Dave Silk

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Olympic medal record
Men's Ice Hockey
Gold	1980 Lake Placid	Team

David "Dave" Silk (born January 1, 1958 in Scituate, Massachusetts). Silk along with many of his friends grew up at the hockey rink trying to pursue their NHL dreams. When Silk was 8 years old, he lost his father Henry to cancer. His mother Abby thought that he needed a father figure around to teach important life lessons. Soon after the death of his father, his mother introduced him to Ed Taylor. Ed Taylor was a man that ran the local ice arena and had an important impact on Silk’s life. He would pick up and drop David off after practices daily (Carroll). According to Silk “he became my surrogate father. My mother knew he’d take care of me, without him I’m not sure I would have ever even tried hockey”. After playing in the Youth leagues for many years Silk realized he had to play at a higher level of hockey if we wanted to make his dreams come true.

Contents 1 Prep School/College Hockey 2 Miracle on Ice 3 Silk and The National Hockey League 4 Life After Hockey 5 References / External Links

[edit] Prep School/College Hockey

Silk attended Thayer Academy in Braintree (NHL Player). During his first year at prep school hockey Silk earned 85 points (Thompson). Quickly after playing at Thayer, there was much hype about Silk’s hockey ability. Silk then acquired a hockey scholarship to attend Boston University. While attending, he became teammates and life long friends with Mike Eruzione, Jim Craig, and Jack O’Callahan who were also members of the 1980 Olympics Miracle on Ice (Boston University). While at Boston University Silk became a dominate force for the Terriers. Earning all tournament teams, athlete of the week, and First- Team-All- New England Recognition (Boston University). Also Silk holds records at Boston University, scoring the most goals by a freshman 35 in 1976-1977, and most power-play goals in a game which was 4 against Merrimack on November 22, 1977 (NHL Amateur). Silk won the NCAA Championship in 1978 with Boston University; and he was awarded New England Rookie of the year 1976-1977.

[edit] Miracle on Ice

Many would believe the most important accomplishment in David Silk’s life was the 1980 Olympics. The 1980 “Miracle on Ice” is known today as one of the biggest upsets in sports history. Team USA was made up of unknown college players. Many believed that they were a huge underdog going into the Olympics. The USA didn’t let any of the negative criticisms stop them from attaining their goals. They worked their way through the games and got to the final four. They were set to play the Soviet Union. Going into this game, many Americans were scared for the team for numerous reasons. Team USA had lost to the Soviet Union in an exhibition game 10-3 that was held at Madison Square garden in New York City just days before this rematch in Lake Placid. The turmoil between the United States and the Soviet Union also added to the stress to the hockey game. Silk said “To us, it was a hockey game; to the rest of the world it was a political statement”. None of these factors phased team USA in any way. Many would say Herb Brooks, who was the head coach of the team, had a huge impact on the team’s accomplishments. According to Silk “he was a master motivator known for impassioned speeches”. Brooks would tape clippings and telegrams on the wall to motivate the team before going out on the ice and playing the Soviets (Carroll). Silk said “of all the telegrams we had, the one I remember came from this woman in Texas, It read, I may not know anything about hockey but I want you guys to go out and kill those Commie Bastards. At that point we began to understand what this game meant to people”. David Silk and team USA played like they never had played before. They left everything they had on the ice of that Olympic Stadium, defeating the Soviets 4-3. “When the final buzzer sounded on that 4-3 victory, many Americans swelled with Pride” Silk said (Carroll). No one imagined that team USA would end up being conquering the Soviet Union hockey team in such a fashion. Two days later the young American team played Finland for the Gold Medal and came from behind as they had done in nearly every game leading to this Gold medal match. After the unbelievable upset that lead to the gold medal one might ask where would you put such a prized possession? When Silk was asked he said “my gold medal is in a safety box at a local bank and my jersey is around the house somewhere”. Soon after the gold medal game National Hockey League Teams were contacting “anyone wearing a Team USA jersey” (Carroll). The next step in David Silks life was getting the chance to make a child hood dream turn into a reality. Many years after the 1980 Olympic gold medal game Herb Brooks was in a fatal accident. He was leaving a charity golf tournament in his home state of Minnesota (Carroll). Silk said “every player from the 1980 team made it to the funeral. That was a very tough time for everyone”. Brooks had a huge impact on those “young college” hockey players and made them along with many people believe that nothing is impossible.

