A rash tag of amateurs from the US, defeat a professional soviet team.
Seems like yesterday……incredible.
.
The only thing about that was as great as it was, it overshadowed what arguably was the single-greatest performance by an American Olympian, in Eric Heiden winning 5 Golds in Speed Skating.
To put it in perspective, it was like someone winning the 100 meter, 200 meter, 800 meter, 1,500 meter and 10,000 meter races in the same Olympics.
I gave a talk (sermon) using it as the backstory. I had to set up in the time which was critical to the story. Iran Hostages, Russians on the move, horrible economy.
VIDEO: Final Minute of the “Miracle on Ice”
https://rumble.com/viythz-final-minute-of-the-miracle-on-ice.html
Always remembered for the victory against the USSR in those Olympics, that short-handed goal against Finland in the Gold metal game, up only 3-2 at the time, was amazing.
One of the most fascinating ironies of that whole story was the way team captain Mike Eruzione’s perspective changed over time. Some 20+ years afterward, he finally said something that I felt for a long time: He said that as time passed after 1980, he thought the U.S. gold medal win became less and less impressive to him — because it became more clear that the U.S. team was far better than anyone gave them credit for at the time. It was function of the anonymity of hockey players and the low profile of hockey as a U.S. sport back then. But that was a talented group of players, many of whom went on to have solid professional careers.
When I was in Lake Placid, I was very surprised at how small the arena really is.
When the Gold medal U.S. hockey team lit the Olympic cauldron at Salt Lake City in 2002. Wow, has it been 20 years already?
the only good news we got that year while I was deployed
that and THANK YOU CANADA!
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.
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.
I’ll never forget watching that my college dorm floor in the common area.
I didn’t know much about hockey, but it was pretty clear how amazing the scene was that I was watching