmen of the Year and later ranked the victory the greatest sports moment of the 20th century. 'I can't tell you how many times people come up to me and say, I remember where I was when we won,' Eruzione said on the eve of the sale. 'We? I didn't remember you were on the team.'

The game came at a tense moment between the two countries, a month before President Jimmy Carter announced the U.S. boycott of the Moscow Summer Olympics. For many Americans it has stood ever since as something larger than hockey.

Of all the objects from that night, this is the one most directly tied to its decisive moment: the shirt on the back of the man who scored the goal.

The numbers

Game

February 22, 1980, Olympic Center, Lake Placid: USA 4, USSR 3; attendance 8,500

Eruzione's goal

Game-winner at 10:00 of the 3rd period, 81 seconds after Mark Johnson's tying power-play goal

Shots on goal

USSR 39, USA 16

Scoring

USSR: Krutov, Makarov, Maltsev; USA: Schneider, Johnson 2, Eruzione

Eruzione, 1980 Olympics

7 GP, 3 G, 2 A; team captain

Gold-medal game

February 24, 1980: USA 4, Finland 2

Timeline

1. Oct 25, 1954

   Michael Eruzione is born in Winthrop, Massachusetts.

2. 1978

   Eruzione is named rookie of the year in the International Hockey League with Toledo.

3. Feb 9, 1980

   The Soviet Union beats the U.S. Olympic team 10-3 in an exhibition at Madison Square Garden.

4. Feb 13, 1980

   The Winter Olympics open in Lake Placid, New York.

5. Feb 22, 1980

   Wearing this jersey, Eruzione scores at 10:00 of the third period to beat the Soviets 4-3.

6. Feb 24, 1980

   The U.S. beats Finland 4-2 to win the gold medal.

7. 2002

   Eruzione and his 1980 teammates light the Olympic cauldron in Salt Lake City.

8. Feb 2013

   Eruzione announces he will sell his 1980 Olympic memorabilia, kept in his attic for 33 years.

9. Feb 23, 2013

   The Miracle jersey sells for $657,250 at auction in New York; the winning-goal stick brings $262,900.

The world in 1980

• Feb 13, 1980

  The XIII Winter Olympics open in Lake Placid.

• Mar 21, 1980

  President Jimmy Carter announces a U.S. boycott of the Moscow Summer Olympics.

• Apr 15, 1980

  The Mariel boatlift from Cuba to the United States begins.

• Apr 24, 1980

  Operation Eagle Claw, the attempt to rescue the hostages in Iran, is aborted.

• May 18, 1980

  Mount St. Helens erupts in Washington state, killing 57.

• Jun 1, 1980

  CNN launches.

• Nov 4, 1980

  Ronald Reagan defeats Jimmy Carter for the presidency.

• Dec 8, 1980

  John Lennon is shot and killed in New York.

Price record

A realized auction price is what a buyer actually paid on the date shown, including the buyer's premium where the sale reported it. It is the strongest kind of reference price, and it is a record of one sale of one object on one day, not a promise of what the next example will bring.

By reference price, Mike Eruzione 1980 'Miracle on Ice' Jersey is number 82 of 100 in the memorabilia entries of the FLOAT 100. 100 of those 100 rest on a realized sale; the rest carry an asking price or a guide value, and each page says which. Rank within the FLOAT 100 itself (80 here) is editorial: how much an object defines its field, not price alone.

Did you know

• Four days before the Lake Placid Games opened, the Soviets beat the same American team 10-3 at Madison Square Garden.
• The Miracle on Ice did not clinch gold; the U.S. still had to beat Finland two days later.
• Eruzione's winning-goal stick and gold-medal-game jersey were bought by a 9-year-old named Seven, with his own money.
• Eruzione never played in the NHL; he retired after the Olympics despite offers.
• The jersey sold for $657,250 even though the auction house had expected at least $1 million.
• Eruzione kept his gold medal and his ring and said they would never be sold while he was alive.
• He still doesn't know what happened to his 1980 helmet or skates.