Do you believe in miracles

northendhockeynut

northendhockeynut

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For those of you old enough to remember ...



February 22 1980

Thirty years ago today USA defeated the USSR, which was considered the best hockey team in the world

The USA then went on to win the gold medal by winning their final game over Finland

220px-Sports_Illustrated_Miracle_on.jpg
 
Great game for the USA , such a tremendous accomplishment beating the Russians in '80. I have heard too many people on radio and TV comparing yesterdays win with the " Miracle on Ice " , too me , thats a slap in the face to the 1980 team , and extremly far fetched.
 
Me and a buddy were talking about this today and wondering how Finland lost in the Gold Medal Game but finished in 4th.

Can anyone explain the format from then?
 
This game was more than just a hockey game. The win boosted the American Spirit that had been waning with it being the height of the Cold War, the Iran Hostage Crisis and the economic downturn.

These guys in my book were true heroes. :beer:
 
USA vs Finland was not the Gold Medal Game. There was a preliminary grouping and then the top two teams from each group advanced (with their points against the finalists) to a final group. The USA and Sweden advanced from the first group and the USSR and Finland advanced from the other group. Since the USA and Sweden had already played (and tied), the only games to be played were against the USSR and then Finland (in that order). The team with the most points in the final group won the gold. If the USA hadn't beaten Finland, they would have finished fourth and received no medal.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Miracle_on_Ice
 
I am starting to pray for miracles.....

Back to the reason for this thread. Miracle on ice is the most important game in USA hockey history, it also made for a decent movie;) I don't think it holds the same significance as the summit series do to Canada but it is probably close.
 
newfiecomicguy1 said:
I don't think it holds the same significance as the summit series do to Canada but it is probably close.
Click to expand...

Canada was not an underdog in those games however, nor were they in a cold war with them. Also, it was a series "in good fun", it was not the olympics.

That series had tremendous significance, but the 1980 win was on a different echelon of significant games. Non hockey fans became hockey fans in seconds. And it didnt even matter if we won the gold. In our minds we were the greatest in the world.


The unfortunate thing is that the latter statement still holds true for many people here.:|
 
Metrags said:
Canada was not an underdog in those games however, nor were they in a cold war with them. Also, it was a series "in good fun", it was not the olympics.

That series had tremendous significance, but the 1980 win was on a different echelon of significant games. Non hockey fans became hockey fans in seconds. And it didnt even matter if we won the gold. In our minds we were the greatest in the world.


The unfortunate thing is that the latter statement still holds true for many people here.:|
Click to expand...

Not to mention Canada used professional hockey players against Russia, while the US used college players that no one had ever even heard of.
 
Metrags said:
Canada was not an underdog in those games however, nor were they in a cold war with them. Also, it was a series "in good fun", it was not the olympics.
That series had tremendous significance, but the 1980 win was on a different echelon of significant games. Non hockey fans became hockey fans in seconds. And it didnt even matter if we won the gold. In our minds we were the greatest in the world.


The unfortunate thing is that the latter statement still holds true for many people here.:|
Click to expand...


I agree that we were not considered the underdogs but in any series, Canadians consider it a war. Also it may have started as an "in good fun" series but quickly escalated. The 80 US win was probably the more dramatic upset but I think the 72 series holds more significance to Canadians that the 80 US win just because of the overwhelming demand to win. Watch a few of the games from the 72 and tell me if you really think it was "in good fun" to the Canadians or the Russians.
 
You are totally misunderstanding my post, or I am misunderstanding yours haha. I am not down playing the importance of the miracle on ice game.

Yes it has significance but not a huge one to the average US resident. I agree that it had a huge impact on getting kids playing hockey and getting USA hockey to take the program serious and to invest some money into it. I compared the 2 (miracle and Summit) simply as the 2 most significant hockey events for each country. I am not comparing anything outside of that, I am not trying to take away the importance of Miracle from the USA or to the effect it had on the history of international hockey.

BTW there was lots going on with the Summit series. The WHA players couldn't play, Russia had more control on picking refs (which was key), getting into Canadian practises (Canada couldn't get in to Russia's), Russian players were already into their hockey Canadian players were in the off season, Allan Eagleson, certain players played or didn't play because of promises to their club owners, etc....Watch the 7 game series and you will see some of the barriers that Canada over came to win especially in the Russian home games.


Metrags said:
Canada was not an underdog in those games however, nor were they in a cold war with them. Also, it was a series "in good fun", it was not the olympics.

That series had tremendous significance, but the 1980 win was on a different echelon of significant games. Non hockey fans became hockey fans in seconds. And it didnt even matter if we won the gold. In our minds we were the greatest in the world.


The unfortunate thing is that the latter statement still holds true for many people here.:|
Click to expand...
 
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FASTMAX said:
I agree that we were not considered the underdogs but in any series, Canadians consider it a war. Also it may have started as an "in good fun" series but quickly escalated. The 80 US win was probably the more dramatic upset but I think the 72 series holds more significance to Canadians that the 80 US win just because of the overwhelming demand to win. Watch a few of the games from the 72 and tell me if you really think it was "in good fun" to the Canadians or the Russians.
Click to expand...

The 72 series was a war on ice where the 80 miracle was about way more than hockey. I've seen the 72 documentary video so that's as close to that as I've got and I realize it was 2 countries vying for hockey supremacy with 2 great teams.
The 80 team was full of 18 to 22 year olds who beat an unbeatable team. With all the other things going on the USA as a country was down and ended up standing behind a bunch of no name kids and being able to think they can overcome anything.

edit: Just to add I'm not saying one is more significant than the other. I do though think the US Miracle was more than just a hockey moment while the summit was more of a hockey moment. Hope that makes sense..:)
 
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Miracle on ice was an Olympic event, a tournament run by the Olympic organization. Set rules, set guidelines. The Summit series was something created by Eagleson and the Russians, the rules and regulations seem to change throughout the tournament. Eagleson was buckling to every request (demand) that the Russians were making.
 
Again that is not the purpose. It is getting turned into that by the response not from my thread. I apologize for unintentionally derailing the thread:(

Put the thread back on the tracks it got derailed from:) Back to focusing on the miracle on ice.

sojuking75 said:
I find it funny a thread celebrating a huge win for USA Hockey gets turned into a "Why Canada's win was better" thread.
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Miracle on Ice showed the world that the USA can put a winning team on the ice finally - it had been gold medalists only once before that, in another "miracle" style win in 1964. The significance of that game has been discusses - HUGE influxes of kids into minor hockey and major $$ being invested in the international system within the US. It also forced other nations to not take "underdog" teams for granted anymore... in the Olympics, anyone can win.

I'm happy to say I have the Miracle on Ice autograph subset in my collection from 2004/05 UD Legendary Sigs... it's a cornerstone of my collection.
 
meatmancgy said:
Miracle on Ice showed the world that the USA can put a winning team on the ice finally - it had been gold medalists only once before that, in another "miracle" style win in 1964. The significance of that game has been discusses - HUGE influxes of kids into minor hockey and major $$ being invested in the international system within the US. It also forced other nations to not take "underdog" teams for granted anymore... in the Olympics, anyone can win.

I'm happy to say I have the Miracle on Ice autograph subset in my collection from 2004/05 UD Legendary Sigs... it's a cornerstone of my collection.
Click to expand...


Truth right there. Just look at the US UBER UPSET of the vastly dominant Canadian team. :p Back on track, yes I do believe in miracles, I have to. Canada will need one to win gold.
 

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