In February 1960, University of Minnesota goaltender Jack McCartan was the driving force behind a group of unknown and unheralded hockey players who represented the United States at the Squaw Valley Olympics. As a college player, he had twice been named to the All-American team, but nonetheless was a late addition to the 1960 Olympic team.

Playing before partisan crowds, the underdog United States team upset Canada, the Soviet Union, and Czechoslovakia, to capture America's first gold medal in hockey. The first indications that this was to be a different hockey Olympics occurred in the game against Canada. The United States had defeated the "hockey motherland" in the 1956 Olympics and the Canadians were keying for the rematch. McCartan made 39 stops, many of them of the unbelievable category, as the U.S. won 2-1 and built momentum toward the gold medal. In the nationally televised game against the Soviets, he made 27 saves as in the words of the UI reporter covering the game: "Late in the period, McCartan had to fight like a cornered lion as the Russians drove in savagely on the attack. It was a furious interval, but big Jack stood up – and laid down – under their bristling fire to hold them off."

Jack Riley, the gold medal coach, said of McCartan: "He was the most outstanding goalie I've ever seen. Without him, we wouldn't have been successful at Squaw Valley."

After the Olympics, McCartan embarked on a fifteen-year career in professional hockey. Appearing briefly in two different seasons with the New York Rangers, he was sent to Kitchener-Waterloo of the Eastern Professional League. In 1960-61, he had a sparkling 2.78 average in 52 games. The following season, he led the league in shutouts with five. Over the next decade plus, the St. Paul native played primarily in the Western League with lesser time in the Central League and World Hockey Association. In 1968-69 he was second team Western League goaltender while in both 1969-70 and 1970-71 he captured first team honors, all with San Diego. He concluded his professional career in 1974 with the Minnesota Fighting Saints of the World Hockey Association.