Member of 'Miracle On Ice' hockey team seeks his missing game-used stick

Mark Wells seeks stick used in 1980 gold medal game, says he gave it to St. Clair Shores mayor 30 years ago

HARRISON TOWNSHIP, Mich. – Mark Wells is a member of the legendary 1980 "Miracle On Ice" U.S. Olympic gold medal hockey team.

On Monday, the gold medalist invited us into his Harrison Township home to help solve an Olympic-size mystery.

"I felt I was stripped of some reward that I'd gained and represented not only the nation but the city of St. Clair Shores," he said.

Wells' Olympic hockey stick is missing and it has been ever since he placed it into the hands of former St. Clair Shores mayor Frank McPharlin 30 years ago.

"I didn't know if they stored it or if they put it in some other office," said Wells.

Signed by all of the players on the Olympic team and head coach Herb Brooks, Wells assumed it was safe and sound somewhere.

"I mean, who wouldn't? Who wouldn't, that's why it's such a shock," he said.

After his Lake Placid return, Wells' childhood skating rink in St. Clair Shores was to be dedicated in his honor with his game-used stick to go on display. None of that ever happened, which is something current Mayor Kip Walby made sure to change this past month.

"We got a gold medalist, we got an individual who was part of the greatest sporting event of the 20th century, and he's ours," said Walby.

His name is now above the ice arena door. His number hangs above the ice. However, the infamous stick never was found.

"We didn't know about the stick until we literally looked at these pictures that were in the archives over there and went, 'Oh my gosh, where is that stick?'" said Walby.

Life hasn't been easy on Wells. He acquired a rare spinal disease which took him off the ice and forced him to sell his gold medal, one of the reasons he desperately wants that stick back.

"It would mean everything to me. I mean, that's what I put my childhood toward, playing hockey, and if we do recover it and if it shows up I would present it to the city," he said.


From left: Mark Wells, the missing stick and former St. Clair Shores mayor Frank McPharlin