Well I don't know if wil have the impact but it seems another bunch of mostly college kids could make a run at the gold...in the midst of another Russian invasion threat
In 1980, I was seven years out of high school here in Minnesota. I began playing hockey when I was ten. When I was 17, I began played men's league hockey twice a week. Hockey was a huge part of my life. I remember watching these Olympics and I remember sitting in front of my television all alone following my divorce. Then suddenly everything in the world was all right and I would be just fine. Every single time I see these films, it chokes me up.
Keep skatin.....Massachusetts born hockey player here. There ain't no other game like it. I wore the colors, the next day at practice. . If I never pick up a stick again, I can say that I witnessed the greatest hockey game in the history of the sport. And just like a bike, the skates never leave you......"the legs feed the wolf, gentlemen....goal line, ....go!"
I’m a Canadian and I get emotional when I think back about this team. Watched the game staying in a hotel while at a hockey tournament in Montreal as a 13 year old kid. Wonderful memory.
@@vilituomainen maybe you are too young to remember what was happening in the US during this time in history . On top of that, you might not be old enough to know how dominant the Soviet team was then. They even beat the best of the NHL players month before. Lastly, the Russians were pros and US were just college kids coming together as team and a country to do the unthinkable. Unfortunately, this generation will never understand the impact this game made in the course of our country.
Legendary hockey team Legendary hockey coach Legendary game Legendary call by a legendary commentator The stars lined up and gave us an incredible story, awesome
Al Michaels says it best. We always think of where we were during tragic events, think of where you were during one of the most emotional and memorable events in our country
I was living in Boston as a college student. A bunch of "our guys" were on the team. I watched the (delayed) game and people on my street streamed out of their apartments and houses in celebration of the win over the Soviets.
Not just the best moment in US sports history, one of the most joyous moments in American history. If you didn’t live and understand that time period, it’s hard to comprehend. But it was that big a deal back then. Only thing that might compete with this is if the US men ever win a World Cup in soccer.
Well put. I was a Sr. In High School. A couple of games were tape delayed. The sporstcasters in Chicago said. We are going to put the score on screen. It you dont want to know look away. The whole newscrews from reporters,weatherman were stonefaced. Of the 3 networks in chicago plus WGN. I think half of every station personel didnt know the score cause they knew they couldnt hide their emotions. Since i was ignorant of money i was more pissed that Carter had Boycotted to 80 summer olympics in Moscow and was critized. Almost have of countries also did same. Russians invaded Afgahnastan. Watch Charlie Wilsons War in you are under 40. Basics are there. So everyone thought Russians. Or. CCCP Would pull out with all there puppet states. No they came in and wanted to show that communism was the best. Well in Hockey. Yes. Europeans were the skier on slopes. Russia fins norway cross country. America had only Womens Freestyle Skating. 68 1 medal. Peggy Flemming. 72 in Japan ? 1 or 3 medals. 76 Dorothy Hamill was gold. And maybe a speedskati g bronze. Anyway the russians and co. Had no threat from USA in any events. In a crazy way i think only Brooks was the one who was aware the trap was set. He put them up against good teams not patsies. Having them play the Russians a week before in Madison Sq. Was genuis. He knew the kids were flat. It that Stadium. Then he knew the russians would show no mercey. The kids knew that they can and have to play harder. The russians let their guard down. They took the kids for granted. Of all olympics since 68 that i recall. Eric Heiden was the most impressive ever. 500 1500 3k 5k 10 k set olympic records in 3 WR in other 2. His last skate in 10k he went to Hockey teams game. Went out drinking with them. Woke up 45 minutes before race. Set WR inhis 5th gold race. They bonded with him. A wisconson kid. About half of them were woke up by people who knew Heiden was hanging with them hours before. You guys take him out drinking when he has to skate 10,000 meters at 9am. I bet Brooks was parts of that.
My brother and I were playing pee wee hockey in 1980 and I vividly remember my father sitting us down in front of the TV with a bowl of popcorn and a couple of cokes telling us that we’d remember this game the rest of our lives. And damn if he wasn’t right. I miss being that proud of my country.
