October 15, 2009
Jim Craig (second from right) visits with the coaching staff of the Sioux City Musketeers during practice on Wednesday. (photo courtesy of the Sioux City Musketeers)
Sioux City Musketeers players showed up to practice on Wednesday afternoon at the Tyson Events Center expecting to go through a regular on-ice session for the USHL Club - but the special guest that was awaiting them at the rink made the day anything but normal.
Joining the Musketeers practice was Jim Craig, goaltender for the 1980 U.S. Olympic men's hockey team that captured gold in Lake Placid, New York, highlighted by Team USA's improbable victory over the dominant Soviet Union team - the "Miracle On Ice." Craig was in Sioux City to speak with a group of doctors about his "Ultimate SAAAVE" program which raises awareness for Abdominal Aortic Aneurysm (AAA), the disease that claimed the life of his father in 1988.
One of the doctors at the speaking engagement, Dr. Ricky Gitter along with his wife Carrie, is a second-year housing parent for the Sioux City Musketeers and arranged for Craig to attend team practice on Wednesday. Sioux City Head Coach Luke Strand was thrilled with his on-ice guest.
"He has such a great presence and he is a complete humanitarian for hockey and the young people in the game," said Strand. "He spoke firsthand about having a great opportunity as a young man to make an impression - and make it last."
While the Musketeers players are familiar with the "Miracle" story, the 1980 Olympics occurred before they were born – so Strand made sure they understood the significance of what Jim Craig helped accomplish nearly thirty years ago. Craig, the same age then as many of the Musketeers now, was a young goalie at Boston University – and then, after two of the most extraordinary weeks in U.S. hockey history, an American icon. No one recalling those Olympics will forget its most poignant moment either, as Craig, with an American flag draped around him on national television, searched in the stands for the father he would lose eight years later to a medical condition he is now helping to fight.
"We touched on it in a pre-practice meeting," said Strand. "I gave them the history of me being seven years old and watching what transpired when Jim Craig was an Olympian. I emphasized what impact it had on my generation of hockey and how it provided a shot in the arm for U.S. hockey."
Craig hit the ice for the final moments of practice, and took the time to talk a little strategy with the coaches. He shared his experiences about players and their responses to different situations. While Strand and his staff enjoyed the interaction, they were most appreciative of the message Craig delivered to the Musketeers players.
"His message was as much about life as it was hockey," said Strand. "The nice part for us coaches is that he was conveying many of the same things we talk about each day, so it was good to have someone else's voice hammer that message for us."
If coach Strand had any doubts on whether Jim Craig's visit had a positive impact, he quickly got his answer. "The players all called their parents first thing after practice to tell them about the visit. They were excited, although I think some of the parents were even more excited," Strand said with a chuckle.
Headquartered in Chicago, Illinois, the USHL celebrates its 31st season of elite junior hockey in 2009-10. With over 140 players already committed to NCAA Division I schools and 13 NHL Entry Draft picks currently on League rosters, the USHL is the nation's foremost producer of junior hockey talent. For more information, visit us on the web at www.USHL.com.
It's not just hockey. It's the USHL.
