- Mike Ramsey (ice hockey)
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For other people of the same name, see Mike Ramsey (disambiguation).
Mike Ramsey Born December 3, 1960
Minneapolis, MN, USAHeight 6 ft 3 in (1.91 m) Weight 190 lb (86 kg; 13 st 8 lb) Position Defense Shot Left Played for Buffalo Sabres
Pittsburgh Penguins
Detroit Red WingsNational team 
United StatesNHL Draft 11th overall, 1979
Buffalo SabresPlaying career 1980–1996 Olympic medal record Men's ice hockey Gold 1980 Lake Placid Team Michael Allen Ramsey (born December 3, 1960 in Minneapolis, Minnesota) is a retired American professional ice hockey defenseman who played 1070 regular season games in the NHL for the Buffalo Sabres, Pittsburgh Penguins and Detroit Red Wings between 1980 and 1997, after helping the 1980 U.S. Olympic hockey team win the gold medal in the Miracle On Ice.
Contents
Playing career
Amateur
Mike Ramsey attended Theodore Roosevelt High School in Minneapolis before entering the University of Minnesota. He was considered the top high school defenseman in Minnesota as a senior in 1977–78. He also attended the U.S. National Junior training camp in summer of 1978 and participated in the 1979 world junior championship.
Ramsey was the youngest member of the 1980 U.S. Olympic hockey team in Lake Placid, New York, that defeated the Soviet team and went on to win the gold medal in a victory known as the Miracle On Ice.
Professional
Drafted 11th overall by the Buffalo Sabres in the 1979 NHL Entry Draft, Ramsey would go on to play in the National Hockey League immediately after the Olympics. He had one of the most successful NHL careers of the 1980 U.S. Olympians. Primarily known as an offensive defenseman as an amateur, he successfully adapted to the bigger and tougher NHL by becoming a "stay at home" defensive specialist for the Sabres. Highlights of his career with the Sabres include playing in the NHL All-Star Game four times (1982, 1983, 1985, 1986) as well as being a member of the NHL All-Star team that played the Soviet national hockey team in Rendez-Vous '87. Ramsey also served as the Sabres team captain during his 14 seasons with club. He continued to play for Team USA, participating in the 1984 Canada Cup, 1982 Ice Hockey World Championship and 1987 Canada Cup tournaments.
Ramsey was brought to the Pittsburgh Penguins by his old Buffalo coach Scotty Bowman in 1992–93 to shore up the Pens' defensive corps while making a run for a third-straight Stanley Cup victory. As the Penguins fell short of that goal, Ramsey was offloaded to the Detroit Red Wings in 1994. He played one more complete season plus an extra two games in 1996 (in the process losing to a team having Neal Broten, a Miracle on Ice teammate, on its squad) before finally retiring from the game.
Post-playing career
Ramsey returned to Minnesota after finishing his NHL career where he ran a sporting goods store named "Gold Medal Sports" and played senior league hockey. He returned to the NHL in 1997 to serve as an assistant coach with the Buffalo Sabres and in 2000, he took a similar position with the Minnesota Wild. He was with the Wild until June 2010.
He was inducted into the United States Hockey Hall of Fame in 2001
Family
Ramsey has three children: Jack, Hannah, and Rachel. Rachel & Jack have followed in the footsteps of their dad by also playing hockey. Rachel was a defenseman on the Minnetonka, MN High School Girls Hockey Team and will play college hockey for the University of Minnesota starting in the fall of 2011.[1] Jack will be playing U16 for the Minnetonka Skippers.
In popular culture
Ramsey was played by Joseph Cure in the 2004 Disney film Miracle about the Miracle on Ice hockey team. Regarding the experience of shooting the film, Cure said "It was a once-in-a-lifetime experience, and then they yell, 'Cut!' They got out the champagne and cigars, the crowd was cheering. Then it slowly sunk in: That was it. I was the last one off the ice, though. They had to kick me off."[2]
Ramsey does not appear in a 1981 TV movie called Miracle on Ice, except in archival game film and footage of the gold medal ceremony.