I still have my tickets from Germany game. I was in Wilmington, N.Y. I'm from Boston, and have all the autographed tickets. 9 years old and thanks guys for taking the time to sign them. Rest in peace coach
I was10 years old and at a high school basketball game in Pennsylvania. I knew we were playing the Soviets, but not on live TV. There was a murmur in the crowd, as if someone had heard something. I ran home in time for the 3rd period. What a night. Two days later, across the street from our church, my dad and I watched the gold medal game at my grandmother's house. No internet back then, and the stories are so sweet.
Yup...no simulcast, no internet. The TV broadcast was played to the viewing audience after it was over. My father had listened to the play-by-play on the radio while coming back from a business trip to NYC. He comes into the house trying to feign ignorance as to the result of the game...but we could see it all over his face. We watched in true bliss. I'm wearing a "Lake Placid USA" hoodie as I type this.
i tried to hold out until 8pm, then abc comes on with people in a celebratory mode behind mckay and i had a feeling they won. so, i call sportsphone in ny and got the score!
It is simply the greatest sports moment of all time. Never on the field of battle has a team been 'outmatched', and through incredible coaching, heart and respect for each other, pulled off the most amazing upset possible. College guys versus the best hockey team ever assembled. They showed that dreams and miracles are real. #1 moment that will never have a peer.
Back then I was in the Army stationed in Baumholder, Germany. The good news was the game was on live at 23:00. The bad news was it was on German TV & not AFN. The barracks TV room was filled with people “who didn’t know a blue line from a clothes line.” At the end our CO broke out a keg. Thank God that game was on a Friday so we had no duty in the morning.
I listened to the game on radio while playing basketball in the driveway. I remember the typing and winning goals. I remember the tie vs Sweden and the the lob-sided win against Czechoslovakia. as huge. I knew all their names. And I remember rather incredulously that all could be for naught without a win versus Finland.A special time. The USA chant was so authentic. Never the same after that.
I truly believe that it's moments like these that define us not only as Americans, but as human beings. Great rivals but the reapect was there in the end. American citizens coming together to overcome what seems to be insurmountable odds. These moments occur so very little in a countries history, that it's often easy to forget what it's like to come together as one nation. It's important to remember these times. Especially in a time like now when it seems like we couldn't be more divided.
1980, I was serving in the Army in Germany listening to the game on AFN Radio. The 4 to 3 win had giving me a big rush! I have this game on DVD ; And the movie : MIRACLE ! Michael Scott
Thank you, very much, for your Service, sir! We remain the home of the free because of our most brave - our tremendous United States Of America, Military Heroes!
This story was not passed down to me. I watched this event on television. USA defeating the USSR was an early present, 4 days before my 7th birthday. I have been a Boston Bruins fan since 1979, the first year of Ray Bourque's career. Watching this just before my 7th birthday, even on tape delay, helped to shape my patriotism as a proud American. Mike Eruzione will forever be one of the towering figures of American Patriotism in my eyes.
Very well put. As an immigrant who came here almost 60 years ago I felt the same way. When Rizzo scored that goal an entire nation gave a standing ovation. Kicking Russia's ass at that time meant so much. The gold medal was just s cherry on top after that. But a sweet cherry indeed. BTW, Ray Bourque was one helluva player but I never saw anyone better than Bobby Orr. And I'm a Wings fan.
The USA's victory over the USSR in that 1980 winter Olympics was certainly unforgettable. An amazing and thrilling 60 minutes of hockey with an outcome of fiction come to life. This was the same Soviet team that just one year earlier had thumped the NHL All-Stars 6-0 in the deciding game of the 3 game Challenge Cup.
The. USSR beat that US Team 10-3 three weeks earlier. They were much better than the US, but Craig was great, the USSR not dialed in and the crowd gave the US energy.
Al Michaels will be remembered for being the announcer at the 1980 USA Olympic Hockey Team in Lake Placid , New York! " he will definitely take it to his grave " ❤
With all the stuff happening in our country and around the world - we should all hope for another magical event like this to bring us all together again. I was a kid waiting in line at Space Mountain Disneyland when they announced on the speakers "Ladies and gentlemen, the United States National hockey team has just defeated the Soviet Union." Everyone in the ride erupted in celebration. And eto this day, every time I go on that ride, I think of that day and that game.
If I was Mike Eruzione I would buy a bunch of TVs, put them all over my house and that goal would play on a loop on all of them all the time....just saying!!
