My single greatest piece of gear

[Hipster 5]

I told myself I wasn't going to do this, but I've come to really like this place. Hockey is a big part of everyone's life here and that's cool, so I'll share with you something from the game that's important to me. I've always loved great gear because of its function and I especially love the great old classics. I'm not a collector of game worn stuff or autographs...not my style. Hockey is a team sport, not an individual sport. I only own one piece of hockey memorabilia that didn't belong to a player in my family, but this one is real special to me. So special that one day I will have to give it away. But not today (hint). When I look at this old, faded team stick bag, I'm reminded of the awesome power of a team and the belief in a goal. I'm just glad that our sport, hockey, captures that power the best.

The Hockey Team

[Law Goalie 147]

Beautiful.

[Marrick66 0]

Now that's something to pass down to the grandkids, awesome. May I ask how you acquired it?

[sjsharks11 0]

amazing

[chilaxin12 2]

Thats a truly amazing piece, I think the hockey hall of fame wouldn't mind having it, if you do give it away you could give it to a place where all could see it.

[Hipster 5]

Now that's something to pass down to the grandkids, awesome. May I ask how you acquired it?

Its a really long story, but here's the bare bones version,

I got it from a youth hockey coach in Connecticut where I started playing. His family had strong connections with one of the schools in Boston, where his brother had played. After the brother died in Viet Nam, they endowed a hockey scholarship in the brothers name for a defensmen. in the mid 80's, that coach took a bantam team to Europe and needed a team stick bag, so he called the coach in Boston. They didn't have a bag, (they aren't a common piece of gear you buy retail) but he told him to call Steichen's in St. Paul, who supplied Brook's UM teams and still had some gear from the 1980 Olympic team. I bought it from him because I almost quit playing in 1979 because I was tired of being tagged "too small", not enough scoring ability, etc. etc. to play with the elite players at the time, even though it was true. My high school didn't have a team, so playing in front of nobody, especially no girls while my friends got to wear their varsity HS jackets just seemed like I was on a path to nowhere. I figured I'd play something where I could get a little attention.

Then I watched the 1980 team do the impossible and I was proud to be a hockey player, even an anonymous one who would never crack an elite roster. I got my education and got some free gear as a lowly walk on, and as the historic significance of 1980 grew, I began to recognize how much of what I believed and was able to enjoy was because of the accomplishments of that team.

Sometimes I feel guilty keeping it in my garage. I just have not decided where it belongs. My alma mater was leading for awhile, but they have no close connection to that team. The HHOF would be great, but the USA hockey is too important an angle not to look at an American venue. The Smithsonian will take it, but then its a small part of a sports collection that isn't dedicated to hockey at a place that isn't dedicated to sports.

My heart tells me the place it belongs is a tiny little place that I haven't even spoken to yet. Just read the welcome and mission pages...it just seems so right. HB Foundation

[hunterphfr 12]

Thats a truly amazing piece, I think the hockey hall of fame wouldn't mind having it, if you do give it away you could give it to a place where all could see it.

I was originally trying to come up with some smartass comment about the Hall of Fame being in Canada. But noticed that Herb Brooks had been inducted. It is close to the US border. It's not the Canadian Hockey Hall of Fame but is truly a storied place for all.

[tsanga 0]

What about the US Hockey Hall of Fame in Eveleth, MN?

http://www.ushockeyhall.com/

[number21 3]

i would get it out of your garage right away! if you don't know what to do with it right now put it somewhere with good temp. control and where it's protected from moisture and lots of UV light.

very cool bit of hockey history! take care of it!

[badsk8ter 0]

What about the US Hockey Hall of Fame in Eveleth, MN?

http://www.ushockeyhall.com/

I agree. The tie-in there is somewhat ironic and eerie as he was returning from an event there the day he tragically crashed and passed away.

[Hipster 5]

Thats a truly amazing piece, I think the hockey hall of fame wouldn't mind having it, if you do give it away you could give it to a place where all could see it.

I know. I'm torn on which venue is best, but I think if I asked Herbie, he'd say screw the media and the limelight. Build the game from the bottom of the pyramid up. What do you think of the Brooks Foundation? I kinda think that's the right place. HB Foundation

i would get it out of your garage right away! if you don't know what to do with it right now put it somewhere with good temp. control and where it's protected from moisture and lots of UV light.

very cool bit of hockey history! take care of it!

Up until a few years ago, I used it whenever my youth teams qualified for the state tournament. I'll have to treat it better. I have Johnson's individual bag, but I can't find the damn thing. Hope my wife didn't chuck it.

[DarkStar50 679]

Your item inspired me to locate my Herb Brooks autograph. When Phil Esposito had the first Masters of Hockey Game at MSG in 1982, a good friend invited me to the hotel in Manhattan the night before the game. All the greats were there for a reception. I brought a stick with me and got a lot of autographs. I remember seeing Herb Brooks and asking him to sign the stick. His reply was an "aw shucks, I didn't even play in the NHL." I think I said something like "You didn't have to." I just found the stick in the garage, of course. Right next to Herb Brooks' autograph is Bobby Orr's. There are a lot of greats from the 60s on the stick. I noticed two who have since passed on, Gump Worsley and Boom Boom Geoffrion.

Thanks for sharing the stick bag. Great to see.

[Methane 0]

The Smithsonian Castle has a pair of gloves from the team and they also have Bobby Orr's Skates on display.

