The Making of a Miracle: The Untold Story of the Captain of the 1980 Gold Medal–Winning U.S. Olympic Hockey Team

Mike Eruzione, who scored the game-winning goal for the U.S. hockey team against its vaunted Russian opponents in the 1980 Winter Olympics, traces his path to glory and his charmed life afterward in this buoyant, earnest memoir. Growing up in working-class Winthrop, Mass., Eruzione’s first pair of skates were his sister’s—complete with pom-poms. His hockey skills were overlooked until the end of high school, when Boston University coach Jack Parker discovered Eruzione while refereeing the high school’s summer hockey game. Then, in another stroke of luck, Eruzione, who went on to play for BU, played few enough games in the minor leagues to maintain his amateur status, which qualified him for the Olympic team. Eruzione comes across as eminently down to earth, whether it’s reminiscing about his loving and chaotic childhood household (“Three floors, no doors”) or trying to decipher stern Olympic head coach Herb Brooks, whose relentless, cerebral coaching style prohibited intimacy (“I wish I had been able to know him better than I did”). Eruzione recalls what seemed to be a simpler time—when major news came through television, newspapers, or word of mouth, and when the U.S. Olympic team was comprised of scrappy amateurs. This heartwarming memoir will delight more than just hockey fans. (Jan.)