John Harrington was one of the less ballyhooed 1980 Olympians, having been a walk-on in college at the relatively small school, University of Minnesota at Duluth. While in college he was known as a top penalty killer and was voted the school’s top student-athlete. Prior to the Olympics he had not been drafted by the NHL, but he signed shortly after the Games with the Buffalo Sabres, who sent him to their farm club, the Rochester Americans. Harrington played part of a season with Rochester despite suffering a severe injury in one game. He then joined his old college and Olympic teammate, Mark Pavelich, and played a year in a Swiss league in Lugano. After returning to the United States, he again joined for the U.S. National team, and played at the 1984 Olympics. In 1985, Harrington turned to coaching, and since 1993 has coached Saint John’s University in Collegeville, Minnesota.
