Murray Williamson * 1972 Olympic Team Coach

All American Team 1958 - 1959
Coach:
U.S. National Hockey Team, 1967 Vienna
U.S. Olympic Hockey Team, 1968 Grenoble
U.S. National Hockey Team, 1971 Bern, Geneva
U.S. Olympic Hockey Team, 1972 Silver Medal - Sapporo

Coach Murray Williamson, not from Massachusetts, actually a Golden Gopher, but first naturalized, then inducted. Murray, "most people do not know of the genuine separation of hockey in the 70s, Midwest vs. East". As a mid-westerner, Murray was expected to choose mid-western players for the team, and did not. He created a lot of animosity for himself and all the eastern players knew it. To a man, all the inductees when contacted, said we have to have Coach Murray inducted with us, as we would not have been chosen for the team without him.
Sapporo, Japan-- They did it ! The USA Hockey National Team brings home the Silver Medal. This team has no chance to go further than the first round. That's what the critics, experts and hockey aficionados said, but guess who has egg on their faces now.
Murray Williamson's boys have done it. Early in the Games the Americans had astonished Sapporo by walloping the powerful Czechoslovakian Team 5-1. The afternoon after the Czech game the coach of the mighty Russian team spotted USA Coach Murray Williamson, ran over, threw himself, on his knees in the snow and salaamed deeply. There was even talk of them possibly beating the gold medal favored Russian Team.
No one quite knew how this had come about, but everyone was impressed.

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: