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The final day of next month’s Winter Olympics in Milan Cortina will mark 46 years of the greatest sporting upset of all time.
On February 22, 1980, amateur hockey players from the United States shocked the world by defeating the Soviet Union 4-3, in what became known as the “Miracle on Ice.”
Nearly 46 years later, captain Mike Eruzione, goalie Jim Craig, leading scorer Mark Johnson and play-by-play commentator Al Michaels returned to what is now Herb Brooks Arena for “Run Back the Miracle.”
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(L to R) Mark Johnson, Jim Craig and Mike Eruzione tour their locker room from the Miracle on Ice. (Michelob Ultra)
Powered by Michelob Ultra, the event reimagined pivotal moments from the United States men’s Olympic ice hockey team’s legendary victory using high-definition holograms, full-surface ice projections and historic imagery, allowing fans to relive the magic of one of the most famous moments in sports history.
“What we can do here is relive a moment that we never got a chance to relive. When the Olympics ended, you know, I think five days later I was playing in the National Hockey League. So was Mark Johnson,” Craig said in an interview with PK Press Club Digital hours before Thursday’s event. “All of a sudden we were on a team and we were gone. And so, it’s going to be awesome. We’re going to relive years of experience. It’s going to bring back that memory to different generations.”
For Michaels, whose famous call has endured for generations, it was only his third return to Lake Placid since those Olympics.
Mike Eruzione, Jim Craig and Mark Johnson attend the “Run Back the Miracle” celebration in Lake Placid, New York on January 15, 2026. (Michelob Ultra)
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“I mean, I can feel it. I can just feel it in my bones, in my fiber of going back to that building, even though it’s obviously been renovated and remodeled, but I still remember that night and 1980,” Michaels said.
The “Miracle on Ice”, where the famous “USA” chant was born, was much more than a hockey match, when global tensions were at a dizzying height in the midst of the Cold War. For Craig, that made it all the more important to represent the Stars and Stripes.
“Some of us were lucky enough to participate in the World Championships in 1979, in the middle of the Cold War, and the matches were held in Moscow. So we really saw how the USSR at the time used sports as propaganda. For me, it’s not about politics, but you can’t help but involve some of them. It’s really about pride in being and representing your country, isn’t it? And understand that the brand is more important than you,” Craig added.
Michaels has been on the mic for probably thousands of matches since then. But his final words, while seated next to the late Ken Dryden, are reserved only when necessary.
Miek Eruzione walks on the ice at Herb Brooks Arena. (Michael Ultra)
“If I do [say ‘miracle’]so people think, “Hey, there he is, you know, patting himself on the back.” “No, I’m very careful when I use that word,” Michaels joked.
