Richard "Dick" McGlynn * 1972 Olympic Team

Player:
Catholic Memorial
Colgate College
U.S. Olympic Hockey Team, 1972 Silver Medal - Sapporo
U.S. National Hockey Team, 1971 Switzerland
U.S. National Hockey Team, 1972 Romania
Chicago Cougars WHA
Medford, Massachusetts

Richard "Dick" McGlynn was the first Colgate graduate to participate in a Winter Olympic Medal-winning effort. "They were picking us to finish 11th that year," said the 53-year-old McGlynn, who will serve as the Honorary Chairperson for the 2002 Massachusetts Senior Games, "and here we won the silver medal after beating Czechoslovakia and losing to the Soviet Union. It was a major accomplishment.
McGlynn grew up playing sports. He was a hockey star at Catholic Memorial High School from 1962-66 and also ran cross-country and track. He went on to Colgate University where he was a star defenseman. He's a former recipient of Colgate's coveted "Silver Puck" Award and a member of the University's Hall of Fame. He was selected to the US National and Olympic Hockey teams in 1971-72 and competed in the World Tournament in Bucharest, Romania and the Olympic Games in Sapporo, Japan that same year. After the Olympics he signed on with the fledgling Chicago Cougars of the New World Hockey Association.
But those days are behind McGlynn, who has been practicing law for 15 years after graduating "Magna cum Laude" from New England Law School in 1986. These days McGlynn pays a lot more attention to his diet. He also exercises, maybe not as hard as he once did, but he still jogs on a regular basis and says "I feel great." He walks more and takes an aspirin a day.

Why don't we remember them?
Just as the soldiers returned from the war in Vietnam with little or no fanfare, so to did the 1972 Silver Medal Olympic team. America's consciousness was focused on the turmoil going on in the streets and in the jungle of Vietnam. Not on speed skaters, Dianne Holum's Gold Medal in the 1,500-meter race or Anne Henning, the perky 16 year old, winning gold in the 500-meter event. Both young ladies are from Northbrook Illinois, and both broke the Olympic record in Sapporo. No, not even the Richmond Vermont slalom skier, gold medallist Barbara Cochran our next-door neighbor.  Yes we missed a glorious moment; yes we lost forever the chance to welcome back our soldiers and our Olympians.

For the past 20 years we have clung to the hero's of 1980, the U. S. Gold Medal Team, the "Miracle on Ice". It was now a quiet time in America, a time to enjoy the Olympics and reflect and to dream.

Well hockey fans it time to meet some new hero's. On October 1st, 2000, some 28 years late, eyes were opened as Massachusetts Hockey inducted the members of the 1972 Olympic Hockey Team " The Forgotten Team" into the Mass Hockey Hall of Fame.
As they spoke, I can tell you truthfully, there wasn't a dry eye in the house.

Stu Irving (Assistant Coach Merrimack College) was virtually plucked from the jungles of Vietnam. Serving several months there before being called to play for the team. All together 5 members of the team were serving in the military before being called to play.
Some of the honorees hadn't seen each other in 28 years and some had spoken only briefly in that time.
Induction Night:
Robbie Ftroek had lost contact all together as his schedule in the NHL kept him busy.
Robbie (Former LA Kings--Jersey Devil and now Boston Bruins coach ) gave a speech from the heart, as did the others, which had us captivated by their emotional recollection of the events and what it meant to them.
Stu Irving spoke with vivid re-collection of how he had been plucked from Vietnam, thanking Jim Logue (Assistant Coach Boston College) for recommending to Williamson, that he (Irving) join the team.
Tim Sheehy spoke of how he had played these international teams before without much success and how happy he was to have beaten them, (Poland 6-1 Czech 5-1) and how the 72 team softened up the Russians for the 1980 "Miracle On Ice Team".
Dave Silk (1980 Olympic Team) was the Master of Ceremonies, which made the give and take lively and quite funny.

The 1972 Olympic Team Roster:

Richard "Dick" McGlynn speaks at the Massachusetts  Hockey induction ceremony.