Auctions
2026 Winter Olympics: U.S. Hockey hero Mike Eruzione honors 1980 ‘Miracle on Ice’ with historic memorabilia
U.S. Olympic hockey star Mike Eruzione recently auctioned some of his most valuable artifacts to benefit his family and his non-profit foundation that supports community causes like education and athletics in his native Winthrop, Mass. near Boston.
He might even auction the gold medal he won as hero and team captain of the 1980 “Miracle on Ice” U.S. Men’s Olympic Hockey Team.
One item he won’t part with, at least any time soon, is a white Stetson cowboy hat autographed by President Donald Trump, who honored Eruzione and fellow team members with the Congressional Gold Medal, the nation’s highest civilian honor, at a Dec. 12 ceremony at the White House.
“It’s on my mantle in my family room with his unique signature,” Eruzione said. “When he was done signing he gave me the pen, so I have the pen at home, too.”
The idea for white Stetsons—the president and every team member wore one—came from U.S. Rep. Pete Stauber, the primary sponsor of the “Miracle on Ice” Congressional Gold Medal Act, in recognition of the 1980 team’s defeat of a heavily-favored Soviet squad en route to beating Finland for the gold medal.
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The entire U.S. Olympic team wore Stetsons during Opening Ceremonies at the 1980 Winter Olympics in Lake Placid, N.Y.
“My teammate, Jack O’Callahan said, ‘Do you think he’ll (Trump) sign the hat to me?’” Eruzione said. “I said, ‘Put it in front of him. You never know what he’ll do.’ Jack put it in front of him. He signed it. Then he signed all of them.”
“Don’t put them on eBay!” Trump quipped, sparking a hearty round of Oval Office laughter.
“He was just great, very cordial, very receptive,” Eruzione said. “He asked each and every one of us who we were and everybody got to say their name and where we were from. It was an incredible honor for our team. He’s a sports guy so he understood what the moment was. He remembers it.”
How could anyone even remotely interested ever forget?
Sports Illustrated called the U.S. team’s victory over the Soviets the greatest sports moment of the 20th century. It’s been immortalized in movies, books and Hall of Fame honors.
And almost a half-century later, the honors keep coming.
“When you see the award the President bestowed upon us, it’s not an ESPY or Sportsman of the Year Award, this is for your country,” Eruzione said. “That’s what made this moment special, even 45 years later.”
The 1980 Olympic team’s monumental victory was made even more dramatic because of the tense global political backdrop at that time. The Cold War loomed large, American hostages were being held in Iran, the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan had stoked international anxiety, and the United States was in the midst of a painful recession at home. Reviving American patriotism and unity, the “Miracle on Ice” transcended the rink where 20 amateur hockey players battled the Soviets, who hadn’t lost an Olympic hockey game since 1968.
“These are the men who gave us one of the most storied athletic wins of all time,” Trump said.
MIRACLE ON DISPLAY
With the 2026 Winter Olympics set for Feb 6-22 in Milano Cortina, Italy, plans call for creating three Congressional Gold Medals for public display at the Olympic Museum in Lake Placid, the U.S. Hockey Hall of Fame Museum in Eveleth, Minn., and the U.S. Olympic and Paralympic Museum in Colorado Springs.
The February 2013 sale of Eruzione’s gear raised more than $1 million and included his blue game-worn jersey from the gold medal game ($286,800), his white game-worn jersey from the semi-final Soviet game ($657,250), and the stick he scored the game-winning goal with in that contest, with exactly 10 minutes left to play.
Auctioning the items not only benefited good causes, but was the fairest way to help each of his adult children.
“My two jerseys were up in the attic,” Eruzione said. “I have three kids. What am I going to do, give one to two of them and none to the other? I wasn’t ever going to wear them and I’m fine financially. I didn’t keep any of the money. I have my own charitable foundation (Winthrop Charities) and my three kids ended up buying houses.”