I was 31 at the time. The game on TV was a delayed telecast. Living in Minnesota, however, I was able to pick up a live radio broadcast out of Canada. When I tuned in, the US was behind 3-2. I was THRILLED … to be that close of a score to the Soviet Union! Then, we TIED the game! I was in disbelief. And when we took the lead, I suddenly got real nervous. I thought: We have woken up the Russian Bear, and he’s going to come storming back. I got on my living room floor with my ear to one of the two speakers. The remaining tense minutes were excruciating. The crowd was so loud, it was difficult to know what exactly was happening! When the game ended, I just broke down and sobbed.
I was 17 at the time, senior in high school, and I was upset the game wasn't on T.V., and I heard they beat the Russians on the car radio. I remember every car that day was honking their horn, just after they won. That went on all night.
The greatest story in the history of sports! ❤ But it transcended sports because it lifted this country at a time when we really needed it! Do you believe in miracles?! The country desperately needs something like this today!
At the time, the USSR was stacking the deck in the Olympics. While the US was working very hard to maintain amateur status, the Soviets "amateur" players were soldiers who spent all their time playing hockey. We all knew it was fixed. We did not expect to beat the USSR. This was their dream team, and the US was facing them with a group of college players.
Ken Dryden was also the goaltender for Canada's hockey team of the 20th century. Team Canada 1972, and the team that defeated the Soviet Union in the Summit Series.
The greatest sports moment in my lifetime. The country was in such a bad place, spiritually, mentally, just deflated across the board. I remember a Time Magazine cover from that time showing cartoon Carter dressed as a sheriff, standing alone on main street like Gary Cooper in High Noon only he had scared eyes while every western nation hid behind the locked doors, peeking out the window's as he faced off against the Eastern Bloc. That was the mood of the country as 1980 rolled around. Then these kids started winning hockey games at Lake Placid. And with each win the nation's collective chest puffed out a bit and our back stood a bit straighter. The fact that it was tape delayed didn't matter to me and my friends. We knew ahead of time that we had won and we were still riveted to our seats, cheering each goal like it was happening live. I remember the street filling up as the final horn sounded and all the neighbors coming out and drinking toasts. It was like our hometown team had just won the Cup. The game against Finland was a bit anti-climatic. Yeah, they trailed after two periods but you just knew they were gonna win. I think even if they had lost that game it still would have been okay. We beat the f**kin Soviet SOB's and that was what mattered. For me, it was like landing on the Moon. We were back on top! It may sound hyperbolic but if you were there you know what I'm talking about. Sometimes a thing happens at just the right time and if it happened at any other time it might just be a nice thing and you know when it happens is just as important and you know it makes that thing historic. A lot of time has passed since then and I've seen some great sporting moments but nothing that topped this game and at this point in my life I doubt anything ever will. U-S-A, U-S-A, U-S-A!
" It may sound hyperbolic but if you were there you know what I'm talking about." I'm a bit to young to have seen this live but still watching it today the energy in that hockey rink is absolutley incredible. Those kids didn't do the impossible. They didn't win a hockey game. They changed the world.
For those who didn't live it, it really is almost impossible to describe. It's like the old saying..."If you know, I don't have to tell you, and if you don't, there's no way for me to really explain it." This country at the time, plain and simple, was in the shitter. Interest rates were through the roof, inflation was running around 13%, unemployment was high, the hostages were in Iran with no sign of an end to that mess in sight, the Russian's were on the move in Afghanistan and seemed strong. There was nothing to cheer about. Politically, we were still reeling from the sad mess of Watergate. The nation believed in NOTHING...least of all itself. And then, as God is my judge, this game happened and it ALL began to change. You may think it exaggeration when people say it, but it is not. Everything just seemed to turn. We started to believe that we could again, and so we began anew. It was amazing. I was 14 when this aired. I honestly can still not watch this game when Eruzione scores and not get choked up nearly to tears. Ran around my block screaming "WE BEAT THE RUSSIANS" at the top of my lungs after the game.
My aunt had front row, blue line tickets to this game (she bought them before the Olympics even kicked off as just the “bronze medal hockey match” and had no clue how special that match would be). Anyways, she was offered $1000 per ticket outside the arena, (in 1980s money) and turned it down. She doesn’t regret it.
