The day of the U.S. victory against Russia was I believe on a Friday afternoon. The network was to show the game in prime time that night on tape-delay. However, there were so many Boston area players that word got around before the game was shown on TV. I remember getting a phone call around 5pm that night from someone who heard from someone who heard from somebody who was actually at the game in Lake Placid that the USA beat Russia.
Remember, this was way before the Internet and so there was no way for most people to know the outcome of the game until it was shown on the TV or unless they were told on the telephone. I believe one radio station in Boston let it slip but otherwise, they kept a pretty good lid on it.
My college roommate was from Winthrop and played on a summer softball team with him. I met him once. Nice guy. Amazingly regular guy.