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In February 1980, Jim Craig helped to orchestrate what many consider the biggest sports moment of the 20th century, the “Miracle on Ice” hockey victory by the U.S. Olympic Team over the overwhelming favorites from the Soviet Union. Team USA, a collection of college players and minor-leaguers, was going against the vaunted Soviets, who had won the previous four Olympic golds and defeated the Americans, 10-3, in an exhibition game just two weeks earlier.

The 4-3 victory in Lake Placid, N.Y., that led to the USA winning the gold medal two days later was achieved through months of hard work and teamwork under the guidance of Minnesota native Herb Brooks, a successful college coach who crafted a team that featured Craig as the goaltender. A Boston University graduate who backstopped the Terriers to the 1977-78 NCAA title, Craig went on to play just 30 NHL games over three seasons, most of them with his hometown Boston Bruins, in a professional career that ended in 1984. He went on to work in advertising sales before launching Gold Medal Strategies, in which he provides motivational and team-building workshops. His new book, “We Win: Lessons on Life, Business and Building Your Own Miracle Team” is available through his website (goldmedalstrategies.com).

What got you into golf growing up in North Easton, Mass.?

I was always a pretty good baseball player, but I had hurt my back and couldn’t play. One of my best friends, Randy Millen, who went on to play hockey and golf at Harvard, was always after me to play golf. So we started playing, and I loved it. I went on to become the caddie master at Thorny Lea [in nearby Brockton, Mass.] as a sophomore in high school and I went on to play in high school and at BU.

What is it that endures about the 1980 Olympics and that shocking upset?

As you get older, get married and have children, your perspective changes, but one thing hasn’t changed: what my teammates and I accomplished was much more than a hockey game. If you were alive, you watched it in a dorm room or you were at a sporting event when the result was announced, or you saw it with your family. Someone who wasn’t born probably saw the movie “Miracle.” Very few people don’t know about it. It’s always a poignant moment when I meet someone. You think they would be asking me about the experience, but it’s just the opposite; they’re sharing theirs, which is cool.

What made it bigger than a hockey game?

It was a moment in time where the economy was struggling. You had the oil crisis, the American hostages in Iran, President Carter giving his “crisis of confidence” speech. I remember when the “USA!” chant started. It happened in Lake Placid when we were losing our game against Sweden and some firefighters came into the arena and decided it was too quiet, so they started chanting. It became a symbol, a tradition, just like when we flew on Air Force One as a team to visit the White House. That became a tradition, too, for every sports team that has won something important.

What is the overriding message that comes out of the 1980 victory?

I think the power of dreaming has been forgotten. I think about the community of people who helped get us there, the friends and neighbors who didn’t care about how big your house was or what kind of car you drove. It was a community that supported, developed, and really mentored kids who had dreams. I think that we’re so busy today in society and in our lives, measuring and analyzing, that we forget to dream. Nobody asks what your dreams are anymore.

Today we seem to be driven more by analytics, don’t we?

What would analytics have said about a 5-foot-3 kid going to Massasoit Community College to play goal because none of the colleges were interested, then playing for BU and winning a national championship, and going on to compete in the Olympics? I initially came to BU to fill a hole, in case the starting goalie got hurt, and then the next year they would recruit another goalie. I don’t think I was counted on to do anything. It’s crazy, right?

What was it like to work with Herb Brooks from your perspective?

Herb drove change; he saw the unobvious and was prepared for it before anybody even knew it was going to happen. I think [Patriots coach] Bill Belichick does a lot of that as well. For example, who deferred kicks before he did? Herb developed every one of us, individually and collectively. I was a sponge to that guy. I tried to take advantage of every single opportunity to interact with him. You’ve all heard it a million times from the movie, but it was true: he wasn’t looking for the best players, he was looking for the right ones. If you can’t coach them, they’re the wrong ones.

Herb put you in position to accomplish your goal, but then you had to execute.

Before the Olympics, they put us through a series of tests, and in the stress test, the more pressure they put me under, the calmer I got. That’s important, because the goalie needs to be a coach on the ice. It isn’t about being individually successful because that will never be good enough; it’s about how you can utilize the strengths of the people in front of you.

That team also changed the NHL’s view of college players, didn’t it?

Definitely. NHL teams at that time had a couple of American players at most. When Herb put us through the 61-game pre-Olympic schedule against the best competition, he made all the guys on our team much more valuable. Several players on that team – Ken Morrow, Neal Broten, Mike Ramsey, Dave Christian, Mark Johnson, among others – went on to be very successful in the NHL and changed the paradigm, the stigma about college players not being good enough. They were pioneers in a way.

Is there a round of golf that you remember most fondly?

I don’t have any one particular favorite. I really enjoy playing with my son and my son-in-law. We have a lot of fun. My son didn’t think that highly of the game when he was growing up, and now he is kicking himself because he didn’t play more.

What is it about the game that you find most rewarding?

What I enjoy most is competing. Golf is a great test – you’re responsible for your scorecard, for knowing the rules – you can’t make excuses. There are so many factors in being competitive, and talent is just one of them. It’s about controlling your emotions. So many people lose matches before they start because they don’t have that mental toughness. It’s a tremendous game that allows you to compete at all levels. You can’t hide in golf.

The Craig File

Family: Wife Sharlene, son J.D. and daughter Taylor

Handicap Index: 8.6 (has been as low as 3.0)

Home courses: Bay Club, Mattapoisett, Mass., and Vinoy Renaissance, St. Petersburg, Fla.

Favorite club: Driver

Best round: 67 at Thorny Lea Golf Club, Brockton, Mass.

Favorite course: Muirfield Village Golf Club, Dublin, Ohio

Dream foursome: Son J.D., Tom Brady and Bill Belichick