John J. "Jack" O'Callahan (born July 24, 1957) is an American former professional

ice hockey Ice hockey (or simply hockey) is a team sport played on ice skates, usually on an ice skating rink with lines and markings specific to the sport. It belongs to a family of sports called hockey. In ice hockey, two opposing teams use ice hock ...

player who played 390

National Hockey League The National Hockey League (NHL; french: Ligue nationale de hockey—LNH, ) is a professional ice hockey league in North America comprising 32 teams—25 in the United States and 7 in Canada. It is considered to be the top ranked professional ...

(NHL) regular season games between 1982 and 1989 for the

Chicago Blackhawks The Chicago Blackhawks (spelled Black Hawks until 1986, and known colloquially as the Hawks) are a professional ice hockey team based in Chicago. The Blackhawks compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Central Division i ...

and

New Jersey Devils The New Jersey Devils are a professional sports, professional ice hockey team based in Newark, New Jersey. The Devils compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Metropolitan Division in the Eastern Conference (NHL), Eastern ...

. Before turning professional, he was a member of the

1980 Winter Olympics The 1980 Winter Olympics, officially the XIII Olympic Winter Games and also known as Lake Placid 1980, were an international multi-sport event held from February 13 to 24, 1980, in Lake Placid, New York, United States. Lake Placid was elected ...

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

national team that upset the

Soviet Union The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, it was nominally a federal union of fifteen national ...

in the "

Miracle on Ice The "Miracle on Ice" was an ice hockey game during the 1980 Winter Olympics in Lake Placid, New York. It was played between the hosting United States and the Soviet Union on February 22, 1980, during the medal round of the men's hockey tourna ...

" game.

Playing career

Amateur career

O'Callahan graduated from

Boston Latin School The Boston Latin School is a public exam school in Boston, Massachusetts. It was established on April 23, 1635, making it both the oldest public school in the British America and the oldest existing school in the United States. Its curriculum f ...

in 1975 and then attended

Boston University Boston University (BU) is a private research university in Boston, Massachusetts. The university is nonsectarian, but has a historical affiliation with the United Methodist Church. It was founded in 1839 by Methodists with its original campu ...

from 1975–1979, where he was a team captain during the 1977–78 and 1978–79 seasons and was named All-East twice, All-New England and All-America, team MVP twice,

Beanpot A beanpot is a deep, wide-bellied, short-necked vessel used to cook bean-based dishes. Beanpots are typically made of ceramic, though some are made of other materials, such as cast iron. The relatively narrow mouth of the beanpot minimizes evap ...

MVP, NCAA tournament MVP, and Cochrane award winner twice. He also played for Team USA at the 1979

Ice Hockey World Championship The Ice Hockey World Championships are an annual international men's ice hockey tournament organized by the International Ice Hockey Federation (IIHF). First officially held at the 1920 Summer Olympics, it is the sport's highest profile annua ...

tournament in

Moscow Moscow ( , US chiefly ; rus, links=no, Москва, r=Moskva, p=mɐskˈva, a=Москва.ogg) is the capital and largest city of Russia. The city stands on the Moskva River in Central Russia, with a population estimated at 13.0 million ...

. The year after he graduated, O'Callahan was selected to represent the US in the 1980 Winter Olympics. Three days before the Olympics, in an exhibition match against the Soviet Union, O'Callahan injured his left knee. This forced him out of the opening game against

Sweden Sweden, formally the Kingdom of Sweden,The United Nations Group of Experts on Geographical Names states that the country's formal name is the Kingdom of SwedenUNGEGN World Geographical Names, Sweden./ref> is a Nordic country located on ...

at the Olympics.Do You Believe in Miracles?
He returned for the famous "Miracle on Ice" game against the Soviet Union in the first game of the medal round.

Professional career

O'Callahan was drafted 96th overall in the 1977 NHL Entry Draft by the

. He joined the Hawks after the Olympics, initially playing for two seasons in the minors for the

American Hockey League The American Hockey League (AHL) is a professional ice hockey league based in the United States and Canada that serves as the primary Minor league#Ice hockey, developmental league for the National Hockey League (NHL). Since the 2010–11 AHL se ...

New Brunswick Hawks The New Brunswick Hawks were a professional ice hockey team based in Moncton, New Brunswick. Home games were played at the Moncton Coliseum. They were a member of the American Hockey League (AHL) between 1978 and 1982. The Hawks operated as a min ...

