Mike Eruzione: ‘This is the best collection of American talent ever put on the ice’ at 4 Nations Face-Off
MONTRÉAL — After the stories, the laughs, and the wine – there was Mike Eruzione and Rob McClanahan, two players they had seen portrayed in a Miracle movie they watched a thousand times, and the best American-born roster of hockey players ever assembled sitting at one table in a small Montréal restaurant on Monday night.
No, you won’t get an argument from Eruzione on that one.
“With due respect to all of the other teams: Absolutely, this is the best collection of American talent ever put on the ice,” Eruzione said via phone, ahead of Thursday’s Team USA opener in the 4Nations Face-Off. “They’d kill us. We wouldn’t even get a shot on goal against this team. I’ve always told people it’s not fair to compare eras, but this group is far greater. They’re bigger, stronger and faster. But there’s one thing. Can they come together as a team?”
That was part of the message that Eruzione emphasized at a team dinner on Monday at the invitation of United States general manager Bill Guerin and head coach Mike Sullivan. These weren’t fictional characters from a Disney movie, Eruzione and McClanahan lived the Miracle.
“You’ve gotta know the history. You have to know what went on before you,” Guerin said. “For Mike and Robbie to be there to share their experience from 1980, their bond, how they came together and what they went through with Herbie [Brooks] – all of the stories they were telling the guys. It connects players to the past and they know how important it is.”
For some, 4 Nations Face-Off has been chided as an ‘invented’ international tournament that is a one-off with no historical or future significance.
Good luck telling that to Team USA. This crop of American-born players has the chance to make a statement that no other Team USA has delivered on – that a win here will mark a change in the international hockey pecking order. There have been opportunities in Salt Lake City and Vancouver, but the U.S. hasn’t been able to slay the 800-pound gorilla that is Canada.
The hockey landscape is shifting. Canadian players make up 41 percent of NHL rosters; it’s never been closer with the U.S. now producing 29 percent of the player pool. More than just bragging rights are on the line, this is about world hockey supremacy, one step at a time, ahead of the 2026 Winter Olympics in Milan.
But they have to win. The 1996 World Cup of Hockey, played in this same Bell Centre, was generations ago. Silver was an accomplishment 22 years ago in Salt Lake.
“It’s time to show the world how far we’ve come, that this is where the best hockey players come from,” Eruzione said. “They should feel that pressure, because they expect that of themselves. We’re expected to win. The objective is to win and that’s the mindset you have to have – that we’re going to do it.”
Eruzione, now 70, has been the most popular person in his family in the days since visiting Team USA. His grandkids were floored: “Papa, you got to meet Auston Matthews!” He said it was a “great honor” and he has “tremendous respect” for today’s NHL players, who he said are a “perfect representation of the USA.” The dinner was something Eruzione said he would cherish.
“I told them, unless you are a police officer, firefighter, or serving in the military, there is no greater honor than putting that jersey on. There’s nothing better,” Eruzione said. “They aren’t playing for Buffalo, Boston or Vegas any more. This is a different stage now – and I know they have respect for that.”
Team USA was equally enthralled with the experience. This is the first best-on-best American roster where no player was born yet when Eruzione scored the biggest goal in USA Hockey history to take down the Soviet Union. The Tkachuk boys texted Eruzione that they’ve already watched Miracle again since the dinner to get ready for 4 Nations.
“I think what our players realize is how many people pay attention and what it means to people that are associated with American hockey,” Sullivan said. “Certainly you could hear and feel from those guys the pride that they have in what they were able to accomplish, but also the pride they have in watching this next generation.
“There is a sense of pride that all of us have – and with that comes a responsibility. And I feel like that came out.”
The United States has the youngest roster in the 4 Nations tournament. They are no longer the underdog, even without Hart Trophy candidate Quinn Hughes roaming the blue line due to injury. They have the best goaltenders and firepower that is on par with Canada.
This is their time.
“We did what we did, it’s up to them,” Eruzione said. “This is the next wave, the future. There’s another generation of young hockey players that are watching.”
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