Posted on 02/22/2016 8:46:38 AM PST by PROCON
In one of the most dramatic upsets in Olympic history, the underdog U.S. hockey team, made up of college players, defeats the four-time defending gold-medal winning Soviet team at the XIII Olympic Winter Games in Lake Placid, New York. The Soviet squad, previously regarded as the finest in the world, fell to the youthful American team 4-3 before a frenzied crowd of 10,000 spectators. Two days later, the Americans defeated Finland 4-2 to clinch the hockey gold.
The Soviet team had captured the previous four Olympic hockey golds, going back to 1964, and had not lost an Olympic hockey game since 1968. Three days before the Lake Placid Games began, the Soviets routed the U.S. team 10-3 in an exhibition game at Madison Square Garden in New York City. The Americans looked scrappy, but few blamed them for it-their average age, after all, was only 22, and their team captain, Mike Eruzione, was recruited from the obscurity of the Toledo Blades of the International League.
Few had high hopes for the seventh-seeded U.S. team entering the Olympic tournament, but the team soon silenced its detractors, making it through the opening round of play undefeated, with four victories and one tie, thus advancing to the four-team medal round. The Soviets, however, were seeded No. 1 and as expected went undefeated, with five victories in the first round.
(Excerpt) Read more at history.com ...
The 2004 movie, "Miracle" did a good job recreating that magic moment, IMHO.
I remember the rivalry between the Soviets during the cold war was incredible!
I remember finding out the score before they showed the game. Remember, it wasn’t even shown live.
Yeah Lou Rukeyser mentioned it at the beginning of Wall $treet Week.
And you could tell Jim McKay couldn’t contain himself even before they showed the game.
I remember watching this game. It was incredibly euphoric and unforgettable. I was only 15 y.o. but remember it like it was yesterday.
That's one of my favorite movies of all time. "Again!"
yup...remember it as though it was yesterday...they would not move the game to prime time and I couldn’t contain myself and wait for tape delay..i HAD to call Sportsphone here in NY (no internet or sports talk radio back then) and it was $.50 a pop...”900-976-1313” was the jingle and I heard “this is Howie Carpin for Sportsphone- they did it in 1960 and they just did it again!!! the United States hockey team defeats the Soviet Union 4-3!!!”
my dad, 23 year vet of the NYPD, was in street enforcement unit at the time and said they made a general announcement over the radio to all patrol cars that the Americans had won the game...
Of course that game did not clinch the Gold Medal for the US. It would have been for naught, if they didn’t beat a good Finland team in their final game.
I remember that day so well — and I don’t even like sports. But this was about America!
I was living in Alaska at the time and we didn’t have live TV for these things. Tapes were flown up by plane from Seattle so what we saw was always 3-4 hours behind.
While it was happening, I was talking to my sister in Syracuse and didn’t want to know the ending so I could be surprised when I could watch it. I kept telling her, “Don’t tell me!” She told me. It was great.
I was there. It was awesome.
Too cool, what a game to attend.
Yup, 1980 was a great year for America.
There were few sports things I got to watch with my dad due to school day bed times - I remember him getting in trouble for letting me stay up for Monday Night Football at least once and an Ali fight another time. I was 12 and I got to watch this. If he knew the results before he didn’t let on. It was fantastic.
My daughter started hockey as a H.S. freshman 3 years ago with 9 other freshmen - they were doing everything they could to save the team. Had their best season in 8 years this year. “Miracle” is her favorite move.
I played a high school basketball game that night and heard the score when I got home. On Sunday,after church, I saw the final minutes of the game with Finland. That was a very proud moment for all Americans, even though it was just a game. Those young men stood tall.
The only thing I forgot about this game is that it wasn't for the Gold Medal. Over time, I remember all the excitement and forgot that we still had to win one more game to get the Gold, and I don't think we cared.
Once we beat obama's mama's baby daddies, we didn't care about Finland, Sweden, Switzerland or any of those other semi-communist countries. Too small to sweat, we had beaten the big dog, the puppies could piss on the carpet.
Well, Ronald Reagan was elected :-)
Dude, I’m jealous! I was a teenager in CA. Watched the game broadcast while chomping down on pizza at my favorite local place.
Down 3-2, then the tying score, then the go-ahead...then biting of nails (and pizza) for the final ten minutes or so.
That night was the night that the USA began to pull itself out of the post-Vietnam funk.
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