[edit] Silk and The National Hockey League

After the hype of the 1980 Olympics David Silk pursued his NHL dream. He was selected in the fourth round number 59 overall by the New York Rangers. He signed March 3, 1980 only a few days after the Olympic gold medal game (NHL Amateur). He played for the New York Rangers for three seasons (NHL Player). He played right wing and center; he was 5 foot 11 and weighed 190 lbs while playing in the NHL (NHL Amateur). After the three seasons with the Rangers Silk was traded to the Boston Bruins. Being traded to the Bruins made his child hood dream even better. He played in 64 games for the Bruins getting 20 goals and 42 points total (Carroll). Silk was able to play for the team where he had grown up. Silk said “Growing up skating on ponds off Hatherly Road, I always wanted to play for the Bruins”. He played in 249 games in the NHL over 5 seasons (Carroll). While in the NHL, David Silk was very productive. During the 1980-1986 years silk scored 54 goals, and he had 59 assists. During 1982- 1986 Silk played in 13 playoff games having 2 goals and 4 assists (NHL Amateur). As lucky as Silk was, the search for the Stanley Cup came up empty handed. After a few years in the NHL Silk went across seas and played hockey for a short period of time. He played in Germany for a German elite league for the rest of his career (NHL Player).

[edit] Life After Hockey

Dave Silk decided hang up the skates and retire from hockey 1991. After he retired, Silk went back to his alma mater Boston University and was the assistant men’s hockey coach for a couple of years. After Silk’s days of playing hockey he was still being honored as he should be. Silk has been inducted into the United States Hockey Hall of Fame, United States Olympic Hall of Fame, Sports Illustrated Sportsman of Year, and also inducted into the Massachusetts Hockey Hall of Fame (NHL Amateur). He not only will constantly be remembered as being an amazing hockey player, he will also be known for being an important role model. His story shows young boys everywhere to never give up your dreams. Nothing stopped Silk from attaining what he wanted out of life, which is important for young people to never forget.

While attending Boston University Silk earned a Business degree and is part of the management team at Bear Sterns Investments in Boston (Thompson). When asked if Silk still ties up the skates he said “I skate maybe once or twice a year for a charity event. I can’t say I miss it. I’m content. I’m good friends with former teammates Jack O’Callahan and also with Jack Hughes and Ralph Cox, who were the last two cuts from the team that year. The friendships, like I said, are the most important things for me to ever come out of my time in hockey” (Carroll). David Silk was a great hockey player and is still a great person. His and Team USA’s story will forever be held as an important part of American history. David Silk’s inspiration will live on forever.

Carroll, Robert. “Dave Silk Reflects on Golden Days Playing Hockey”. Boston Globe, March 11, 2004. 9 October 2006. <http://boston.com/sports/hockey>

“Dave Silk”. 1987 NHL Amateur Draft. 9 October 2006. <http://www.Hockeydraftcentral.com/1978/78059.html>

“Dave Silk”. Boston University Hall of Fame. 9 October 2006. <http://www.bu.edu/athletics/hall-of- fame/bios/silk-dave.html>

“Dave Silk”. NHL Player Search. 9 October 2006. <http://www.legendsofhockey.net:8080/Legends of Hockey>

Thompson, Harry. “Bay Stater Silk Spun Dream Career Close to Home”. USA Hockey Magazine, February, 2005. 9 October 2006. <http://usahockeymagazine.com>