One Goal: A Chronicle of the 1980 U.S. Olympic Hockey Team [Hardcover]

John Powers (Author), Arthur C. Kaminsky (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: February 1984

The thrilling story of how the US hockey team, against great odds, won the gold in the 1980 Olympics.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 257 pages
• Publisher: Harper & Row; 1st edition (February 1984)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0060152001
• ISBN-13: 978-0060152000
• Product Dimensions: 8.2 x 5.8 x 1.1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (5 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,382,119 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Very good book!, March 26, 2000

By 

Michael J. Lednicky "ledhead" (West, TX United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: One Goal: A Chronicle of the 1980 U.S. Olympic Hockey Team (Hardcover)

Very well written. The "insider's" story on how the team was put together.

2 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Perhaps the Greatest Coaching Job in the History of Sports, December 19, 2004

By 

J. B. Houle (Upstate New York) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: One Goal: A Chronicle of the 1980 U.S. Olympic Hockey Team (Hardcover)

A great chronicle of those heady days in Lake Placid nearly 25 years ago. Everyone seemed to find something they liked in this improbable victory. For me it was the coaching job turned in by Herb Brooks. It may be the greatest coaching job in the history of sports. Here are excerpts from an AP article about the late Coach Brooks which says it all:

Herb Brooks was behind the bench when the American Olympic Hockey team pulled off the greatest upset ever at Lake Placid NY in 1980, beating the mighty Soviets with a squad of mostly college players.That shocking victory, plus beating Finland for the gold medal, assured the team a place in immortality.

The young U.S. team was given no chance against a veteran Soviet squad that had dominated international hockey for years and had routed the Americans 10-3 in an exhibition game at Madison Square Garden the week before the Olympics.

On Feb. 22, 1980, the U.S. team scored with 10 minutes to play to take a 4-3 lead against the Soviets. As the final seconds ticked away, announcer Al Michaels exclaimed, "Do you believe in miracles? Yes!"

It remains one of the most famous calls in history.
Brooks' leadership helped turn a ragtag team into champions. He had hand picked each player.

"You're looking for players whose name on the front of the sweater is more important than the one on the back," Brooks once said. "I look for these players to play hard, to play smart and to represent their country."

Interviewed years later on why he headed to the locker room shortly after the Miracle on Ice, he said he wanted to leave the ice to his players, who deserved it.

Players kept a notebook of "Brooksisms," sayings the coach used for motivation, such as: "You're playing worse and worse every day and right now you're playing like it's next month."

But, before playing the Soviets, Brooks told his players: "You're meant to be here. This moment is yours. You're meant to be here at this time."

"He was ahead of his time," team member Ken Morrow said. "All of his teams overachieved because Herbie understood how to get the best out of each player and make him part of a team. And like everyone who played for him, I became a better person because I played for Herb Brooks."

Born in St. Paul, Brooks played hockey at the University of Minnesota, where he later coached from 1972 to 1979, winning three national titles. He was inducted into the U.S. Hockey Hall of Fame in 1990.

When Brooks decided to coach the 2002 U.S. Olympic Hockey Team at Salt Lake City, he was asked why he would return after writing the most improbable story in hockey. "Maybe I'm sort of like the players -- there's still a lot of little boy in me," Brooks said. "And maybe I'm a little smarter now than I was before for all the stupid things I've done."

Brooks was the last player cut on the 1960 U.S. gold medal team, and unfairly so, the victim of favoritism by his coach. But he persevered, and played on the United States Olympic Hockey Team in 1964 and 1968. And when he coached the 1980 Olympic Team, he did not repeat the mistake made by his 1960 coach. It was difficult and painful, but he did the right thing selecting the players for his 1980 team. And as they say, the rest is history. Or was it really a miracle? That is left for each reader to decide for themselves.

In an interview at his White Bear Lake home not long before his untimely death, Brooks described to the Minneapolis Star Tribune about watching one of his favorite movies, "Willie Wonka and the Chocolate Factory."

"You know, Willie Wonka said it best: We are the makers of dreams, the dreamers of dreams," Brooks said. "We should be dreaming. We grew up as kids having dreams, but now we're too sophisticated as adults, as a nation. We stopped dreaming. We should always have dreams. I'm a dreamer."
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The book is the story of the team and its coach as they prepare for and play in the 1980 Olympics. Now out of print, original copies are sought after collectibles usually priced over $150, and well worth the price in my opinion.

2 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars ONE OF THE BEST BOOKS I HAVE EVER READ, July 24, 1999

By 

[e-mail] CRAIG THOMAS (PITTSBURGH PA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: One Goal: A Chronicle of the 1980 U.S. Olympic Hockey Team (Hardcover)

IF YOU LOVED THE U.S.A. BOYS WINNING THE GOLD YOU MUST GET THIS BOOK. THE ONLY THING I DID NOT LIKE ABOUT THE BOOK IS THAT I WAS DONE READING IT. ONCE YOU START YOU WILL NOT BE ABLE TO PUT IT DOWN TRUST ME IT IS THAT GOOD.