Steve Janaszak

Steve Janaszak
Born	(1957-01-07) January 7, 1957 Saint Paul, MN, USA
Height	6 ft 1 in (185 cm)
Weight	210 lb (95 kg; 15 st 0 lb)
Position	Goaltender
Caught	Left
Played for	NHL Minnesota North Stars Colorado Rockies
National team	United States
NHL Draft	Undrafted
Playing career	1979–1983

Steve Janaszak

Medal record
Men's ice hockey
	1980 Lake Placid	Team

Steven James Janaszak (born January 7, 1957 in Saint Paul, Minnesota and raised in White Bear Lake, Minnesota) is a retired American ice hockey goaltender who played three games in the NHL with the Minnesota North Stars and Colorado Rockies between 1980 and 1982.

Amateur career

Janaszak first became known in the hockey world as the star goaltender for Hill-Murray School on the East Side of Saint Paul. Janaszak attended the University of Minnesota where he was a goaltender for the Minnesota Gophers. He was voted most valuable player in the 1979 national championship tournament as the Gophers won the NCAA title. Janaszak is best known for being the back-up goalie to Jim Craig on the Miracle on Ice 1980 U.S. Olympic hockey team that won the gold medal. Steve was the only member of the team to not appear in any of the games at the Olympics.

Professional career

Janaszak signed a free agent contract with the North Stars after the Olympics and appeared in one regular season game that season—a solid 2–2 draw against the Buffalo Sabres. Unfortunately, the North Stars already had two quality goaltenders in Gilles Meloche and Don Beaupre and there was no room for Janaszak. After spending the next season in the minor leagues, Janaszak returned to the NHL with the Colorado Rockies who signed him as a free agent in 1982. He also played three games for Team USA as Glenn Resch's backup at the 1982 Ice Hockey World Championship tournament in Helsinki before retiring from the game after the 1982–83 season.

In popular culture

In the 1981 TV movie about the gold medal-winning U.S. hockey team called Miracle on Ice, Janaszak does not appear as a character, but rather in archival footage of the gold medal ceremony.

He is played by Sam Skoryna in the 2004 Disney film Miracle.

Awards and achievements

Award	Year
All-NCAA All-Tournament Team	1979
Ken McKenzie Trophy (U.S.- Born Rookie of the Year - IHL; shared with Mike Labianca)	1981

External links

• Steve Janaszak's biography at Legends of Hockey
• Steve Janaszak's career statistics at The Internet Hockey Database

Awards and achievements
Preceded by Jack O'Callahan	NCAA Tournament Most Outstanding Player 1979	Succeeded by Doug Smail