Thoughts 1980 Pre-Olympic Hockey

Vintage Minnesota Hockey.com Thoughts- 1980 U.S.A. Pre-Olympic Games

Recently we have received numerous e-mails that pertain to the 1980 U.S. Olympic Men's Hockey team in regards to: "Whom was eventually cut from the 1980 team", "Who did the team play in their pre-Olympic tour", and "What were some of the scores of these games". The 1980 U.S. Hockey Team played a total of 61 pre-Olympic games, beginning in Europe on Sept. 3, 1979 and ending Feb. 9, 1980 at MSG in New York. The U.S. team played their home pre-Olympic games at the Met Center in Bloomington, MN. The team finished with a record of 42 wins, 16 losses and 3 ties. Here is a list of the pre-Olympic results:

#1...Road (W) USA 8:1 Holland National team. Sept. 3, 1979

#2...Road (W) USA 11:4 Holland National team. Sept. 5, 1979

#3...Road (L) Reipas (Finland) 2:1 USA

#4...Road (W) USA 4:1 Saipa (Finland)

#5...Road (W) USA 6:0 Sapko (Finland)

#6...Road (W) USA 5:4 Karpat (Finland)

#7...Road (W) USA 5:3 Lukko (Finland)

#8...Road (L) Jokerit (Finland) 4:1 USA. Sept. 14, 1979

#9...Road (T) USA 3:3 Norway National team. Sept. 17, 1979

#10..Road (W) USA 9:0 Norway National team. Sept. 18, 1979

#11..Home (L) Minnesota North Stars 4:2 USA. Sept. 29, 1979

#12..Road (L) St. Louis Blues 9:1 USA

#13..Road (L) Atlanta Flames 6:1 USA

#14..Road (L) Washington Capitals 5:4 USA

#15..Road (W) USA 4:2 Maine Mariners

#16..Road (W) USA 7:2 Canada National team (played @ Hibbing Memorial)

#17..Home (W) USA 6:0 Canada National team. Oct. 14, 1979

#18..Road (W) USA 7:5 Salt Lake City

#19..Road (W) USA 10:1 Colorado College

#20..Road (W) USA 4:0 Univ. MN-Duluth (played @ Eveleth Hippodrome)

#21..Home (W) USA 8:2 University of Minnesota. Oct. 23, 1979 (played at St. Paul Civic Center)

#22..Road (W) USA 1:0 Indianapolis

#23..Road (W) USA 15:0 Flint Generals

#24..Road (W) USA 5:2 Birmingham.

#25..Road (L) Houston 4:3 USA

#26..Home (W) USA 6:4 Birmingham. Nov. 14, 1979

#27..Road (W) USA 5:0 Harvard

#28..Road (W) USA 9:3 RPI

#29..Road (W) USA 3:2 Cincinnati

#30..Home (W) USA 6:4 Salt Lake City. Nov. 20, 1979

#31..Road (L) Canada National team 7:6 USA

#32..Road (L) Canada National team 6:2 USA

#33..Road (L) Canada National team 4:3 USA

#34..Home (L) Canada National team 2:1 USA. Nov. 27, 1979

#35..Home (W) USA 6:1 Cincinnati Dec. 2, 1979

#36..Road (W) USA 6:1 University of North Dakota

#37..Home (W) USA 5:3 Oklahoma City. Dec. 6, 1979

#38..Road (W) USA 6:1 Yale

#39..Road (L) Adirondack 1:0 USA

#40..Road (W) USA 4:2 Sweden (pre-Olympic "B team" tourney in Lake Placid)

#41..Road (W) USA 3:1 Canada (pre-Olympic "B team" tourney in Lake Placid)

#42..Road (W) USA 3:0 Czechoslovakia (pre-Olympic "B team" tourney-Lake Placid)

#43..Road (L) USA 5:3 Soviet Union (pre-Olympic "B team tourney-Lake Placid)

#44..Road (W) USA 4:2 Gorki Torpedo

#45..Road (W) USA 5:1 Gorki Torpedo

#46..Home (W) USA 10:3 Russian National. Dec. 30, 1980

#47..Road (T) USA 2:2 Indianapolis

#48..Road (L) Gorki Torpedo 3:2 USA

#49..Road (W) USA 4:3 Oklahoma City

#50..Road (W) USA 5:2 Tulsa

#51..Road (W) USA 5:3 Houston

#52..Road (W) USA 7:4 Tulsa

#53..Home (W) USA 6:2 University of Wisconsin. Jan. 15, 1980

#54..Road (L) Fort Worth 4:3 USA

#55..Road (L) USA 4:3 Dallas

#56..Road (T) USA 4:4 IHL ALL-STARS

#57..Road (W) USA 4:2 University of Wisconsin

#58..Home (L) Fort Worth 5:3 USA. Jan. 25, 1980

#59..Home (W) USA 10:6 Dallas. Jan. 31, 1980

#60..Road (W) USA 10:0 Warroad Lakers (played @ Warroad Memorial)

