There are some events in history that, no matter how long ago they occurred, remain widely discussed today. One such event is The Miracle On Ice, when a group of amateur hockey players on Team USA took down the vaunted best-in-the-world Soviet Union team en route to eventually capturing the Gold Medal.

While those Olympic Games took place back in February of 1980, here in 2026, the players from Team USA are still receiving new honors for their accomplishment. One such honor is how the New York State Hockey Hall of Fame has made it part of its mission to keep the legacy of that team alive, first by inducting the team as a whole and now by inducting many of its players on an individual basis. 

So, this summer, on Sunday, July 12, 2026, while The Hall is celebrating its fifth-ever class, The Miracle On Ice will once more be front and center as backup goaltender Steve Janaszak takes his turn at induction. Janaszak is actually the only player from that team to not see play in any of the games during that tournament; however, he was still important to their mission and even met his wife during the team’s time in Lake Placid, NY. 

*Editor’s Note: Questions and Answers have been lightly edited for clarity.

Question: What was your initial reaction when you received the call that you were chosen for induction?

Janaszak: “I was amazed. I was aware that the (New York State) Hockey Hall of Fame existed and that some of our guys from 1980 had been inducted. I had kind of assumed that Kenny Morrow was going to be there one way or another. But, I was pretty amazed and still amazed.”

Question: Would it surprise you to hear that Ken Morrow was supposed to be inducted a few times over the last couple of years and each time, travel issues have prevented him from making it to the ceremony?

Janaszak: “(Laughs) I would not be surprised to hear that. I’ve talked to him and I know that when we used to go up to Lake Placid for the hockey (fantasy) camp, he would end up driving a lot, just because of all the travel issues he had flying.”

Question: What does it mean to you to see The Hall’s mission in action, to keep the 1980 team’s legacy alive?

Janaszak: “Well, there seems to be an overwhelming desire, and honestly, that’s something I’ve been trying to figure out for almost 50 years. I’m really, really proud of the guys, really happy that the team was inducted and now they’re reaching out to individual players. But still, I have a tough time placing it in the context of where we fit in the history of sport.

“It is something that, I always viewed it as a hockey game, and the bigger kind of social context; I’m better with it now than I was a long time ago. But it still eludes me quite a bit.”

Question: How’s the speech coming? Are you planning on telling the story about how you met your wife during the tournament?

Janaszak: “That will be part of the talk. Rene mentioned that the narrative that I’m supposed to come up with is my journey in hockey, which, he says, is supposed to be a couple of pages worth. I don’t know, I might have to stretch it out. (Laughs). 

“My journey in hockey was actually pretty short. Short and very, very fruitful, but still pretty short. So I don’t know. It’ll be interesting to try and put together a few thoughts in terms of how I made it to the 1980 team and kind of, subsequent to that, where hockey went and didn’t go in my life.”

Question: Are you planning on having a lot of friends and family at the ceremony?

Janaszak: “Actually, no. It’ll just be my wife and I attending. Family scattered all over the place and friends are mostly back in Minnesota.”

Question: Speaking of Minnesota, what’s something you learned from Herb Brooks that you still carry with you to this day? 

Janaszak: “Preparation and persistence. Those were the two things that I took away from him over five years. He was and is still the most prepared person that I ever encountered in my life. I mean, he would know everything about all of his players, everything about the opposition. In terms of his players, he’d know where your hot button was, where my hot button was. He wouldn’t push it all the time, but if he wanted to move you up the ladder a bit, he had no trouble pushing it. And the persistence. 

“I still wake up in the middle of the night to, ‘Janaszak, you’re playing worse every day and right now, you’re playing like it’s next week.’ My G-d, I’m 68 and I still wake up in a cold sweat to that. You learn to get up and work hard every day. You keep banging your head against the wall; every once in a while, a brick’s gonna move.”

Question: In terms of your day-to-day life, how has that mentality helped you in regard to work and life functions? 

Janaszak: “There still is nothing like facing somebody coming down (the ice) with a few minutes left to go in a game. Maybe you’re up a goal, maybe it’s tied and you gotta stop ’em. There’s just no two ways about it. 

“When you’re doing that and you wrap your mind around it and get used to doing that every night out, you’re sitting there making a presentation in a business context, for example, there’s not a lot that’s gonna turn around and rattle you. 

“I kind of think that goaltenders have a unique perspective on that. Maybe the best I can think of are relief pitchers, maybe field goal kickers. I don’t know. You come in and the focus is on you and you have to execute a job.”

Question: Do you realize that you just named two other positions in sports that are known for being very zany?

Janaszak: “You know you’re talking to a goaltender, right? We’re all a little bit touched in one way or another. (Laughs). There’s just no way around that.”

Question: Being the only guy to not play in a single game during that 1980 tournament, do you know if there was any time when you came close to going into one of the games?

Janaszak: “I’ll never know. Herb was very clear going in when he was making the final cuts. We sat down and at the time, we were still carrying three goaltenders. He said to me, ‘You can go to Lake Placid if you want, but understand, if you go, that you’re probably not gonna play.’ 

“So he was very clear about it. In terms of getting in or not getting in, I’ll still take it as I was ready and as ready as you’re ever gonna be sitting on the bench. But at the end of the day, he was very clear about how he was gonna manage the team once we got to Lake Placid.”

Question: At least he was honest with you, right?

Janaszak: “He was. I think Buzzy Schneider always said it best. He said, ‘Herbie always has a knife in one hand. To his credit, that knife is always, it’s never at your back. That knife is right there under your throat.’”

Question: Have you wrapped your mind around the fact that you can now call yourself a Hall of Famer?

Janaszak: “I don’t know if I’ll ever wrap my head around that. I am very appreciative, very humbled that somebody decided that I should be in this group of people. But at the end of the day, I’m still trying to figure out how I fit in.”