That’s what made the 80’s gold medal for the US Men’s team so special.
Just a bunch of college kids that had not played together before and beating what was essentially Russia’s pro team that had been assembled and playing along side each other for years.
A month before the Olympics the Soviets beat that US team 10-3.
I guess it’s technically true that the 1980 U.S. Olympic hockey team had “never played together before,” but only if “before” means they didn’t play together until they were on the U.S. Olympic team. Before the Olympics they had been playing together for eight months, and their rigorous schedule through the fall and early winter months included more than 60 games — the equivalent of almost two full NCAA hockey seasons in those days. By February of 1980 they were arguably one of the most cohesive and well-integrated teams ever to step on the ice in an international tournament.
And the “college players” angle is somewhat misleading. I believe few of those players still had any college eligibility left in 1980. Many of them finished their collegiate careers in 1978-79, and some of them were in their mid-20s and had been drafted by NHL teams as far back as 1974-75.
To me, the biggest appeal of the 1980 story was that it all happened unexpectedly, in a sport very few Americans followed closely before then, and in the last of the “small town” Winter Olympics.