#61..Road (L) Soviet Union 10:3 USA. Feb. 9, 1980 (played @ Madison Square Garden, NY)

1979-80 U.S. Olympic Team Pre-Olympic & Olympic Games Statistics

Goaltenders Pre-Olympic Game Statistics

Jim Craig...........41 gp...2371 mins...95 ga...30-8-1....2.40 gaa

Steve Janaszak..17 gp....894 mins....47 ga....9-5-1....3.15 gaa

Bruce Horsch.......9 gp....410 mins....25 ga....3-3-1....3.66 gaa

Olympic Games

Jim Craig.............7 gp....420 mins....15 ga....6-0-1....2.14 gaa...183 svs..924 sv%

Pre-Olympic and Olympic Games combined totals

Jim Craig...........48 gp...2791 mins...110 ga..36-8-2....2.36 gaa

In regards to the 1980 USA team Pre-Olympic results: the U.S. squad was winless in 4 games against NHL teams in September exhibition games, being outscored by a margin of 24-8. Of interest, the 1980 U.S. team won only 3 of 7 games against Canada, despite outscoring the Canadian Nationals 28-22.

The U.S. Olympic team also played a series of home and home games with each team in the Central Hockey League (Salt Lake City Golden Eagles, Indianapolis Checkers, Fort Worth Texans, Birmingham Bulls, Tulsa Ice Oilers, Houston Apollos, Oklahoma City Stars, Dallas Blackhawks and Cincinnati Stingers). In the 18 games vs. CHL teams, the U.S. Olympians record was 14 wins, 1 tie and 3 losses, outscoring their opponents 85-57. And in December 1979, at Lake Placid, the U.S. team won the Pre-Olympic tournament going undefeated in 4 games and outscoring their opposition 15 to 6. Game results here:

USA 4:2 Sweden "B" team (Goals: Broten, Strobel, Harrington, Eruzione)

USA 3:1 Canada (Goals: McClanahan, Strobel, Verchota)

USA 3:0 Czechoslovakia "B" team (Goals: Cox, Ramsey, McClanahan)

USA 5:3 Soviet Union "B" team (Goals: Johnson (3), Cox, Strobel)

**Special thanks to Keith Burg for allowing VMH.com to post the above pre-Olympic Met Center photos

GP G A Pts PIM

60 38 54 92 31

63 34 36 70 38

64 37 27 64 30

62 27 31 58 32

60 16 36 52 14

56 12 36 48 32

50 21 25 46 22

61 19 24 43 56

62 27 15 42 48

56 15 26 41 24

66 10 28 38 30

58 14 23 37 16

55 7 30 37 85

63 11 24 35 63

60 5 25 30 74

31 13 13 26 27

63 5 20 25 12

38 7 11 18 67

49 3 15 18 62

29 9 7 16 2

29 0 14 14 14

12 1 6 7 4

13 4 2 6 4

4 1 3 4 0

48 0 3 3 28

17 0 1 1 0

9 0 0 0 0

68 336 535 871 823

Name

Mark Johnson

Rob McClanahan

Steve Christoff

Neal Broten

Mark Pavelich

Dave Silk

Mike Eruzione

Phil Verchota

William "Buzz" Schneider

Eric Strobel

Dave Christian

John Harrington

Jack O'Callahan

Mike Ramsey

Bill Baker

Ralph Cox

Ken Morrow

Bob Suter

Jack Hughes

Mark Wells

Les Auge

Gary Ross

Dave Delich

Tim Harrer

Jim Craig (G)

Steve Janaszak (G)

Bruce Horsch (G)

Bench PIM

Totals

Pre-Olympic Faceoff vs. Canada at Met Center with #9 Neal Broten, #19 Strobel, #20 Suter, #27 Verchota and #2 Auge

Pre-Olympic Steve Christoff at Met Center

Pre-Olympic shot at Met Center John Harrington

Pre-Olympic goal by Mike Eruzione (L) and Mark Johnson #10 at Met Center

Pre-Olympic faceoff at Met Center vs. Canada with Buzz Schneider (L), Mark Pavelich #16

**1980 Pre-Olympic team photo at St. Paul Auditorium

First Pre-Olympic Game Program at Home. Minnesota North Stars (4) USA (2) Played Sept. 29, 1979