Michael Vincent Curran (born April 14, 1944) is a retired American ice hockey goaltender. He led the United States to a surprising silver medal at the 1972 Winter Olympics after representing the USA at the 1970 and 1971 Ice Hockey World Championship. He turned professional with the Minnesota Fighting Saints of the upstart World Hockey Association in 1972–73 and quickly became one of the early star goaltenders of the new league, playing in the 1973 WHA All-Star Game. Curran lost his job in 1976 when the Fighting Saints folded, but he returned to international hockey with Team USA at the 1976 and 1977 Ice Hockey World Championship as well as the 1976 Canada Cup. He retired following the 1977 season after a second stint with the revived Fighting Saints WHA franchise. Currently, Curran works as the headmaster at a prestigious private school. He was inducted into the North Dakota Athletics Hall of Fame in 1988.[1]
Curran was inducted into the International Ice Hockey Federation Hall of Fame in 1999,[2] and into the United States Hockey Hall of Fame in 1998. He was born in International Falls, Minnesota.
Awards and honors
| Award | Year |
|---|---|
| All-WCHA First Team | 1967–68 |
Career statistics
Regular season and playoffs
| Regular season | Playoffs | |||||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Season | Team | League | GP | W | L | T | MIN | GA | SO | GAA | SV% | GP | W | L | T | MIN | GA | SO | GAA | SV% | ||
| 1962–63 | Green Bay Bobcats | USHL | 3 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | ||
| 1965–66 | University of North Dakota | WCHA | Statistics Unavailable | |||||||||||||||||||
| 1967–68 | University of North Dakota | WCHA | Statistics Unavailable | |||||||||||||||||||
| 1968–69 | Green Bay Bobcats | USHL | Statistics Unavailable | |||||||||||||||||||
| 1969–70 | Green Bay Bobcats | USHL | Statistics Unavailable | |||||||||||||||||||
| 1970–71 | U.S. National Team | Intl | 29 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 1971–72 | U.S. Olympic Team | Intl | 11 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 1971–72 | Green Bay Bobcats | USHL | Statistics Unavailable | |||||||||||||||||||
| 1972–73 | Minnesota Fighting Saints | WHA | 43 | 23 | 17 | 2 | 2540 | 131 | 4 | 3.09 | .909 | 2 | — | — | — | — | 9 | 0 | — | .852 | ||
| 1973–74 | Minnesota Fighting Saints | WHA | 40 | 23 | 14 | 2 | 2382 | 130 | 2 | 3.27 | .910 | 5 | — | — | — | — | 14 | 0 | — | .913 | ||
| 1974–75 | Minnesota Fighting Saints | WHA | 26 | 11 | 10 | 1 | 1367 | 90 | 0 | 3.95 | .893 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 1975–76 | Minnesota Fighting Saints | WHA | 5 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 240 | 22 | 1 | 5.50 | .856 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 1975–76 | Johnstown Jets | 9 | 7 | 2 | 0 | 547 | 33 | 0 | 3.62 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | |||
| 1976–77 | Rochester Americans | AHL | 9 | 1 | 4 | 1 | 391 | 23 | 1 | 3.54 | .892 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 1976–77 | Minnesota Fighting Saints | WHA | 16 | 4 | 7 | 3 | 848 | 50 | 0 | 3.54 | .895 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| WHA totals | 114 | 59 | 43 | 5 | 6529 | 373 | 7 | 3.43 | .903 | 7 | — | — | — | — | 23 | 0 | — | .896 | ||||
International
| Year | Team | Event | GP | W | L | T | MIN | GA | SO | GAA | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1972 | United States | OLY | 6 | 4 | 2 | 0 | — | 18 | 0 | — |
References
- ^ https://fightinghawks.com/honors/hall-of-fame/mike-lefty-curran/213
- ^ “Hockey: 5 picked for hall”. The Oklahoman. Oklahoma City, Oklahoma. September 23, 1999. p. 29. Retrieved June 30, 2023.
External links
- Biographical information and career statistics from NHL.com, or Eliteprospects.com, or Hockey-Reference.com, or The Internet Hockey Database
- Hockeygoalies.org bio
- Evans, Hilary; Gjerde, Arild; Heijmans, Jeroen; Mallon, Bill; et al. “Mike Curran”. Olympics at Sports-Reference.com. Sports Reference LLC. Archived from the original on April 18, 2020. Retrieved November 8, 2015.
- Curran photograph