Mark Pavelich set up the winning goal for the USA in the ‘Miracle on Ice’ upset of the seemingly invincible Soviet Union at the 1980 Winter Olympics.
Sports Illustrated described that 4-3 win as the 20th Century’s greatest sports moment and the USA went on to clinch gold with a 4-2 victory against Finland.
The 20-man American team which defeated the USSR was comprised of mostly college students and the story was immortalised by Disney in a made-for-TV movie.
Pavelich was then brought to the NHL in 1981 by his former US Olympic coaches Herb Brooks and Craig Patrick, who by then managed the New York Rangers.
He scored 133 goals and earned 185 assists in 341 games on Broadway but his career in New York was controversially ended by a feud with Brooks’ successor, Ted Sator.
By mid-March of 1986, Pavelich had had enough and walked away from the Rangers and what remained on his $180,000 contract plus any future earnings.
Hockey wasn’t fun any more under Sator so he quit the NHL.
“It’s done, it’s over,” he said, citing differences with the new coach.
“This is not a tantrum. I’m not trying to prove something. I was probably going to retire after next season, but things were accelerated by the circumstances.”
He arrived in Dundee with a guitar
Pavelich went home to Minnesota to fish and live in the woods on the shore of Lake Superior before deciding to return to hockey in September 1986.
But it was his final destination that caused such a shock.
He arrived with his hockey gear and a guitar to join his friend and former high school teammate Craig Homola and play for Tom Stewart’s Dundee Rockets.
The signing of Pavelich attracted global media attention similar to Garry Unger joining the Rockets in August 1985 after coming out of retirement at the age of 37.
Pavelich liked his new home in Dundee and was enjoying his hockey again for the first time in a long spell.
Prior to making his debut, however, his former club New York Rangers insisted the player was still theirs under an option clause for the 1986-87 season.
The International Ice Hockey Federation (IIHF) then banned Pavelich from playing until his release was obtained following an approach from NHL president John Ziegler.
Rockets decided to fight the NHL following a meeting between management and players ahead of the Autumn Cup matches against Glasgow Eagles and Fife Flyers.
Rockets manager Tom Stewart broke it down further.
“We have done everything above board. We have Mark under contract. He is a signed Dundee Rockets player and has been registered as such.
“I am asking New York to produce their contract. I will do likewise and then it is up to the International Federation to act as arbitrator. We have put the matter in the hands of our lawyers and will be pressing the situation to the limit.
“Mark has opted to play for Dundee and we are determined he will continue to do just that. Clearly Mark has had enough of the NHL rat race and wanted to relinquish his professional status and return to the amateur ranks.
“I had a meeting with my players last night and they all gave their full backing to Mark in his bid to continue playing for the Rockets.
“He has made a big impact on all of them with his approach to the game and they are prepared to stand up and be counted on his behalf.”
Mark Pavelich hit four goals on his debut for Dundee
Rockets iced Pavelich against Glasgow Eagles where he scored four times in their 9-1 victory, which included a hat-trick from Gary McEwan and two from Craig Homola.
The following night’s Dundee-Fife derby at Kingsway Rink was sold out for Pavelich’s would-be home debut but the action was overshadowed by events off the ice.
At 11am on the morning of the Sunday evening match the Rockets were issued with a directive from the British International Hockey Association (BIHA).
Every official and visiting player would be instructed to leave the ice if Pavelich played.
BIHA president Freddie Meredith attended the derby match and warned the Rockets that ignoring the instruction would jeopardise the future of British ice hockey.
Rockets manager Tom Stewart and Pavelich’s team-mates agreed to support him regardless of the consequences but he decided to withdraw from the match.
Rockets went down 10-4 to the Flyers minus their star player who was determined to fight his case all the way in the hope of donning a Dundee sweater again.
Pavelich was “visibly distressed by the ban” and spoke afterwards to former Evening Telegraph sports editor Ed Gorrie, who covered ice hockey under the byline Centre Ice.
“This was my second venture into Europe,” said Pavelich.
“I was in Switzerland for a while and thoroughly enjoyed my spell there. I found the people very friendly but in no way do they compare with the folk from Dundee.
After all I told her about Dundee, my wife was just itching to get here.”
Mark Pavelich
“Immediately when I arrived here I realised this was the home I’d been searching for.
“After a phone call to NHL president John Ziegler I have decided to return to the States next week in an effort to sort things out.
“I have been suspended by Rangers since I walked out on them in March and I feel the only way to resolve the matter is by being on the spot personally.
“Hopefully something can be worked out but I have no intention of playing for New York.
“I’ve had enough of their set-up.”
He said his biggest disappointment was not being able to play in the derby game.
“The fans have been so good to me that I would have liked to repay them in some way.
“When I had to withdraw myself from the home game against Fife, I felt so bad. For the Dundee public this was the big one and I was unable to play a part.
“After all I told her about Dundee, my wife was just itching to get here.
“In fact, I was ready to call her over, but now it is me, not her, who’ll be making the Atlantic crossing.”
Pavelich struggled after leaving the game
The Minnesota North Stars acquired his rights later that season and he returned to his home state to play their final 12 games under former coach Herb Brooks.
But there was trouble ahead.
He played two more seasons in Italy for HC Bolzano.
The expansion San Jose Sharks brought Pavelich out of retirement for their inaugural season in 1991-92, but Pavelich played only two games before hanging up his blades.
Pavelich struggled with mental illness towards the end of his life.
In 2002 the 1980 USA team from the ‘Miracle on Ice’ was chosen to light the torch at the Winter Olympics in Salt Lake City but Pavelich stayed home.
There were two marriages, the first ending in divorce, the second in death when his wife fell from a second story balcony that they were constructing at their home.
Pavelich was found unable to stand trial and was sent to a psychiatric institution after being accused of beating a neighbour with a pole during a fishing trip in 2019.
Later he was moved to the state-operated Eagle’s Healing Nest rehabilitation facility in Minnesota, where he took his own life in March 2021.
Pavelich was a wizard on skates and a gentle soul off the ice who found the home he was searching for in Dundee in 1986.
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