I was 15 years old and watching the WPIX News (Channel 11) sports report with Jerry Girard. He announced that the game was now a final and he would hold up the final score and to look away if you didn’t want to know. Remember the game was being shown later that evening. Of course I looked to see thinking the US had no chance. When I saw final 4-3, unbelievable. Didn’t diminish my excitement watching the game later.
I watched on TV at home. Not normally a hockey fan. I was that year. Skipped church Sunday to watch them win the gold. The making of a true team from disparate and opposing collegiates was Brooks’s own miracle. I remember him leaving the arena because it wasn’t him, it was “the boys.” Uff da.
My favourite sports quotes: 1) Do you believe in miracles? YES!” 2) LOOK AT MILLS, LOOK AT MILLS! (Tokyo 1964, US runner Billy Mills sprinted past the favourites to win the 10 000m gold medal) 3) Bernard is losing some ground, HERE COMES LEZAK, HE’S DONE IT, THE US HAVE WON IT! (Beijing 2008 4x100 freestyle relay USA upset the heavy favourites France)
Was at Couzens Hall at University of Michigan (52-53). We were listening to the game from a radio station out of Up State New York. So we knew it as it happened.
the fact that i have skated on the very same ice that the USA team beat the Soviets really hits me. I wasn't even alive when this game was out, but my dad knew every detail down to the marks on the boards. such an experience, and an excellent game
I was one of the few lucky Americans that watched the Soviet game live on TV. It was LIVE on CTV and living so close to the border I could pick up the game. I wish someone would post THAT broadcast.
Greatest upset in sport history. I was a bit miffed because I'm Canadian and I thought the US and Russia would come to dominate hockey. But that didn't happen. Russia, America, Sweden, Finland, Canada, and many other countries produce fantastic players for the best spectator sport in the world.
Even though the US won this groundbreaking and history making event, it was the sport of hockey that benefited the most Worldwide Martin. This Miracle on Ice almost single handily exposed to the rest of the planet the beauty and greatness of hockey. Before 1980, hockey was basically a regional sport with interest only in say mainly Canada, the now former USSR and a few European/Scandinavian countries.
While impressive, the US was only a 7-1 underdog in the betting. They were young, at home, fired up, against a complacent squad that hadn't been looked in the eye in years. Sixteen players went into the NHL off that team.
@@raygordonteacheschess5501 You make a good point. Matter of fact, (someone can correct me) I think the Writers at SI actually predicted the US to win “Bronze” at those same ‘80 Olympics. I bet the rest of the American media especially those Commentators that had regularly covered the NHL/International hockey thought SI was drunk with that prediction. 😯
@@americangiant1003 part of the 7-1 betting odds were simply because of Americans betting on pride so the number tightened up. Pre-games, I remember hearing/reading they were selected to be the 7th best team.
It's 1980 and the game was on delay, no internet, no cell phones, no Fax machines, just the game feed. They show Jim McKay and the Lake Placid crowd in the background. People are jumping up and down, waving flags and we just looked at each other. Could we have won? Iranian hostages, gas lines, 12% interest rates. What a boost.
I was a freshman at CBA Albany High in Jan 1980. I remember this USA 1980 Olympic Team Hockey miracle well. We had our own miracle when we beat Sam Perkins undefeated Latham high basketball team in March the same year.
Upset? Yes. The job Brooks did picking the kids and pushing them to better them and them not knowing. Great motivator. It is not hard to piss off blue collar irish or italian hockey players from mass.
One shot. One goal...literally changed a man's life and his legacy. Eruzione misses and most likely they lose, they don't get Gold. Never made it in the NHL. No more interviews. No more TV. No more movies about him. No books. No inspirational tours. The internet would have been an empty place for the name. Nothing. He would have had a nice banking/finance career and would have told his grandkids about the time they played the Soviets and lost. That goal changed his life. One goal.
If I had access to DeLorium with enough plutonium to relive any event in history, no question my choice. I would be in attendance here: Lake Placid, NY. February 22, 1980.
Someone said that this was the Bobby Orr Olympics. Apparently prior to 1965 Boston had only a couple of public arenas and with the incredible work of Orr and the others on the Boston Bruins, got lots of kids into hockey instead of something else. This made them the right age for 1980 and it also made for deep waters in the selection of the team. Now, obviously, there are other factors, but it shows the effect of a special athlete.
