What The 1980 US Olympic Hockey Team Looks Like Now

Posted by Almeda Bohannan on Tuesday, May 7, 2024

While Dave Christian was part of a historic gold-medal-winning squad, he wasn't the first member of his family to have success on the Olympic ice. Christian's father, Bill, and his uncle, Roger, were members of the 1960 silver-medal team. As for the younger Christian, he joined Team USA after a collegiate career at the University of North Dakota. In his final season with the Fighting Sioux, Christian's team lost in the national championship game to a University of Minnesota team led by Christian's eventual Olympic teammate, Neal Broten.

During the Olympic tournament, Christian showed his skills as a playmaking defenseman with a team-high eight assists, including two in the gold medal game against Finland. Less than a week after claiming the gold medal, Christian started what would become a 15-year career in the National Hockey League. It was a journey that began with a bang. In his first shift with the Winnipeg Jets, Christian scored just seven seconds into his ice time, setting a record for the fastest goal by a player in his first NHL game. He would play with six teams during his career, appearing in the 1990 Stanley Cup Finals and the 1991 All-Star Game — both as a member of the Boston Bruins — before finally retiring after the 1993-94 campaign.

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