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T H E S O F T G L O W o f a l a t e n i g h t television can be seen through the windows of an Eden Prairie, Minn., home where inside one of the greatest American goaltenders to ever strap on the pads can be found watching the NHL playoffs until the wee hours of the night. Especially if the Vancouver Canucks are playing. For 28 years Jack McCartan was a scout for the NHL franchise that recently celebrated its 50th anniversary in the league, cruising all over North America with an occasional trip to the other side of the pond looking for players that had what it takes to reach the next level. "You have to have hockey sense and you have to be able to skate. Those are the two things that are really important," McCartan said. "The other things like stickhandling, shooting, you can work on them, but you can't teach speed and you can't teach hockey sense." Like so many hockey fans caught up in the summer playoff push, McCartan was just happy to have hockey back on TV. And with games airing from mid-morning until late at night of Aug. 5, it was the perfect way for McCartan to celebrate his 85th birthday. "I think it's the greatest game in the world. I still do," said McCartan, who was a two-sport star at the University of Minnesota. "When I was growing up, I played a lot of baseball. Hockey was just a winter thing for me. We started out one year, pre-high school and you just go out with no pads and just get one guy standing in the goal and then they'd switch and just to have somebody stand there. "My dad used to take me to some of the old St. Paul Saints games and I just fell in love with it. I didn't play that much in all, but in high school their goalie quit when I was a freshman so I was kind of thrown into the fire." Forged by that fire, McCartan would go on to backstop the U.S. to Olympic gold 20 years before the word "miracle" became part of the hockey vernacular. And yet it was a moment that almost didn't happen. After being cut from the team in early December, McCartan headed home to St. Paul to use up the rest of his time away from the Army t o c e l e b r a t e C h r i st m a s. T h a t 's w h e n h e r e c e i v e d a c a l l f r o m t e a m m a n a g e r Ji m Claypool asking if he wanted to join the team six weeks ahead of the Olympic Winter Games in Squaw Valley, Calif. Fronted by a team of speedy forwards l i k e t h e C l e a r y b r o t h e r s a n d To m m y 34 // OCTOBER 2020 USAHOCKEYMAGAZINE.COM PASSION FOR THE PUCK More Than 60 Years After Backstopping The U.S. To Olympic Gold, Jack McCartan's Love Of The Game Hasn't Waned By Harry Thompson PHOTOS BY USA Hockey Magazine Archives