Can't discount the impact that Orr and the 2x Cup Champion Bruins from both '70 and '72 had on getting many of the New England born Miracle on Ice to become hockey players. Great point Henri.
Eruzione was already playing hockey when Orr came to Boston and the other 16 Midwesterners (12 Minnesotans, 2 Michiganders and 2 Wisconsin natives) weren't motivated at all by #4. So Craig was probably the only one truly impacted by Orr. I'd all ah an grew up in an already hockey mad section of Boston and Silk came from another traditional hockey 'burb. There were more than 2 MDC rinks in Greater Boston and BU,BC,Harvard had rinks and there were rinks in Lynn, Walpole and Framingham. There was an outdoor rink my brother played on in a AAA Select League run out of Belmont Hill 3 years before Orr came to Boston.
Also the 1996 US victory in the World Cup of Hockey was actually the most influenced by Orr. There were a bunch of Mass\New Englabd players on that team including. Keith Tkachuk, Tony Amonte, Scott Youg, Bill Guerin, Shawn McEachern from Massachusetts and John Leclair, Brian Leech and Eric Weinrich from Vermont, Conn. and Maine respectively. They were born in the 1967-72 range, which has them in youth hockey before Orr left Boston in 1976. Certainly Leetch, Young, Amonte Guerin, McEachern, and Wienrich.
The night of the game, it was on TV ( even though I'm a Canadian and we didn't have cable ). I recall Canada giving the USSR a good game, but I thought the USA didn't have much of a chance, so I went to the movies ( Steve Martin's "The Jerk", "the story of a poor Black sharecropper's son who never dreamed he was adopted." )
12 years old at the time I heard a radio dj say USA 3 USSR 3 in the third period BEFORE the game on tape delay. Was very excited but not knowing what happened till later! Michael's call is the greatest sports call ever! 🇺🇸
3:32 now why I thought as a kid jim lampley was with Al in the miracle on ice I had no idea it’s was Ken Dryden. Legends has it that game trigger the ripple effect of the end of the Cold War. Yes regan pope and the Berlin Wall help but the ripple effect started with team usa hockey team win in 80.
My dad was 22 years old first year teaching!! 2nd grade he brought me to school only radio !! I dont remeber that !! But i rember fox and the Hound do u believe saving america
Somebody forgot to tell the Americans they were playing Soviet professionals and they were supposed to lose. One of the most incredible upsets in modern sports.
Sportscaster Warner Wolf,leading off the news on NYC's ABC affiliate Ch.7,started his report proclaiming:"It was as if God was the 7th man on the ice." After this happened,Carter should have lifted the boycott on the Summer Games.
At the time, we all called it a miracle, but it wasn't close to a miracle. They just needed time to gel together. Herb Brooks had a great eye for exceptional talent. Look at the team and what they did in the NHL later. Neal Broten - only player ever to win the NCAA Championship, an Olympic Gold, and a Stanley Cup, 17 seasons in the NHL - 923 career points. Ken Morrow to the Islanders - the Mike Bossy, Bryan Trottier Islanders - he's the final piece of the puzzle and wins the Gold and the Stanley Cup in the same year, and helps win 4 Cups in a row. Mike Ramsey - 1,070 games over 18 years in the NHL, leaves the Sabres - goes to the Red Wings and plays in the Cup but loses to the Devils - and Neal Broten. Dave Christian -14 years in the NHL, 340 goals, a Stanley Cup appearance with the Bruins and an All Star appearance. Mark Johnson - 11 years in the NHL - team captain for the Hartford Whalers. Jack O'Callahan, Mark Pavelich, and Dave Silk were all solid NHL players with 23 combined years and 903 NHL game appearances. Two more years together and they would beat any team, any time. Underdogs in 1980 for sure - but no miracle - it was a great team with tremendous talent.
I would love to feel the way I did that night again, but with our country divided the way it is, I don't know if we'll ever see true patriotism again. I might settle for watching George Probert board MTG through the glass though.
I knew the game was being shown on tape delay. I was watching the 6:00 p.m News and I live in central time. When the sports came on someone handed the announcer a note. He said the game was over and if you do not want to know, turn the sound down. I did not need to because his smile gave it away. After the game was finished, my phone rang. It was my father. He did not know the game was delayed and was ecstatic. He said: We beat the Russians. We beat the Russians. When I told him the game was taped and I knew the outcome, he really got mad because he was on pins and needles the whole time.