I do agree a more sports minded place is the best for that bag, but you can't argue with the fact that the stuff in the Smithsonian will be around for a long, LONG time.

[topshelf11 0]

US Hockey Hall of Fame seems right to me, as that's gotta be the biggest event in US Hockey history.

And right after the 80 Olympics, I got to meet Herb. He came and spoke at the awards banquet for my older brother's HS team. Afterwards, I got to shake his hand and pose for a picture with him. Pretty cool for a 12 year old kid.

[chippa13 1844]

Are you sure that bag is legit for the Miracle Team? The skeptic in me wonders why with all the logoed stuff Olympic teams use that the stick bag would be labeled with a Sharpie.

[TBLfan 25]

remember that it is 1980, not 2004.

[tsanga 0]

And AMATEURS actually participated in the Olympics back in 1980.

[chippa13 1844]

I'm just saying, they all had everything else in matching USA embroidered gear but a sharpie to label the stick bag. It just sounds fishy.

Amateurs participated but that USA team wasn't exactly roughing it on their own dime.

[TBLfan 25]

I see what you're saying, it makes sense but you can also imagine them just getting a bag and thinking; why bother?

They had NO IDEA what was going to happen and how the team might impact american sports.

[DarkStar50 679]

The CCM branding logo on the bag is authentic/actual to the time period. If you have the HBO Miracle documentary, go back to when the team goes on the podium to receive the gold medal. All the players gather around Eruzione in their blue warm-up suits. Those USA emblems with the hockey stick on the chest of the jackets are sewn on patches. I have one that I got from an equipment guy right after the event. He later went to work with the Rangers and Brooks and Patrick. His name is Bob Williams. There was no direct embroidery back then. Also, if the bag had a silkscreen USA logo perhaps, that has to be applied before the bag is even sewn together.

[Hipster 5]

Are you sure that bag is legit for the Miracle Team? The skeptic in me wonders why with all the logoed stuff Olympic teams use that the stick bag would be labeled with a Sharpie.

Yeah, its been looked at by experts and the chain of posession verified, its real. One of the reasons I don't trot it around is because I don't want to advertise private people's names just to show off a cool piece.

The Black Sharpie and the Northwest Orient air tag and the numbers tag with the players numbers are what make it so insanely cool. It wasn't a miracle then. Just 20 nobodies hoping to become somebodies. Regular hockey mooks like you and me.

I know Les Auge's (RIP) cousin and his (Les's) #2 is on there. She was touched by that. almost made it past the fall tour. I feel sorry for #24....his shot at the greatest moment in sports history scratched off the list.

I've been cut from a team I knew would be good, but that would haunt me forever.

[chippa13 1844]

Cool.

[Sven 1]

Nice, nice, nice. Nothing more to say. This is seriously a breathtaker when you imagine where it came from.

[Hipster 5]

I forgot one of the pictures

I only add it because the name Northwest Orient dates the tags. They were headquartered out of MN, so that somewhat limits the number of teams from that time who would need a bag like this and fly Northwest Orient.

[Hipster 5]

I'm just saying, they all had everything else in matching USA embroidered gear but a sharpie to label the stick bag. It just sounds fishy.

Amateurs participated but that USA team wasn't exactly roughing it on their own dime.

They weren't roughing it on their own dime, but trust me, they were roughing it on AHAUS's dime. It was 1979. Things were bad.There were higher priorities for the govt. than funding the Winter Olympics. The individual team bags were silkscreened with USA and the player number on either end, but I doubt that AHAUS had the money for a specialized team stick bag that only the equipment manager was ever gonna see anyway. It was highly likely they would get their asses kicked anyway. I mean, Mikhailov, Karlamov, Tretiak? what chance did they have against Goliath?

As for hockey at the youth level, It was sooooooo different back then. My Dad is 70 and my hockey experience has more in common with his than it does with my son's. Back then, You played hockey because your father played hockey mostly, otherwise there wasn't a lot of opportunity or outside motivation for a kid to pick it up.

Back then it wasn't the glitzy glamour USA Hockey you see today with Web sites and training tools and coaching materials. They didn't have any fancy magazine with hot suburban MILF's playing Chix with Stix between starbucks and shoppoing like they do now. There wasn't any internet to check on try outs or buy yourself USA apparel. The good coaches were few and far between. You had to make do without any internet or any good way to learn about what was going on in the hockey world.

It was AHAUS and they were just about flat broke. We got our information from notices posted on dingy bulletin boards in dingy rinks....but we loved it.

If you played Sherwoods, but The pro shop only had Northlands, guess what? Now you played Northlands.

Guys from other rinks would to try to take down the try out notices for the Regional and Nat. Development Team at other rinks just hoping to thin out the competition, and it worked sometimes. In the world outside the ice rink, nobody knew much about Hockey except for of Boston Detroit or the Twin Cities and nobody much cared if you played. Hockey was a Canadian Sport. A hockey Superstar only had to worry about the public eye in his home city for the most part because they were not that famous. It had only been 10 years or so that there were only 4 NHL franchises in the country. Chicago and New York had franchises based on sheer size, not hockey roots. Boston and Detroit were the ONLY American cities with a hockey history and had a franchise. Being a hockey player outside of those towns or Minnesota was like being Kevin Costner in Dances with Wolves....1980 was the year that changed everything for an American hockey player. Now you knew you were capable if you tried hard enough. You could be the best.