Olympic Hockey Players Fare Well in NHL

The U.S. Olympic hockey team didn’t bring home any medals from Calgary last year, but many of the Americans have struck gold in the NHL.

No fewer than 16 players from the ’88 team have launched professional careers and many of them are playing important roles for NHL teams, such as Boston’s Craig Janney and Brian Leetch and Tony Granato of the New York Rangers.

“I’m sure the 1980 Olympic team had a lot to do with the current trend (of U.S. Olympians in the NHL),” says Harry Sinden, general manager of the Boston Bruins. “A lot of American kids realized that the Olympic program was a heck of a route to the NHL.”

Before the U.S. Olympic team won the gold medal in the “Miracle On Ice” at Lake Placid, N.Y., U.S. Olympians were an anomaly in professional hockey.

One might recall Tommy Williams, who spent some time with the Boston Bruins and Jack McCartan, who had a cup of coffee with the New York Rangers. Both came off the 1960 gold medal-winning team; few others were given a chance.

The perspective of American Olympians changed after 1980, however.

“After the gold, the public demanded to see these guys in the NHL,” says Bob Johnson, director of the Amateur Hockey Association of the United States (AHAUS) and a former Olympic and NHL coach. “Those guys got immediate opportunities. They were a pretty good bunch, too. Look how many survived. Considering the average NHL career is only 4 1/2 years, I’d say they’ve done pretty well.”

Six players are still active from the 1980 team in the NHL -- Mark Johnson and Jack O’Callahan of the New Jersey Devils, Ken Morrow of the New York Islanders, Dave Christian of the Washington Capitals, Neal Broten of the Minnesota North Stars and Mike Ramsey of the Buffalo Sabres.

Morrow was fortunate enough to play on four Stanley Cup winners in New York, but his predecessors have also had distinguished careers in other ways so far.

From the 1984 team came Pat LaFontaine of the Islanders, Chris Chelios of the Montreal Canadiens, Ed Olczyk and Al Iafrate of the Toronto Maple Leafs and Bob Brooke of the North Stars. LaFontaine and Olczyk have become their teams’ leading scorers and Chelios is an All-Star defenseman.

More than one candidate for rookie of the year has come out of the 1988 U.S. Olympic team whose NHL representation includes Leetch and Granato with the Rangers; Janney with the Bruins; Scott Young with Hartford; Jeff Norton with the Islanders; Steve Leach with Washington and Kevin Stevens with Pittsburgh. In addition, Mike Richter, Peter Laviolette and Kevin Miller have seen action with the Rangers and Chris Terreri has been up with the Devils.

And the player widely regarded as the best forward on that Olympic team, Corey Millen, went to play in Switzerland because the Rangers thought he was too small for the NHL.

“The ’88 Olympic team was the best in our history in terms of talent,” Johnson says. “It has produced 16 professional hockey players, including Corey Millen, who might have been the best of the bunch.”

At this point, Leetch and Granato are the odds-on favorites for NHL rookie of the year. Leetch is a defenseman who reminds some of Bobby Orr and Granato has been a non-stop buzzsaw at forward.

“Leetch has Bobby Orr potential,” says general manager Bobby Clarke of the Philadelphia Flyers. “He’s up ice all the time and never gets caught. He has the instinct and speed to sense danger quickly and get back. He has unbelievable ability.”

Granato, though, has been the most pleasant surprise for the Rangers. With the U.S. Olympic team, he played on the fourth line. In New York, he’s on the top line as the team’s top goal-scorer.

“I had no way of knowing he was going to be this good,” Rangers general manager Phil Esposito says.

Programs sponsored by AHAUS must be given the lion’s share of the credit for the success of these current Olympians. As Johnson points out: “Last year’s team was the result of our overall developmental programs--festivals, junior programs, international competition. Leetch, for one, played in three festivals and played for three junior teams, our national team and our Olympic team. He touched four parts of our program.”

Johnson sees more players like Ramsey making the step in the near future.

“I think the 1992 and 1994 Olympics will be a real feeder into the NHL for Americans,” Johnson says. “In the old days, players were just thrilled to be playing in the Olympics. They went home afterwards and got a job. Now they’re playing in the NHL.”

And staying there, of course.