Had the USA lost to Finland, not only would they have not won Gold, there was a chance they would not have won any medal because of the “round robin” format of the medal round which combined standings from the preliminary round against the common opponent (in the case of the USA: Sweden)
Welches Endergebnis (der Tabelle) hätte eigentlich ein Unentschieden Finnland-USA bedeutet? Hätte das Torverhältnis entschieden oder der direkte Vergleich?
The country could use a boost in spirit like this today.
Well I don't know if wil have the impact but it seems another bunch of mostly college kids could make a run at the gold...in the midst of another Russian invasion threat
Hockey's always here for you man 😎
We sure could.
World Cup 👀
Same inept party of stooges in power
In 1980, I was seven years out of high school here in Minnesota. I began playing hockey when I was ten. When I was 17, I began
played men's league hockey twice a week. Hockey was a huge part of my life. I remember watching these Olympics and I remember
sitting in front of my television all alone following my divorce. Then suddenly everything in the world was all right and I would be
just fine. Every single time I see these films, it chokes me up.
Respect
Keep skatin.....Massachusetts born hockey player here. There ain't no other game like it. I wore the colors, the next day at practice. . If I never pick up a stick again, I can say that I witnessed the greatest hockey game in the history of the sport. And just like a bike, the skates never leave you......"the legs feed the wolf, gentlemen....goal line, ....go!"
I remember watching this with my family in the living room. We went crazy and celebrated with our USA Hockey Team in spirit. It was a wonderful time.
I’m a Canadian and I get emotional when I think back about this team. Watched the game staying in a hotel while at a hockey tournament in Montreal as a 13 year old kid. Wonderful memory.
Al Michaels is a freakin National Treasure I swear!!! and I’m typing this on the 42nd Anniversary of the game. USA!!! USA!!! 🇺🇸
Greatest moment in sports history!!!
No doubt about it.
Definitely not!
@@vilituomainen - You gonna find something better?
@@vilituomainen maybe you are too young to remember what was happening in the US during this time in history . On top of that, you might not be old enough to know how dominant the Soviet team was then. They even beat the best of the NHL players month before. Lastly, the Russians were pros and US were just college kids coming together as team and a country to do the unthinkable. Unfortunately, this generation will never understand the impact this game made in the course of our country.
@@vilituomainen your a fin, maybe a 90m ski jump win was your cup of tea
I miss this kind of patriotism. We need it.
Legendary hockey team
Legendary hockey coach
Legendary game
Legendary call by a legendary commentator
The stars lined up and gave us an incredible story, awesome
Al Michaels says it best. We always think of where we were during tragic events, think of where you were during one of the most emotional and memorable events in our country
Dryden and Michaels’ comments during the game were authentic, spontaneous, emotional, perfect
I was living in Boston as a college student. A bunch of "our guys" were on the team. I watched the (delayed) game and people on my street streamed out of their apartments and houses in celebration of the win over the Soviets.
Not just the best moment in US sports history, one of the most joyous moments in American history. If you didn’t live and understand that time period, it’s hard to comprehend. But it was that big a deal back then.
Only thing that might compete with this is if the US men ever win a World Cup in soccer.
Well put. I was a Sr. In High School. A couple of games were tape delayed. The sporstcasters in Chicago said. We are going to put the score on screen. It you dont want to know look away. The whole newscrews from reporters,weatherman were stonefaced. Of the 3 networks in chicago plus WGN. I think half of every station personel didnt know the score cause they knew they couldnt hide their emotions. Since i was ignorant of money i was more pissed that Carter had Boycotted to 80 summer olympics in Moscow and was critized. Almost have of countries also did same. Russians invaded Afgahnastan. Watch Charlie Wilsons War in you are under 40. Basics are there. So everyone thought Russians. Or. CCCP Would pull out with all there puppet states. No they came in and wanted to show that communism was the best. Well in Hockey. Yes. Europeans were the skier on slopes. Russia fins norway cross country. America had only Womens Freestyle Skating. 68 1 medal. Peggy Flemming. 72 in Japan ? 1 or 3 medals. 76 Dorothy Hamill was gold. And maybe a speedskati g bronze. Anyway the russians and co. Had no threat from USA in any events. In a crazy way i think only Brooks was the one who was aware the trap was set. He put them up against good teams not patsies. Having them play the Russians a week before in Madison Sq. Was genuis. He knew the kids were flat. It that Stadium. Then he knew the russians would show no mercey. The kids knew that they can and have to play harder. The russians let their guard down. They took the kids for granted. Of all olympics since 68 that i recall. Eric Heiden was the most impressive ever. 500 1500 3k 5k 10 k set olympic records in 3 WR in other 2. His last skate in 10k he went to Hockey teams game. Went out drinking with them. Woke up 45 minutes before race. Set WR inhis 5th gold race. They bonded with him. A wisconson kid. About half of them were woke up by people who knew Heiden was hanging with them hours before. You guys take him out drinking when he has to skate 10,000 meters at 9am. I bet Brooks was parts of that.
