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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 disruption 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 has become 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 were back at what is now Herb Brooks Arena to “Run Back the Miracle.”
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(L-R) Mark Johnson, Jim Craig and Mike Eruzione visit their locker room from Miracle on Ice. (Michelob Ultra)
Powered by Michelob Ultra, the event reimagined key moments from the legendary U.S. Olympic ice hockey team victory using high-definition holograms, full-surface ice projection and historic footage, allowing fans to relive the magic of one of the most famous moments in sports history.
“What we’re able to do here is we’re able to relive that moment that we never had a chance to do. When the Olympics ended, you know, I think in five days, I was playing in the National Hockey League. So was Mark Johnson,” Craig said in an interview with Pakinomist Digital hours before Thursday’s event. “All of a sudden we were on a team and we were just gone. And so, this is going to be amazing. 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 lasted for generations, it was just the third time he was back in Lake Placid since the 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 just feel it in my bones, my fibers, going back into this building, even though it’s obviously been remodeled and remodeled, but I still remember that night and 1980,” Michaels said.
The “Miracle on Ice”, where today’s famous “USA” song was born, was much more than a hockey game as global tensions were soaring in the middle of the Cold War. For Craig, it made representing the Stars and Stripes that much more important.
“Some of us were lucky enough to play at the World Championships 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 the sport as propaganda. To me it’s not about politics, but you can’t help but get some of them in there. It’s really about pride in being and representing your country and understanding that it’s right, Craig is right,” says Craig.
Michaels has been on the mic for probably thousands of games since then. But his last words, as he sits next to the late Ken Dryden, are saved only when necessary.
Miek Eruzione steps onto 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.
