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

ice hockey Ice hockey (or simply hockey in North America) is a team sport played on ice skates, usually on an Ice rink, ice skating rink with Ice hockey rink, lines and markings specific to the sport. It belongs to a family of sports called hockey. Tw ...

player who played 390

National Hockey League The National Hockey League (NHL; , ''LNH'') is a professional ice hockey league in North America composed of 32 teams25 in the United States and 7 in Canada. The NHL is one of the major professional sports leagues in the United States and Cana ...

(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 (N ...

and

New Jersey Devils The New Jersey Devils are a 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 Conference. The club w ...

. 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 (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

national team that upset the

Soviet Union The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR), commonly known as the Soviet Union, was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 until Dissolution of the Soviet ...

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 ice hockey t ...

" game.

Playing career

Amateur career

O'Callahan graduated from

Boston Latin School The Boston Latin School is a Magnet school, magnet Latin schools, Latin Grammar schools, grammar State school, state school in Boston, Massachusetts. It has been in continuous operation since it was established on April 23, 1635. It is the old ...

in 1975 and then attended

Boston University Boston University (BU) is a Private university, private research university in Boston, Massachusetts, United States. BU was founded in 1839 by a group of Boston Methodism, Methodists with its original campus in Newbury (town), Vermont, Newbur ...

from 1975 to 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 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. The IIHF was created in 1908 while the E ...

tournament in

Moscow Moscow is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns in Russia by population, largest city of Russia, standing on the Moskva (river), Moskva River in Central Russia. It has a population estimated at over 13 million residents with ...

. 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, is a Nordic countries, Nordic country located on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. It borders Norway to the west and north, and Finland to the east. At , Sweden is the largest Nordic count ...

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 The 1977 NHL amateur draft was the 15th NHL entry draft. It was held at the Mount Royal Hotel in Montreal, Quebec. It was notable for the inclusion of players being drafted at 20 years of age. This was the only draft in which the Cleveland Bar ...

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 in North America that serves as the primary developmental league of the National Hockey League (NHL). The league comprises 32 teams, with 26 in the United States and 6 in Cana ...

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 mi ...

. 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 (sports), draft held by the National Hockey League (NHL) from 1977–78 NHL season, 1977 to 2003–04 NHL season, 2003. A reworked version of the NHL intra-league draft, the waiver draft was created to hel ...

. 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 Centre (ice hockey), center and Captain (ice hockey)#Alternate captains, alternate captain for the New Jersey Devils of the National Hockey League (NHL). A product of the U ...

. 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 6 – A funeral service is held in West Germany for Nazi Grand Admiral ...

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

'', O'Callahan is played by

Peter Horton Peter Horton (born August 20, 1953) is an American actor and director. He played Professor Gary Shepherd on the television series ''Thirtysomething'' from 1987 until 1991. Early life and education Horton was born in Bellevue, Washington, to a ...

. 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 60 ...

Disney The Walt Disney Company, commonly referred to as simply Disney, is an American multinational mass media and entertainment industry, entertainment conglomerate (company), conglomerate headquartered at the Walt Disney Studios (Burbank), Walt Di ...

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 divi ...

'', he is played by Michael Mantenuto. 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 "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 men's national ice hockey team, United States national team that defe ...

, 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) is a Public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Orono, Maine, United States. It was established in 1865 as the land-grant college of Maine and is the Flagship universitie ...

. He got the part of Jack O'Callahan after he got into a fight with another actor who was picking on him during tryouts.

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 20th-century American sportsmen NCAA men's ice hockey national champions