Eruzione was born on October 25, 1954, to an Italian-American family in Winthrop, Massachusetts. His father was a bartender and worked in a sewage plant, and he grew up with many of his relatives living in the same home. He learned to play hockey for Youth Hockey of Winthrop as part of the GBYHL (Greater Boston Youth Hockey League). He graduated from Winthrop Senior High School in 1972, where he was captain of the varsity hockey team during his senior year. He then spent a year at Berwick Academy to fine-tune his hockey skills in a New England Prep environment. After leaving Berwick, Eruzione attended Boston University. He had initially opted for another school, but he switched to Boston after his coach forgot his name. While at Boston, he averaged over twenty goals a season for four years. BU coach Jack Parker called Eruzione "Pete Rose on skates".\n', '

Eruzione also played for Team USA at the 1975 and 1976 Ice Hockey World Championship tournaments. He then spent two seasons with the Toledo Goaldiggers of the International Hockey League, being named the Rookie of the Year in 1978 and leading the team to the Turner Cup championship in that year. After his second year in Toledo, Eruzione, who played Forward, was named the Captain of the 1980 Olympic hockey team, scoring the winning goal against the Soviets and helping the Americans win the gold medal against Finland. Eruzione\'s winning goal against the Soviet Union has become one of the most played highlights in American sports, and was voted the greatest highlight of all time by ESPN viewers in March 2008.\n', '

Due to Eruzione\'s having played under contract for the Goaldiggers prior to the 1980 Olympics, his amateur status was later brought under question by NHL Players\' Association director Alan Eagleson. Eruzione rebutted the charges, saying "He\'s trying to take something away from me that we so richly deserved. He can\'t take away the memory. Is he going to try to convince everybody in the United States we lost?"\n', '

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