United States Olympic Team (1972)
Silver Medal - Olympic Games - Sapporo, Japan
Front Row L to R: Pete Sears, Huffer Christianson, Murray Williamson, Coach, Hal Trumble, Mgr, Tim Sheehy, Mike"Lefty" Curran
Middle Row L to R: Bud Kessel Equip Mgr, Bruce MacIntosh, Jim McElmury, Larry Bader, Frank Saunders, Ron Naslund, Wally Olds, Charlie Brown, Tim Regan, Doc Nagobods
Back Row L to R: Mark Howe, Craig Sarner, Tom Mellor, Henry Boucha, Dick McGlynn Kevin Ahearn, Robbie Ftorek, Stu Irving
Not Pictured: Bob Fleming
Scoring Record
Season: 38 wins, 14 losses, 3 ties
Olympics: 4 wins, 2 losses
The training program for team began in August of 1971 with tryout camps in Massachusetts, Michigan and Minnesota. Twenty-five players selected from these camps assembled in Bemidji, MN for final training.
A highly successful domestic schedule of 47 games was played against the best available professional, college and amateur teams in the five months prior to the Winter Olympics. That schedule also included a 5 game tour against the touring Russian Olympic team.
In Japan, the US defeated Poland and lost to Czechoslovakia in exhibition games prior to the start of the Games. In the pre-Olympic playoff game, the US defeated Switzerland 5-3 to enter the final five game Olympic Tournament
The young American team, averaging 22 years of age and sparked by goalkeeper Mike Curran won the Silver Medal ahead of the favored teams of Sweden, Czechoslovakia and Finland
Final Statistics
| |
Scoring |
| |
All Games |
Winter Olympics |
| |
GP |
G |
A |
PTS. |
PEN. |
PIM |
GP |
G |
A |
PTS. |
PEN. |
PIM |
| Henry Boucha |
53 |
39 |
56 |
95 |
30 |
82 |
6 |
2 |
4 |
6 |
3 |
6 |
| Tim Sheehy |
41 |
37 |
42 |
79 |
17 |
51 |
6 |
4 |
1 |
5 |
0 |
0 |
| Keith Christiansen |
53 |
21 |
52 |
73 |
30 |
91 |
6 |
1 |
2 |
3 |
3 |
6 |
| Robbie Ftorek |
51 |
25 |
47 |
72 |
18 |
36 |
6 |
0 |
2 |
2 |
0 |
0 |
| Craig Sarner |
53 |
27 |
34 |
61 |
5 |
21 |
6 |
4 |
6 |
10 |
0 |
0 |
| Kevin Ahearn |
50 |
32 |
26 |
58 |
21 |
61 |
6 |
6 |
3 |
9 |
0 |
0 |
| Tom Mellor |
52 |
19 |
31 |
50 |
28 |
68 |
6 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
2 |
4 |
| Ron Naslund |
46 |
17 |
20 |
37 |
9 |
18 |
6 |
1 |
1 |
2 |
1 |
2 |
| Stu Irving |
52 |
20 |
16 |
36 |
25 |
64 |
6 |
2 |
1 |
3 |
3 |
6 |
| Jim McElmury |
53 |
17 |
14 |
31 |
19 |
38 |
6 |
0 |
1 |
1 |
3 |
6 |
| Charlie Brown |
49 |
5 |
21 |
26 |
19 |
44 |
6 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
4 |
8 |
| Wally Olds |
44 |
12 |
13 |
25 |
1 |
2 |
6 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
| Larry Bader |
37 |
6 |
12 |
18 |
3 |
6 |
- |
- |
- |
- |
- |
- |
| Frank Sanders |
47 |
5 |
11 |
16 |
27 |
68 |
6 |
3 |
1 |
4 |
1 |
2 |
| Bruce McIntosh |
36 |
5 |
10 |
15 |
7 |
17 |
- |
- |
- |
- |
- |
- |
| Dick McGlynn |
50 |
1 |
14 |
15 |
20 |
43 |
6 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
1 |
2 |
| Mark Howe |
11 |
3 |
1 |
4 |
0 |
0 |
6 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
| Pete Sears |
27 |
0 |
1 |
1 |
1 |
2 |
- |
- |
- |
- |
- |
- |
| Mike Curran |
11 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
2 |
7 |
6 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