. He finally made the Blackhawks roster in 1982 and played there until 1987 when the Hawks left him unprotected for the

1987 NHL Waiver Draft The NHL Waiver Draft was an annual draft held by the National Hockey League (NHL) from 1977 to 2003. A reworked version of the NHL Intra-League Draft, the waiver draft was created to help address the league's competitive balances issues and the ...

. He was claimed by the

and played a further two seasons before retiring 1989. He also made a final appearance for the United States national team at the 1989

tournament.

Post career

Jack O'Callahan returned to Chicago after his retirement and went into the financial services business on the Chicago Mercantile Exchange. He later co-founded Beanpot Financial Services with former NHL player

Jack Hughes Jack Hughes (born May 14, 2001) is an American professional ice hockey center and alternate captain for the New Jersey Devils of the National Hockey League (NHL). A product of the U.S. National Development Team, Hughes was drafted first ove ...

. O'Callahan then worked on behalf of the Blackhawk Alumni Association.

In popular culture

In a

1981 Events January * January 1 ** Greece enters the European Economic Community, predecessor of the European Union. ** Palau becomes a self-governing territory. * January 10 – Salvadoran Civil War: The FMLN launches its first major offensiv ...

TV movie about the gold medal-winning U.S. hockey team called ''

'', O'Callahan is played by

Peter Horton Peter may refer to: People * List of people named Peter, a list of people and fictional characters with the given name * Peter (given name) ** Saint Peter (died 60s), apostle of Jesus, leader of the early Christian Church * Peter (surname), a su ...

. In the

2004 2004 was designated as an International Year of Rice by the United Nations, and the International Year to Commemorate the Struggle Against Slavery and its Abolition (by UNESCO). Events January * January 3 – Flash Airlines Flight 6 ...

Disney The Walt Disney Company, commonly known as Disney (), is an American multinational mass media and entertainment conglomerate headquartered at the Walt Disney Studios complex in Burbank, California. Disney was originally founded on October ...

film ''

Miracle A miracle is an event that is inexplicable by natural or scientific lawsOne dictionary define"Miracle"as: "A surprising and welcome event that is not explicable by natural or scientific laws and is therefore considered to be the work of a divin ...

'', he is played by

Michael Mantenuto Michael Mantenuto (May 13, 1981 April 24, 2017) was an American film actor, college ice hockey player, and Army non-commissioned officer, best known for his performance as Olympic ice hockey star Jack O'Callahan in the 2004 Disney biopic ''Mirac ...

. Mantenuto grew up skating and playing hockey from the time he could walk.Michael Mantenuto biography at the Internet Movie Database https://www.imdb.com/name/nm1372838/ Several colleges, like

(where O'Callahan and his ''Miracle on Ice'' teammates

Mike Eruzione Michael Anthony "Rizz, Rizzo" Eruzione (, , born October 25, 1954) is an American former ice hockey player. He is best known as the captain of the 1980 Winter Olympics United States national team that defeated the Soviet Union in the famous "Mir ...

, Jim Craig, and

Dave Silk David Mark Silk (born January 1, 1958) is an American former professional ice hockey player. His professional career, which spanned 13 years, included 249 NHL regular season games with the Boston Bruins, Winnipeg Jets, Detroit Red Wings and ...

once played) attempted to recruit him to play college hockey, but Mantenuto ultimately decided to play, albeit briefly, for the

University of Maine The University of Maine (UMaine or UMO) is a Public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Orono, Maine. It was established in 1865 as the land-grant college of Maine and is the Flagship universities, flagshi ...

. He got the part of Jack O'Callahan after he got into a fight with another actor who was picking on him during tryouts. *Inducted into International Hockey Hall of Fame in 1999

Awards and achievements

Career statistics

Regular season and playoffs

International

References

External links

*
O'Callahan bio @ hockeydraftcentral.com
{{DEFAULTSORT:Ocallahan, Jack 1957 births 1980 US Olympic ice hockey team AHCA Division I men's ice hockey All-Americans American men's ice hockey defensemen Boston University Terriers men's ice hockey players Calgary Cowboys draft picks Chicago Blackhawks draft picks Chicago Blackhawks players Ice hockey people from Boston Ice hockey players at the 1980 Winter Olympics Living people Medalists at the 1980 Winter Olympics New Brunswick Hawks players New Jersey Devils players Olympic gold medalists for the United States in ice hockey Springfield Indians players NCAA men's ice hockey national champions