Amazing Moments in Olympic History: Miracle on Ice

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In 1980, the United States needed a reason to feel Patriotic again.  Twenty-nine years ago this week, a group of young hockey players delivered with what many consider to be the greatest sports moment in U.S. history.

The 1980 U.S. Olympic Hockey team was comprised of top collegiate and amateur athletes.  Though they were talented and well-coached, they were underdogs as the seventh seed of twelve teams competing.  In the midst of the Cold War era, they faced teams from several communist bloc nations who were amateurs in name only, but in fact were government supported professionals.  The most dominant of those was the Soviet team, winners of every ice hockey gold medal since 1964.

Head coach Herb Brooks selected his players not based purely on skill, but on individual personalities and how they would form a team.  He instilled them with discipline and focused on the importance of placing the team over individuals.  Knowing that the Soviets would top them on skills alone, Brooks aimed to produce a faster and more conditioned team that could take advantage of luck and turn it into opportunity.

Arriving in Lake Placid the U.S. team faced Sweden first in group play.  The Swedes were favored, but the Americans fought back by scoring with just 30 seconds left in the game to achieve a 2-2 tie.  Next was a surprise 7-3 victory over Czechoslovakia, a team heavily favored for a silver medal behind the Soviets.  The U.S. won three more games in group play to advance to the medal round. 

In exactly the scenario they had hoped to avoid, the U.S. team faced the Soviet team first in the medal round.  Having beaten the Americans 10-3 in an exhibition match prior to the Games, the Soviets were confident heading into the game. 

The Americans were outshot by the Soviets throughout the first period but U.S. goaltender Jim Craig was fending them off.  With the score 2-1 in favor of the Soviets, Mark Johnson recovered a rare rebound off Soviet goaltender Vladislav Tretiak and evened the score with just one second remaining in the first period.  Tretiak, arguably the best goalie in the world at the time, did not return for the second period.

This is believed to have been a turning point for the Americans.  Tretiak seemed to represent the invincibility of the Soviet team and without his presence, the U.S. team began to truly believe in their ability to win this game. 

The Soviets scored again in the second period and their backup goalie, Vladimir Myshkin, allowed no goals.  The score was 3-2 favoring the Soviets as the third period began.  At 8:39 in the third Johnson evened the score once again.  The Soviets were tiring and Brooks capitalized on it by short shifting his players to keep "fresh legs" on the ice.  Two minutes after Johnson's goal, captain Mike Eruzione fired a 25-foot goal past Myshkin, pushing the Americans into the lead.  But there were still ten minutes left to play in the game.

Goalie Jim Craig continued to deflect the Soviet offense, playing what many consider the game of his life.  With just seconds left in the game, the Americans cleared the zone and the crowd began to count down.  Sportscaster Al Michaels delivered his now famous call:

"Eleven seconds, you've got ten seconds, the countdown going on right now! Morrow, up to Silk.  Five seconds left in the game.  Do you believe in miracles?  YES!"

The U.S. went on to rally from behind the next night in their game against Finland, capturing the gold medal.  During the medals ceremony, where only the captain stood atop the podium, Mike Eruzione beckoned his fellow teammates to join him.  All of the U.S. players huddled on a podium that was built for just one person, capturing the spirit of this team and creating one of the most memorable images of the 1980 Olympic Winter Games.

"Amazing Moments in Olympic History" will be published every Wednesday on teamusa.org.  Check back weekly to see more landmark achievements and incredible feats in the history of Team USA and the Olympic Movement.

Tags: 1980, Amazing Moments, Ice Hockey, Lake Placid, Miracle