As the USA men’s hockey team competes for gold at the 2026 Winter Olympic Games, one Chaska resident is glued to his television watching the action in Italy.

John Mayasich, 92, was one of USA’s key players 70 years ago — at the 1956 Winter Olympic Games in Cortina d’Ampezzo, Italy — when the team unexpectedly took home the silver medal in hockey.

Long before the 1980 “Miracle on Ice” team that beat the Russians for the gold medal, the 1956 squad lost only to the Soviet Union, 4-0, to take second that year. It was the USA’s first-ever Olympic medal in hockey.

Four years later, the American squad exacted its revenge, taking gold in the 1960 Winter Olympics in Squaw Valley (now named Olympic Valley), placing in front of Canada’s silver-medal team and the Soviet Union’s bronze.

“It doesn’t seem like 70 years ago,” Mayasich says, sitting down for a brief interview even as the USA women’s team is currently taking on Canada and he’s missing some of the broadcast.

“I’m still above ground,” he jokes. “And being around is still fun. I try to have a good laugh once a day.”

Four players from the 1956 USA team are alive today, Mayasich reports, and they get together occasionally to reminisce about their incredible run at the Olympics. Mayasich recently had lunch with the son of Jack Petroske, one of his silver medal teammates.

“He had a bunch of photos from Cortina,” he reports. “That was a nice deal.”

He says it’s been fun seeing televised scenes from Cortina this year, noting that the Olympic site was a small village of a few thousand people 70 years ago. It now swells to a population of about 30,000 during the busy winter months, Mayasich adds.

“Back then, we stayed above this little restaurant and bar,” Mayasich laughs. “Just think of that … an Olympic team never would stay there now.”

Northern Minnesota Kid

Mayasich is originally from Eveleth, Minnesota, home of the U.S. Hockey Hall of Fame Museum. Born to parents who immigrated there from the former Yugoslavia, he was one of many kids in the family.

As he grew up, Mayasich enjoyed a variety of sports — tennis, baseball, ping pong and hockey. He and his friends later made up an unstoppable high school hockey team, the Eveleth Golden Bears. They didn’t lose a single game during Mayasich’s four-year career, and the Golden Bears went on to win four straight Minnesota state high school hockey championships.

After graduating from high school, Mayasich played for legendary coach John Mariucci at the University of Minnesota. From 1953 to 1955, Mayasich was selected as an All-American hockey player. He still holds the school’s scoring record — 144 goals and 154 assists. His no. 8 jersey was retired in 1998—the only Gopher player ever to be so honored.

While at the University of Minnesota, Mayasich joined ROTC (Reserve Officers’ Training Crops) and was commissioned as a second lieutenant in the Army after graduating. He was assigned to temporary duty and joined the Army’s traveling hockey team.

“We played a lot of exhibition games,” Mayasich recalls. Five Army officers and several enlisted service members were selected for the 1956 USA Olympic team.

“It wasn’t such a big deal to make the Olympic team … not like it is today,” he says. “You didn’t have that many players to pick from. If someone was married with a family, how were they supposed to be out on the road for five months?”

Olympic Glory

Mayasich and his USA teammates, coached by Mariucci, flew to Germany, played a few exhibition games and then took a bus to Cortina for the 1956 Olympics. They’d never played any of the international teams before showing up at the Olympics, so there was no way of telling how successful the USA might be.

Team USA was dominated by Minnesota athletes that year, including two other Eveleth players — goalie Willard Ikola and Johnny Matchefts.

The entire Olympics was held at Cortina in 1956, so Mayasich and his teammates were able to watch various competitions during their time off. (In 2026, the Olympic ice events are occurring in Milan, Italy, and the rest are being held around Cortina.)

During their Olympic run, Team USA was busy playing every team in the field, finishing with a 4-1 record during the medal round. Their silver medal was secured on Feb. 4, 1956, with a 9-4 win over Czechoslovakia.

USA’s biggest win came against Canada, 4-1, on Jan. 31. Mayasich scored three goals in that contest.

“Beating Canada back then was a big deal,” he says. “It was exciting.”

Interestingly, the Olympic hockey games were played on an outdoor rink in Cortina. Floodlights mounted on poles provided just enough illumination for evening games.

One of Mayasich’s more memorable goals against Canada occurred when Team USA was about to switch lines.

“I flipped the puck up toward their goalie,” he smiles. “Nobody knew where the puck was because it was above the lights. It hit the goalie on his shoulder, and it went in.”

Hockey Life

Following his initial Olympics appearance, Mayasich played briefly for the St. Paul Saints and Minneapolis Millers minor league hockey teams. He then joined the Green Bay Bobcats amateur hockey team and played and coached for them for 12 years. He never had the opportunity to join the professional National Hockey League.

While with the Bobcats, Mayasich was named to the 1960 Olympics team again. This time, the Americans went undefeated.

“They thought Canada and Russia would be in the final, but we beat them all,” he remembers. “We played on a Sunday morning, and my mom was at Mass. So, my mom didn’t get to see me play.”

When his mother returned home, Mayasich recalls, news was spreading about the gold-medal win.

“Boy, the phone’s been ringing off the hook,” Mayasich’s mother reportedly said. “Johnny must have done something good.”

Following their big win, five players from the USA squad took a side trip to Rome, where the lifelong Catholics were scheduled to have an audience with the pope.

“I was so tired, the train ride was so boring and so I slept,” he recalls. “I didn’t make it to the audience. I was an altar boy until I graduated from high school, and here I was … I didn’t make it.”

Sometime later, Mayasich landed back in Minnesota, working for media mogul Stanley Hubbard at the KS95 FM radio station for many years. He remains close friends with Hubbard and his family.

The last time Mayasich played a hockey game was in the late 1980s, strapping on the skates for a University of Minnesota alumni contest, along with legendary coach Herb Brooks.

Asked if he misses competing on the ice, Mayasich quickly shakes his head.

“No,” he says. “Why waste time doing something you’re getting worse at? Is that fun?”

Then he smiles and quickly adds, “Now, I’ve got great grandkids playing hockey.”

Olympic Return

Following his two medal-winning performances, Mayasich has attended a number of Winter Olympics around the world — Sarajevo, Calgary, Vancouver and Salt Lake City to name a few.

This year, his daughter and son have traveled to Italy to watch some of the action in person. Mayasich is keeping an eye on USA’s women’s and men’s teams via television.

“The game has changed,” he admits. “It’s different from all the playmaking and passing we did. Now it’s a lot of muscle and a lot of contact.”
Mayasich is also keenly interested in the curling competition, because he knows most of the American athletes on Team USA. Mayasich has curled most of his life, only giving up the sport last year.

“I could still throw the rock, if somebody would hold me up,” he chuckles. “You’d be nuts to be out on the ice at 92. But I like watching it.”

Mayasich also enjoys following all the other sports that are part of the Winter Olympics, he adds.

(NOTE: Mayasich’s life is the subject of a new book, published in 2025. Written by author Rob Dier, “John Mayasich: Immigrant Roots to Olympic Gold” is available for purchase through several outlets.)