Michael Vincent Curran (born April 14, 1944) is a retired American

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 h ...

goaltender In ice hockey, the goaltender (commonly referred to as the goalie) is the player responsible for preventing the hockey puck from entering their team's net, thus preventing the opposing team from scoring. The goaltender mostly plays in or near t ...

. He led the United States to a surprising silver medal at the

1972 Winter Olympics The 1972 Winter Olympics, officially the and commonly known as Sapporo 1972 ( ja, 札幌1972), was a winter multi-sport event held from February 3 to 13, 1972, in Sapporo, Japan. It was the first Winter Olympic Games to take place outside Euro ...

after representing the USA at the 1970 and 1971

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 annual ...

. He turned professional with the

Minnesota Fighting Saints The Minnesota Fighting Saints was the name of two professional ice hockey teams based in Saint Paul, Minnesota, that played in the World Hockey Association. The first team was one of the WHA's original twelve franchises, playing from 1972 to 19 ...

of the upstart

World Hockey Association The World Hockey Association (french: Association mondiale de hockey) was a professional ice hockey major league that operated in North America from 1972 to 1979. It was the first major league to compete with the National Hockey League (NHL) ...

in 1972–73 and quickly became one of the early star goaltenders of the new league, playing in the 1973 WHA All-Star Game. Curran lost his job in 1976 when the Fighting Saints folded, but he returned to international hockey with Team USA at the 1976 and 1977

as well as the

1976 Canada Cup The 1976 Canada Cup was an international ice hockey tournament held September 2 to 15, 1976, in Ottawa, Toronto, Montreal, Winnipeg and Quebec City in Canada as well as in Philadelphia, in the United States. It was the first of five Canada Cup to ...

. He retired following the 1977 season after a second stint with the revived Fighting Saints WHA franchise. Currently, Curran works as the headmaster at a prestigious private school. Curran was inducted into the International Ice Hockey Federation Hall of Fame in 1999 and the

United States Hockey Hall of Fame The United States Hockey Hall of Fame was established in 1973 with the goal of preserving the history of ice hockey in the United States while recognizing the extraordinary contributions of select players, coaches, administrators, officials and ...

in 1998. He was born in International Falls, Minnesota.

Awards and honors

References

*
Hockeygoalies.org bio
* 1944 births American men's ice hockey goaltenders Ice hockey players from Minnesota Ice hockey players at the 1972 Winter Olympics IIHF Hall of Fame inductees Johnstown Jets (NAHL) players Living people Medalists at the 1972 Winter Olympics Minnesota Fighting Saints players Olympic silver medalists for the United States in ice hockey People from International Falls, Minnesota Rochester Americans players United States Hockey Hall of Fame inductees {{US-icehockey-goaltender-stub