November 10, 1985
As we mark the 30-year anniversary of the death of Flyers All-Star goaltender Pelle Lindbergh, many a column has been written to the memory of this budding NHL superstar and the events leading to his tragic passing at just 26 years of age.
With his many contributions to the Flyers, Lindbergh’s NHL career included a Vezina Trophy and two All-Star appearances in just 180 regular season and playoff games.
It also included his place in hockey history before ever becoming a Flyer.
On February 12, 1980, a 20-year-old Lindbergh and Team Sweden was just 27 seconds away from rewriting the history books in the 1980 Winter Olympic Games.
The USA Olympic Hockey Team, the "Miracle on Ice" as we know it, was that close to losing to Lindbergh and Team Sweden, but they escaped with a 2-2 tie.
In this game, Team USA can thank the strong play of their goaltender Jim Craig, as he kept them in the game by holding the Swedes to one first period goal, despite the Swedes dominating the play and outshooting the US 16 to 7.
The US would tie the game in the second period at 1-1 on a goal by Dave Silk as they gained momentum in the period and outshot Sweden 12-11.
In the third period, another future Flyer, Thomas Eriksson scored for Sweden at 4:45 to give them the 2-1 lead. As the minutes clicked away, the desperation to gain a tie grew larger for the US squad. With goaltender Craig pulled for a sixth attacker and just 41 seconds left, the U.S had an offensive zone face-off to the right of Lindbergh.
The U.S won the draw, back to Mike Ramsey, but his shot was blocked. The puck came right back to him and he passed it across the ice to Bill Baker, who sent it in deep and to the corner. The Swedes tried again to clear the puck, but the US kept it in. Mark Pavelich wheeled towards the middle from the right boards and sent a cross ice pass to Baker who moved in from the point and fired a one-timer past Lindbergh to tie the game.
Although Baker’s goal from some 35 feet out got past Pelle, the awful screen from his own defenseman trying to block the shot didn’t help him at all.
Thanks to the technology of YouTube, you can watch the last 41 seconds of this game below.
Although the game was the first for each team in the tournament, the tie would propel the U.S. squad while the Swedes knew that they let one get away.
As one of my "bucket list" travels, I made it to Lake Placid, NY this past summer. It was not only to celebrate the "Miracle on Ice," but hockey in general.
I made sure to stop at the Olympic Museum there to take in all of the history that is on display from those Olympics. Yes, there was of course a focus on all of the great hockey players from all over the world that proudly represented their countries.
Upon my visit, I came across a large glass case featuring the Olympic ID Cards issued to participants for the ice hockey teams.
For Team USA, there were the legends: Mike Eruzione, Ken Morrow, Jim Craig.
For Team Sweden: Thomas Eriksson, Mats Naslund, Tomas Jonsson, and this, the ID card for Pelle Lindbergh.
For Team Sweden and the Flyers alike, you take a deep breath, sigh and wonder, "oh, what could have been."
Mike Watson is a contributing writer for Flyerdelphia. Follow him on twitter @Mwats_99.
