Miracle on Ice

The Miracle on Ice is the popular nickname for the ice hockey game in the 1980 Olympic Winter Games, in which a team of amateur and collegiate players from the United States beat the Soviet Union against near-impossible odds on February 22, 1980, in Lake Placid, New York. The United States went on to win the gold medal. USSR received the silver medal, Sweden received the bronze.http://www.olympic.org/uk/athletes/results/search_r_uk.asp?SPO_S_CODE=IH&OLG_I_YEAR=1980&OLGT_I_ID=2&RESULT=TRUE&DIS_S_CODE=IH&SEARCH_TYPE=3&GET_C_ID=W,M,X&MED_I_ID=1,2,3

Medal round: U.S. vs. Finland

The match against the great Soviet team was very emotional and so memorable that many Americans still do not realize that it did not win the gold medal for the U.S. Once again, Coach Brooks skated a "hard" practice the day before the game, determined to disabuse his team of the idea that the game was anti-climactic.

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Again, the U.S. fell behind early, this time 2-1 after two periods, due to excellent play by the Finnish goalie. Coming into the dressing room, Brooks turned to his players, looked at them and said, "If you lose this game, you'll take it to your fucking grave." He then paused, took a few steps, turned again, said, "your fucking grave," and walked out.

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In the third period, the U.S. got three unanswered goals from Phil Verchota, Rob McClanahan, and Mark Johnson, and held on for a 4-2 victory. Again, Michaels delivered a famous line to end the game:

Related Topics:
Phil Verchota - Rob McClanahan

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Five seconds to the gold medal, four seconds to the gold... This impossible dream comes true!

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The U.S. had won the gold medal.

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Players mobbed the ice, sticks and gloves flying. Jim Craig roamed the ice, draped in an American flag, scanning the crowd for his father, with whom he wanted to share the moment. Craig's mother had recently died, after expressing her dream that he play on the Olympic squad. Millions of Americans were moved to overjoyed tears as this team that was given no shot by the sports world to even medal celebrated its gold medal–clinching victory.

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Often, the game against Soviet Union is called the "semifinal" and the game against Finland is called the "final" or the "gold medal game". This is not quite accurate. In 1980 Olympics, each of the four teams who qualified for the medal round (U.S., USSR, Sweden, Finland) played the teams that they did not yet play. The team with the most points against the other teams in the medal round would become the Olympic Champion. After the U.S. upset of the Soviet Union, each team in the medal round still had a chance to win the Gold Medal, depending on the results of the two last games (U.S.–Finland and Sweden–USSR, both played on the same day).

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