It was a grueling five-month, 61-game exhibition schedule that forged a diverse group of college amateurs into the USA Hockey Team leading up to the 1980 Winter Olympics. Throughout the long tryout, coach Herb Brooks made cuts and adjustments, narrowing down his finely-tuned squad to meet the Olympic requirements. The last man cut from the team was defensemen Jack Hughes, but not before he was issued this game-ready Team USA jersey.
Then, it looked like Hughes would actually get to wear it after all. Just two days before the Lake Placid Games began, Jack O’Callahan suffered a knee injury during the USA’s final tune-up against the Soviets at Madison Square Garden. Coach Brooks let out the words Jack Hughes was anxiously waiting to hear: "Better gets Hughes ready." However, in what must have been a terrible second blow to his psyche, Brooks ultimately decided to stick with “O.C.” and Hughes was left to watch his fabled “Miracle on Ice” teammates win Gold without him. Hughes went on to play in the NHL for the Colorado Rockies (now the New Jersey Devils), then as fate would have it, he actually went into business with the man he almost replaced, Jack O’Callahan.
The white mesh jersey has a massive “USA” arched across the chest in blue and red tackle twill with blue and red banding at the waist and sleeve ends. The shoulders have white stars below which is Hughes’ number “12” in blue and red tackle twill. The back has “HUGHES” in white across a royal blue nameplate above his number “12” in large blue and red tackle twill. The Norcon (Forest Lakes, Minn.) manufacturer’s label is affixed in the neck collar, with a second Norcon tag at the left front tail.
The distinctive USA lettering, Norcon tagging, nameplate, cross-over collar, jersey striping and stitching are all an exact match to the John Harrington “Miracle on Ice” jersey offered in this auction. This style jersey was only used during the 1980 Olympic tournament. The staining visible on both sleeves and in the collar is not attributable to any game use by Hughes at Lake Placid. A stunning example of an authentic USA Olympic jersey made for a guy who missed the “Miracle on Ice” final roster by a single cut.