TOM CARACCIOLI AND JERRY CARACCIOLI

Following the 2010 Olympics in Vancouver in which both the men's and women's ice hockey teams were awarded silver medals, it is interesting to point out the difference between these silver medals, as well as the U.S.'s silver medal in 2002 Salt Lake City and the 1972 silver medal in Sapporo.

Because the format of the tournament in recent Olympics, the silver medal was awarded after the U.S. teams lost the gold medal game.

In 1972, the U.S. WON the silver medal by virtue of its win over Czechoslovakia in the round-robin tournament format. This is an important difference that is noteworthy because the 1972 team did not have the chance to play in a "gold medal" game. This is the same format used in Lake Placid in 1980 that helped propel the U.S. to gold. Read More 

The NHL.com website has a story about the "Gordie Howe Hat Trick." It has no significance to US Olympic Hockey but the name HOWE sure does.

Mark Howe was a 16-year-old high school junior when he joined the 1972 US Olympic Hockey team three weeks before the Games in Sapporo began. It's not unheard of for teenagers to participate in the Olympics but...for Olympic hockey, then and especially now, it is an anomaly. Today, it would be unheard of to have a 16-year-old on the ice in the Olympic hockey competition.

Howe was described by his teammates as a boy inside a man's body at 16. He held his own, contributed and ended up with a silver medal around his neck when he returned home.

As we know, he later went on to an All-Star NHL career.  Read More 

There is a mounting campaign to create awareness about the 1972 U.S. Olympic Hockey Team and its contribution, as a team, to the development of the sport in the United States.

The contention spelled out in the book makes a case that without the silver medal-winning effort in Sapporo in 1972, the 1980 Miracle on Ice probably never occurs.

Herb Brooks admitted as much to Coach Murray Williamson in a note following the '80 Games.

Dear Murray,

Your influence as a teammate and coach helped produce this victory.

Herb Brooks

Therefore, the 1972 U.S. Olympic Hockey Team - The Forgotten Team - should rightfully be included in the U.S. Hockey Hall of Fame for their contribution to the betterment of the sport in the United States and a win that eventually led to a miracle.
 Read More