| Tim Regan |
10 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
- |
- |
- |
- |
- |
- |
| Others |
- |
17 |
18 |
35 |
16 |
38 |
- |
- |
- |
- |
- |
- |
| Totals: |
53 |
308 |
439 |
747 |
298 |
757 |
6 |
23 |
22 |
45 |
21 |
42 |
| |
Goaltending |
| |
All Games |
Winter Olympics |
| |
GP |
SAVES |
GA |
SO |
G.A. Avg. |
GP |
SAVES |
GA |
SO |
G.A. Avg. |
| Mike Curran |
10.33 |
334 |
35 |
0 |
3.39 |
6 |
209 |
18 |
0 |
3.00 |
| Pete Sears |
22.60 |
641 |
77 |
1 |
3.41 |
- |
- |
- |
- |
- |
| Tim Regan |
8.00 |
270 |
50 |
0 |
3.41 |
- |
- |
- |
- |
- |
| Others |
12.07 |
341 |
45 |
0 |
3.73 |
- |
- |
- |
- |
- |
| Totals: |
53 |
1586 |
207 |
1 |
3.91 |
6 |
209 |
18 |
0 |
3.00 |
| |
Hat Tricks |
| |
PTS. |
vs. |
DATE |
| Sheehy |
3 |
Waterloo |
10/30/1971 |
| |
4 |
RPI |
12/17/1971 |
| Ftorek |
3 |
Detroit |
12/20/1971 |
| Naslund |
3 |
Green Bay |
10/23/1971 |
| Boucha |
3 |
Syracuse |
12/11/1971 |
Domestic ScheduleRecord: 38 wins, 14 losses, 3 ties |
| Sept. 23 |
U.S. 5, Cleveland 3 |
| Sept. 24 |
U.S. 6, Cleveland 2 |
| Sept. 26 |
U.S. 10, Junior Stars 0* |
| Sept. 30 |
U.S. 5, Omaha 2 |
| Oct. 1 |
U.S. 4, Omaha 4 |
| Oct. 3 |
U.S. 9, Junior Stars 0* |
| Oct. 7 |
Denver CPHL 6, U.S. 5 |
| Oct. 12 |
Denver CPHL 6, U.S. 2 |
| Oct. 23 |
U.S. 10, Green Bay 2 |
| Oct. 29 |
U.S. 10, Waterloo 2 |
| Oct. 30 |
U.S. 15, Waterloo 1 |
| Nov. 5 |
U.S. 8, North Dakota 1 |
| Nov. 6 |
U.S. 5, Minnesota-Duluth 1 |
| Nov. 7 |
U.S. 6, North Dakota 2 |
| Nov. 12 |
U.S. 3, University of Calgary 1 |
| Nov. 13 |
U.S. 7, University of Alberta 6 |
| Nov. 17 |
U.S. 8, Kansas City CPHL 4 |
| Nov. 19 |
U.S. 5, Braintree 3 |
| Nov. 22 |
U.S. 4, Boston University 4 |
| Nov. 23 |
U.S. 6, Dartmouth College 4 |
| Nov. 26 |
Denver University 5, U.S. 2 |
| Nov. 27 |
Denver University 6, U.S. 4 |
| Dec. 1 |
U.S. 5, Bemidji State College 3 |
| Dec. 2 |
U.S. 5, Lakehead University 5 |
| Dec. 3 |
U.S. 10, Bemidji State College 1 |
| Dec. 7 |
U.S. 8, University of Minn. 0 |
| Dec. 11 |
U.S. 12, Syracuse 6 |
| Dec. 12 |
U.S. 10, Long Island All-Stars 1 |
| Dec. 13 |
U.S. 8, Princeton Univ. 3 |
| Dec. 16 |
U.S. 3, Brown University 2 |
| Dec. 17 |
U.S. 11, RPI 5 |
| Dec. 19 |
U.S. 5, Harvard University 2 |
| Dec. 20 |
U.S. 6, Detroit Junior Red Wings / Port Huron 1 |
| Dec. 22 |
Kansas City 7, U.S. 4 |
| Dec. 27 |
Russia 13, U.S. 3 |
| Dec. 28 |
U.S. 7, Czechoslovakia 5 |
| Dec. 30 |
Russia 7, U.S. 3 |
| Jan. 1 |
Russia 11, U.S. 1 |
| Jan. 2 |
U.S. 6, Czechoslovakia 3 |
| Jan. 4 |
Russia 9, U.S. 3 |
| Jan. 6 |
Russia 11, U.S. 4 |
| Jan. 9 |
U.S. 6, Warroad Lakers 3 |
| Jan. 12 |
U.S. 7, University of Minnesota 4 |
| Jan. 15 |
U.S. 9, Saginaw Stars 1 |
| Jan. 18 |
Fort Worth CPHL 5, U.S. 3 |
| Feb. 18 |
U.S. 9, Las Vegas Outlaws 5 |
| Feb. 19 |
U.S. 9, Las Vegas Outlaws 2 |
| * not included in individual statistics |
Pre-Olympic Winter GamesTokyo, Japan |
| Jan. 28 |
U.S. 7, Poland 5 |
| Jan. 29 |
Czechoslovakia 4, U.S. 1 |
Olympic Winter Games |
| Feb. 4 |
U.S. 5, Switzerland 3 (elimination game) |
| Feb. 5 |
Sweden 5, U.S. 1 |
| Feb. 7 |
U.S. 5, Czechoslovakia 1 |
| Feb. 9 |
Russia 7, U.S. 2 |
| Feb. 10 |
U.S. 4, Finland 1 |
| Feb. 12 |
U.S. 6, Poland 1 |