I remember pictures of the Soviet players looking mesmerized by or maybe even envious of the American players. For the Soviets hockey was more of a job and they never were able to experience anything like the emotion the American kids had in their victory.
Look at #6 #26 #5 and #25 in the pic. Especially #25. If anything, the russkies became more human to me. I grew up envisioning them as giant monsters.