My brother and I were playing pee wee hockey in 1980 and I vividly remember my father sitting us down in front of the TV with a bowl of popcorn and a couple of cokes telling us that we’d remember this game the rest of our lives. And damn if he wasn’t right. I miss being that proud of my country.
My dad found out that the US had won. He ordered pizza and we watched the game while he explained how big the game was. I was 6 😊
I’m not even American. I’m a new dad and just reading your comment brought tears to my eyes. I can’t wait to make memories with my son.
We need this today! It feels like we are back in the 1970s again.
I was 12 years old in 1980, this was my introduction to hockey!! ❤❤❤ Miracles happen!!
Herb Brooks is the real Minnesota Miracle Man
Gordon Bombay's character was based on Herb Brooks. The Ducks=The United States. The Hawks= The Soviet Union.
Sure Xurfer, I can just see Brooks
in between P2\3 of the USSR Game.
"OK guys, quack, quack, quack."
GTFO of here with this Bombay shit.
@@KMK7355It’s just a movie calm down.
I still have my tickets from Germany game. I was in Wilmington, N.Y. I'm from Boston, and have all the autographed tickets. 9 years old and thanks guys for taking the time to sign them. Rest in peace coach
Greatest moments and greatest sports call in sports history
My daughter was born at 6:30am on this day and I watched the game that afternoon so I experienced 2 miracles.
I was10 years old and at a high school basketball game in Pennsylvania. I knew we were playing the Soviets, but not on live TV. There was a murmur in the crowd, as if someone had heard something. I ran home in time for the 3rd period. What a night. Two days later, across the street from our church, my dad and I watched the gold medal game at my grandmother's house. No internet back then, and the stories are so sweet.
Al Michaels call is so iconic and gives me goosebumps
Greatest upset in sports history!!
Yup...no simulcast, no internet. The TV broadcast was played to the viewing audience after it was over. My father had listened to the play-by-play on the radio while coming back from a business trip to NYC. He comes into the house trying to feign ignorance as to the result of the game...but we could see it all over his face. We watched in true bliss. I'm wearing a "Lake Placid USA" hoodie as I type this.
i tried to hold out until 8pm, then abc comes on with people in a celebratory mode behind mckay and i had a feeling they won. so, i call sportsphone in ny and got the score!
If you lived in Metro Detroit or
Buffalo, Burlington, VT you could get the CBC feed live.
It is simply the greatest sports moment of all time. Never on the field of battle has a team been 'outmatched', and through incredible coaching, heart and respect for each other, pulled off the most amazing upset possible. College guys versus the best hockey team ever assembled. They showed that dreams and miracles are real. #1 moment that will never have a peer.
they don't make coaches like Herb Brooks anymore, the real Minnesota Miracle man.
Back then I was in the Army stationed in Baumholder, Germany. The good news was the game was on live at 23:00. The bad news was it was on German TV & not AFN. The barracks TV room was filled with people “who didn’t know a blue line from a clothes line.” At the end our CO broke out a keg. Thank God that game was on a Friday so we had no duty in the morning.
The country needs something like this today. I want the U.S to be unified more than ever.
I remember living this back then. Yep. We need a miracle
So lets have the 20 best college players and invite the russian team to play a 7 game series. We could have Trump promote it.
@@shawnyoung8752 Everything Trump touches turns to shit.
Have Trump promote it? LOL, yeah lets have a insurrectionist host it. You're a clown Young.
