ARMY IN INTERNATIONAL COMPETITION Olympic gold medals and international competition and success are also a part of the Army hockey tradition. From Jack Riley and Larry Palmer winning gold medals to players competing in the World University Games and pre-Olympic Tours, Army hockey has traveled the globe. Riley, Army’s head coach for 36 seasons, was behind the bench for the 1960 U.S. Olympic team and pulled off a series of stunning upsets on the way to winning the gold medal. To build team unity, he named his lines Red, White and Blue instead of the standard first, second and third lines and preached fitness. A 7-5 win over Czechoslovakia was followed by a 12-1 win over Australia before they opened medal play with a 6-3 victory over Sweden. The U.S. followed that up with a 2-1 upset against gold-medal favorite Canada and a 9-1 pasting of Germany. Riley then guided the Americans past Russia, 3-2, marking the first time in history a U.S. hockey team had beaten a Soviet team. The rematch with the Czechs was closer but following a 9-4 win that included six unanswered goals by the Americans, the celebration was set. A standing ovation on the plane ride home was followed by a military police escort at West Point and a victory gathering. Riley also participated as a skater internationally, competing in the ‘48 Olympics in Stockholm where the team finished fourth despite defeating Italy 3-1 and Poland 31-1. Riley scored the gamewinning goal in a 4-3 win over England but Canada won the gold medal. Palmer, a three-time letterwinner for Riley at West Point, joined the gold-medal winning team following his graduation in 1959 as the back-up goaltender. Scott Schulze, a defenseman who registered 90 points prior to his graduation from West Point in 1990, was a member of Team U.S.A. in the World University Games in 1989 in Sapporo, Japan. The 1991 World University Games’ U.S. roster featured classmates Todd Tamburino and Scott Williams during competition in Sophia, Bulgaria. Williams was a 1991 graduate with 31 points while Tamburino collected 57 points from his defenseman position. Ed Crowley, a 1948 graduate, was an alternate on the 1948 squad with Riley while Paul DeGironimo was part of a pre-Olympic Tour prior to his graduation in 1987.
The 1960 U.S. Olympic men’s hockey team before the final cut
1960 OLYMPIC HOCKEY Gold Medal: United States Silver Medal: Canada Bronze Medal: Soviet Union U.S. Results 2/19 United States 7, Czechoslovakia 5 2/21 United States 12, Australia 1 2/22 United States 6, Sweden 3 2/24 United States 9, Germany 1 2/25 United States 2, Canada 1 2/27 United States 3, USSR 2 2/28 United States 9, Czechoslovakia 4 Larry Palmer (left) and Jack Riley
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