'Miracle on Ice' players head to Las Vegas for 40th anniversary celebration of famed game

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Members of the 1980 Team USA team and Coach Herb Brooks' daughter posed ahead of their sendoff to the 40th anniversary celebration of the "Miracle on Ice" game in Las Vegas. (FOX 9)

BLOOMINGTON, Minn. (FOX 9) - This weekend, the “Miracle on Ice” team will be honored during a special reunion in Las Vegas. Some of the players gathered Thursday afternoon at Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport to reminisce ahead of the special celebration.    

"There's days where it is hard to believe it's gone by that quickly," said Dave Christian, a 1980 Team USA defenseman.

Forty years ago, a group of young men pulled off the improbable. Memories of a miracle never get old.

"At first you say, ‘How's your family?’ After that it's same old guys, but it's hard to believe it's been 40 years,” said William “Buzz” Schneider, a 1980 Team USA forward. “It's gone by quick and we're certainly surprised how long this has resonated like it is."

"It's like you never left the locker room. You get together and it clicks right away and it's a lot of fun," said Mike Ramsey, a 1980 Team USA defenseman.

This weekend, members of the 1980 USA hockey team will gather together in Las Vegas to celebrate the 40th anniversary of the “Miracle on Ice.” While the task of beating the Soviets was daunting, the players still remember feeling that they had a chance.

"There was a quiet confidence among the guys and the team, I think we all felt like we had a good team,” said Christian. “I don't know that we went in expecting to win, but Herb Brooks did a phenomenal job. He prepared us to win without making the result and winning the focus."

Head Coach Brooks passed away in 2003, but his daughter Kelly and granddaughter Olivia will be on hand. They say they will be there not only in honor of Brooks’ memory, but also because they consider the team as family.

"They're my big brothers,” said Kelly Brooks Paradise, Coach Brooks’ daughter. “They have taken good care of our family since our father died.”

After defeating the Soviets, the Americans went on to win gold in Lake Placid. While they lived it, 40 years later, the memories still bring smiles to their faces.

"Full disclosure - I'll be sitting watching TV with my wife and all the sudden there will be a commercial or a highlight and I'll [nudge her and point it out] and she goes, ‘Really?’” said Ramsey. “I still get pretty jazzed up seeing clips of it."

"What we did, I'm glad I did with these other 19 guys and Coach Herb Brooks," said Schneider.

"It was a memory we won't forget," said Paradise.