Every time the Winter Olympics take place, I can't help but think back to that day in Lake Placid when our US Hockey team beat the heavily favored Soviet team, hereafter known as 'The Miracle on Ice'.

The story has been told many times, how a team comprised of college kids beat the Russians, winners of five of six previous gold medals in Olympic games.

But what many people don't know, or have forgotten, is that UNH's own Ralph Cox was the last man cut from the team.

My family had season tickets to UNH hockey for many years, so I got to see Ralph Cox play a lot and he was the real deal. The late 70's Wildcats were a fun group to watch play, including Bobby Miller, Rod Langway, Andy Brickley, the list goes on. Many had decent NHL careers.

According to his Wikipedia page, Cox led the Wildcats in goal scoring three years in a row, was named the ECAC Player of the year in 1979, and scored 40 goals in two different seasons.

He was elected to the New Hampshire Athletics Hall of Fame in 1986.

However, for all his accomplishments, it might be the games that he didn't play that he remembers most.

What a tough blow to an athlete, but Ralph seems to have handled it well from that point forward.

He may be a forgotten name to many, but not to me. I enjoyed every minute I saw him on the ice.

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