Awards and achievements
- Played in NHL All-Star Game (1982, 1983, 1985, 1986)
- Played in NHL Rendez-Vous '87
Career statistics
--- Regular Season --- ---- Playoffs ---- Season Team Lge GP G A Pts PIM GP G A Pts PIM -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 1978-79 U. of Minnesota NCAA 0 0 0 0 0 -- -- -- -- -- 1979-80 U.S. Olympic Team Intl 63 11 24 35 63 -- -- -- -- -- 1979-80 Buffalo Sabres NHL 13 1 6 7 6 13 1 2 3 12 1980-81 Buffalo Sabres NHL 72 3 14 17 56 8 0 3 3 20 1981-82 Buffalo Sabres NHL 80 7 23 30 56 4 1 1 2 14 1982-83 Buffalo Sabres NHL 77 8 30 38 55 10 4 4 8 15 1983-84 Buffalo Sabres NHL 72 9 22 31 82 3 0 1 1 6 1984-85 Buffalo Sabres NHL 79 8 22 30 102 5 0 1 1 23 1985-86 Buffalo Sabres NHL 76 7 21 28 117 -- -- -- -- -- 1986-87 Buffalo Sabres NHL 80 8 31 39 109 -- -- -- -- -- 1987-88 Buffalo Sabres NHL 63 5 16 21 77 6 0 3 3 29 1988-89 Buffalo Sabres NHL 56 2 14 16 84 5 1 0 1 11 1989-90 Buffalo Sabres NHL 73 4 21 25 47 6 0 1 1 8 1990-91 Buffalo Sabres NHL 71 6 14 20 46 5 1 0 1 12 1991-92 Buffalo Sabres NHL 66 3 14 17 67 7 0 2 2 8 1992-93 Buffalo Sabres NHL 33 2 8 10 20 -- -- -- -- -- 1992-93 Pittsburgh Penguins NHL 12 1 2 3 8 12 0 6 6 4 1993-94 Pittsburgh Penguins NHL 65 2 2 4 22 1 0 0 0 0 1994-95 Detroit Red Wings NHL 33 1 2 3 23 15 0 1 1 4 1995-96 Detroit Red Wings NHL 47 2 4 6 35 15 0 4 4 10 1996-97 Detroit Red Wings NHL 2 0 0 0 0 -- -- -- -- -- -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- NHL Totals 1070 79 266 345 1012 115 8 29 37 176See also
- List of members of the United States Hockey Hall of Fame
- List of NHL players with 1000 games played
- Miracle on Ice
References
- ^ http://www.mngirlshockeyhub.com/news_article/show/73160?referrer_id=115187&elr=KArksi8cyaiUo8cyaiUiD3aPc:_Yyc:aULPQL7PQLanchO7DiUr
- ^ Joseph Cure biography at the Internet Movie Database http://www.imdb.com/name/nm1357150/
External links
- Ramsey's bio at hockeydraftcentral.com
- Mike Ramsey's biography at Legends of Hockey
- Mike Ramsey's career stats at The Internet Hockey Database
Preceded by
Larry PlayfairBuffalo Sabres first round draft pick
1979Succeeded by
Steve PatrickPreceded by
Mike FolignoBuffalo Sabres captain
1991-92Succeeded by
Pat LaFontaineNote: Ramsey was named Sabres captain during the 1990–91 NHL season (after Foligno was traded). He later resigned the captaincy during the 1992–93 NHL season, in favor of LaFontaine.
Categories:- 1960 births
- 1980 US Olympic hockey team
- American ice hockey defencemen
- Buffalo Sabres captains
- Buffalo Sabres draft picks
- Buffalo Sabres players
- Detroit Red Wings players
- Ice hockey players at the 1980 Winter Olympics
- Living people
- Minnesota Golden Gophers men's ice hockey players
- National Hockey League All-Stars
- National Hockey League first round draft picks
- Olympic gold medalists for the United States
- Olympic ice hockey players of the United States
- People from Minneapolis, Minnesota
- Pittsburgh Penguins players
- United States Hockey Hall of Fame
- University of Minnesota alumni
- Olympic medalists in ice hockey
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