(Editor’s note: This story first ran in The Eagle-Tribune in 2000, on the 20th anniversary of ‘Miracle on Ice,’ when the USA men’s hockey team shocked the world on Feb. 22, 1980 in Lake Placid. Thursday was the 44th anniversary of the amazing experience, the improbable win over the Soviet Union and Sunday was the gold medal game. Long-time Eagle-Tribune sales executive Phil Pelletier passed away over seven years ago at 76 years old after a long battle with Alzheimer’s. Sports editor Bill Burt had not only worked with Phil for several years, but had been to a few “Frozen Fours” with him, as Phil was an avid college hockey fan, particularly rooting for Merrimack College. Phil told Bill about he and his brothers’ incredible journey to see those games in person in Lake Placid. Here is Bill’s story.)
It was a chance to bond for the Pelletier brothers.
Phil Pelletier of North Andover went to Lake Placid in February 1980 with his four brothers — Jere, Bill, Lee and Ray — to check out the 1980 Winter Olympics in Lake Placid, N.Y.
Taking off on a moment’s notice was not a big deal. The Pelletiers had a history of climbing into their cars from their hometowns (Jere lived in Amherst, Ray in Florida, Bill in Lynn, and Lee in Philadelphia) to meet up at a big sporting event.
Most of them connected during the World Series in both 1967 and 1975. They were at Celtics and Bruins playoff games during their championship runs in the 1970s.
“We love sports and we’re great friends,” said Phil, a longtime The Eagle-Tribune employee. “We also like to drink a little beer when we’re together.”
As for getting the Pelletier brood together in Lake Placid, Ray gets the credit. He was in upstate New York doing promotional work with a ski area and he was given free tickets to secondary sporting events, including speed skating and ski jumping.
He called Jere, Bill, Phil and Lee and had a wild thought. Everyone would meet at a train station in Utica, N.Y., and ride to Lake Placid. Even crazier, the plan was just for one day.
“The train ride was seven hours and we traveled through the night,” said Phil. “It broke down once in the middle of the night. It was awful. We finally pulled in (to Lake Placid) in the morning, half asleep.”
The Pelletiers went to see speed skating and followed some lesser events, including the practice rounds of ski jumping. They watched the medal ceremonies for that day’s speed skating before heading to the train that night.
Everybody left tired and happy.
“Just being around the athletes was an experience,” said Phil. “There was very little security back then. It was fun just being around the Olympic Village and taking it all in. You really understood the importance of the Olympics. We left feeling very good about the experience we had together.”
Then, a few days later, something miraculous happened.
The USA hockey team defeated the Soviet Union, 4-3.
Back to Lake Placid“We all got on the phone after the game and started talking to each other, all pumped and excited,” said Phil. “We all said we can’t be home now. We have to go back to Lake Placid.”
There was one big problem — money. Between them, they didn’t have enough to get there, never mind pay for food and sleeping accommodations.
“My brother Lee said he was waiting for a check in the mail the next morning,” said Phil. “If it came, he said, we’d have enough money to at least get there. So Lee goes looking for the mailman, and there it was — the check.”
Jere got back to Lake Placid on his own. Ray hopped a plane in Florida. Lee hooked up with them again in Utica. and Bill and Phil jumped in the car and headed directly to Lake Placid.
Their plan was to get to the gold medal hockey game, United States versus Finland, on Sunday afternoon.
“This time we brought sleeping bags,” said Phil. “When we got there, we were all jacked up and immediately went downtown looking to scalp tickets. But nobody had them. Not one. We had hardly any money left anyway.”
While walking around on Main Street, the Pelletiers stopped at a church that was serving free hot coffee. They told their story, about how they were without sleeping quarters, to the coffee server.
“The guy said we could sleep there in the basement of the church,” said Phil. “It was incredible. What a stroke of luck.”
But there was still a problem. The game was a few hours away at 1 p.m., and they didn’t have tickets.
They stopped at a Main Street eatery and ordered food. Canadian folks sitting next to them had ordered their hockey tickets nine months earlier. It didn’t look good.
But the Pelletiers hit the pavement and found a scalper who sold them two tickets. It cost them every penny they had.
“Right after we bought those tickets, we ran into those same Canadians at the breakfast place,” said Phil. “They said that some Canadians had turned in their tickets at the Canada headquarters because they lost to Finland in the semifinal and were out of it. The headquarters was about a mile and a half away. We literally ran over there.”
No money? No problemWhen they arrived, they were shocked to find there were more than enough tickets available at face value for the Pelletiers.
“But we didn’t have any money,” said Phil. “So we left my brother Lee at the Canada headquarters to make sure they didn’t sell the tickets we wanted and we ran back toward Main Street to sell back the two we scalped. We sold those two tickets for what the five tickets cost. We then ran back to the Canada headquarters and paid for the tickets.”
The tickets were all over the arena. Phil’s ticket — talk about gold — was 15 rows behind one of the nets.
“It was incredible,” said Phil. “The place was rocking. It was one of the most exciting events I’ve ever been to.”
The game, Phil recalled, was not a clear-cut victory. In fact, the Americans trailed early before tying the score and eventually getting a one-goal lead. With five minutes remaining, the United States led the Finnish team, 4-2.
“That’s when I realized we are going to win this thing,” said Phil. “After it was over, we were going crazy in the streets. Everyone was yelling, holding flags. We got so caught up in everything on the street that we didn’t realize that our tickets could have gotten us to the medal ceremony. But it didn’t matter. We watched it from a bar on Main Street.”
Four of the Pelletiers, including Phil, were in Miami in 1986 when the Patriots “squished the fish” for the AFC Championship against the Dolphins.
Four Pelletiers were in New Orleans for the Patriots first Super Bowl victory over the St. Louis Rams; brother Bill died a half-dozen years earlier.
Phil Pelletier said he still talks to his two surviving brothers, Lee and Jere, often about their memories of what some call the greatest moment in American sports history.
“We were crazy, but it turned out being blind luck,” said Phil. “The entire Olympic experience was something we’ll never forget. The camaraderie between the athletes and countries was incredible. I’m very fortunate that I got to experience it all, especially the USA hockey team winning, with my brothers.”