Some money was also used to create a scholarship in his parents’ name for students at Boston University, Eruzione’s alma mater where he’s currently director of special outreach.
His hockey gloves and Olympic ceremony warm-up gear were also sold through Heritage Auctions.
“I still have my gold medal, my skates and my stick from the Finland game, which I’m probably going to be selling shortly,” Eruzione said. “The next group of stuff will go to my grandkids to start a trust for their college education or something.”
For those who don’t want to wait or can’t afford the six- or possibly seven-figure price tag his gold medal might fetch, a wide variety of memorabilia is available at the Mike Eruzione Team Shop in Lake Placid, which also has online sales. Autographed caps, books, pucks, photos, posters and all kinds of apparel such as colorful USA jerseys are found there.
Lucky fans might even get to meet Eruzione in person as he visits the Olympic Village quite often when not working or making special appearances. From May 3-7, the 1980 team will host the latest in a series of Fantasy Camps at Herb Brooks Arena in Lake Placid.
A new life-size statue of the late Herb Brooks, the legendary 1980 team coach, was recently unveiled outside the Olympic Museum.
“Prior to being named to the Olympic team, I had only heard the stories of Herbie and his successes at the college level,” O’Callahan said. “But once you got close to him, you saw how unique his approach was. He found a way to motivate us and get us to all pull in the same direction. Arena visitors will really enjoy this statue. I can see tons of pictures being taken there with Herb.”
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Plans are also in the works for a beautiful life-size monument depicting all 20 1980 team players on the top step of the Olympic medal podium. The public will get its first look at the $5.2 million project, located outside the Olympic Center, in February 2030 when a huge 50thanniversary celebration is planned.
Eruzione has broadcast several past Winter Olympics and plans to be in Milano Cortina for this year’s women’s and men’s gold medal hockey games. No U.S. men’s team has won since 1980, but he believes this could be the year.
“It’s time for the U.S. to get back on top of the podium again,” Eruzione said. “Let’s hope this team can win that gold medal, which we’re desperately waiting for to happen. I’m super excited. It would be great for them and for hockey.
“When I spoke to the team at the (February 2025) Four Nations Tournament, I said, ‘I hope you guys win it, so people leave us alone,’” he joked.
BOSTON GREATS
The product of a hard-working, middle-class family, Eruzione grew up idolizing Boston sports teams and their famous stars of the 1960s. But autographs were hard to come by for him.
“I never went to a Bruins game, I didn’t have any money,” he said. “I was more of a Celtics-Red Sox fan than anything. We didn’t have a television until I was 12 and the games weren’t on TV, so we didn’t watch anything. The only thing you knew about sports was what you got in the newspaper.”
But he also spent hours listening to basketball Hall of Famer Johnny Most, the legendary raspy-voiced Celtics broadcaster, when the team featured stars such as Bill Russell, John Havlicek, Sam Jones and KC Jones.
Eruzione collected baseball cards, too, but like many kids from that era, he put them in his bicycle spokes and pedaled fast to make it sound like a motorbike.
“I wish I kept all those cards,” he said. “A Mickey Mantle rookie card, I probably had 10 of those! You didn’t know. You collected them or gave them to your friends.”
But as fate would have it, years later he played in celebrity golf tournaments with Cy Young Award winner Jim Lonborg and AL MVP Carl Yastrzemski of the 1967 pennant-winning Red Sox, 1975 Rookie of the Year and AL MVP Fred Lynn, and fellow rookie teammate and Hall of Famer Jim Rice.
Now Eruzione’s autograph is just as valuable, if not more, depending on the item signed.
To his amazement, even more tributes to the 1980 team keep coming. On Jan. 30, Netflix released a new documentary, “Miracle: The Boys of 1980,” using new footage and interviews to revisit the team’s momentous achievement.
“It’s a great story, a feel-good story, and with the Winter Olympics coming up it’s always talked about,” Eruzione said.
