40th Anniversary of Miracle on Ice

[Argent]

So 40 years ago today the U.S. beat Russia in the Olympics in ice hockey after a the Russian Olympic team had four Gold winning streak the one the best teams ever seen.

The most impressive thing is that the effort was based of college players with a lot of them coming from University of Minnesota where Brooks was coach. Which makes the last U.S. showing in the Olympics that much more disappointing.

But while not the Gold Medal Winning match this is one of the great moments in U.S. sport history where a group of amateur players beat the World power house in Ice Hockey with some of the best players at the time.

It has been made into multiple movies with the Disney's Miracle which is well worth watching but I leave off with this moment in sport's history.

 

[Deleted member]

I think it became such a defining moment of the Cold War precisely because we, outside of a few intentionally obscure incidents, never fought the Soviets. Sport replaced War and all the tension and paranoia of the Cold War turned into a single battle on a single night in a hockey rink.

 

[Erwin_Pommel]

Hm, I wonder if it was blinding pride in the Russian team, skill of the Americans or a bit of both that won the US this match. Seems interesting though.

 

[Argent]

Hm, I wonder if it was blinding pride in the Russian team, skill of the Americans or a bit of both that won the US this match. Seems interesting though.

I personally would put down to some victory disease. But the Russian team was just that good. They had three future hall of fame players on the team including one of the best goalies to ever play. The Russain where good enough players that the NFL tried to recruit them thoughout the Cold War. Not to mention that they had dominated international play for almost 20 years. There is a reason that people feared playing the Russians in Hockey.

The big thing that helped the US win is that Brooks adapted the U.S. style of play. Russian dominance came form having great player but changing how they played.

Just like how the Bears used the T formation the Russians used their style to crush other teams. They did a lot less man on man, very little dump and chase and had a heavy emphasis on skating skills. It took a while for other teams to catch up.

The U.S. team was also not a push over. A good chunk of the player would go on to have decent NFL careers.

I think it became such a defining moment of the Cold War precisely because we, outside of a few intentionally obscure incidents, never fought the Soviets. Sport replaced War and all the tension and paranoia of the Cold War turned into a single battle on a single night in a hockey rink.

True and people do love an underdog story.

 

[LordSunhawk]

I also suspect that the fact that the Soviets had crushed the US team just a few weeks earlier in Madison Square Garden played a role. The US team was hungry and Brooks fed that, while the Soviet team was cocky and thought that the game would be a pushover.