FDJT
I listened to the game on radio while playing basketball in the driveway. I remember the typing and winning goals. I remember the tie vs Sweden and the the lob-sided win against Czechoslovakia. as huge. I knew all their names. And I remember rather incredulously that all could be for naught without a win versus Finland.A special time. The USA chant was so authentic. Never the same after that.
Best sports moment in my lifetime
I truly believe that it's moments like these that define us not only as Americans, but as human beings. Great rivals but the reapect was there in the end. American citizens coming together to overcome what seems to be insurmountable odds. These moments occur so very little in a countries history, that it's often easy to forget what it's like to come together as one nation. It's important to remember these times. Especially in a time like now when it seems like we couldn't be more divided.
1980, I was serving in the Army in Germany listening to the game on AFN Radio. The 4 to 3 win had giving me a big rush! I have this game on DVD ; And the movie : MIRACLE !
Michael Scott
Thank you, very much, for your Service, sir! We remain the home of the free because of our most brave - our tremendous United States Of America, Military Heroes!
This story was not passed down to me. I watched this event on television. USA defeating the USSR was an early present, 4 days before my 7th birthday. I have been a Boston Bruins fan since 1979, the first year of Ray Bourque's career. Watching this just before my 7th birthday, even on tape delay, helped to shape my patriotism as a proud American. Mike Eruzione will forever be one of the towering figures of American Patriotism in my eyes.
Very well put. As an immigrant who came here almost 60 years ago I felt the same way. When Rizzo scored that goal an entire nation gave a standing ovation. Kicking Russia's ass at that time meant so much. The gold medal was just s cherry on top after that. But a sweet cherry indeed. BTW, Ray Bourque was one helluva player but I never saw anyone better than Bobby Orr. And I'm a Wings fan.
The USA's victory over the USSR in that 1980 winter Olympics was certainly unforgettable. An amazing and thrilling 60 minutes of hockey with an outcome of fiction come to life.
This was the same Soviet team that just one year earlier had thumped the NHL All-Stars 6-0 in the deciding game of the 3 game Challenge Cup.
The. USSR beat that US Team 10-3
three weeks earlier.
They were much better than the US, but Craig was great, the USSR
not dialed in and the crowd gave the US energy.
i was born over a decade after this game was played and it's still my favorite hockey moment in history. God Bless America🇺🇸
On the anniversary today of the Miracle On Ice watching the replay still makes me proud. Thank you team for those great memories!
Al Michaels will be remembered for being the announcer at the 1980 USA Olympic Hockey Team in Lake Placid , New York! " he will definitely take it to his grave " ❤
wow, that sign on the New York fire house across from the Soviet Mission on 67th Street in Manhattan...talk about shade
I am 55, I still get emotional about this team.
I’m a Canadian and I get emotional about this team!
Al Michaels being the commentator was legendary
With all the stuff happening in our country and around the world - we should all hope for another magical event like this to bring us all together again. I was a kid waiting in line at Space Mountain Disneyland when they announced on the speakers "Ladies and gentlemen, the United States National hockey team has just defeated the Soviet Union." Everyone in the ride erupted in celebration. And eto this day, every time I go on that ride, I think of that day and that game.
greatest sports moment in USA history.......loved Micheals comment.."most people didn't know the blue line from a clothes line"....lol
Lived this miracle. What a proud moment for all of us. We need this back today.
If I was Mike Eruzione I would buy a bunch of TVs, put them all over my house and that goal would play on a loop on all of them all the time....just saying!!
I was 31 at the time. The game on TV was a delayed telecast. Living in Minnesota, however, I was able to pick up a live radio broadcast out of Canada. When I tuned in, the US was behind 3-2. I was THRILLED … to be that close of a score to the Soviet Union! Then, we TIED the game! I was in disbelief. And when we took the lead, I suddenly got real nervous. I thought: We have woken up the Russian Bear, and he’s going to come storming back. I got on my living room floor with my ear to one of the two speakers. The remaining tense minutes were excruciating. The crowd was so loud, it was difficult to know what exactly was happening! When the game ended, I just broke down and sobbed.
cbc tv aired it live, if you could bring in the signal
Amazing memory. Thanks for sharing it.
I was 17 at the time, senior in high school, and I was upset the game wasn't on T.V., and I heard they beat the Russians on the car radio. I remember every car that day was honking their horn, just after they won. That went on all night.
How about legendary quote to end the 40th Anniversary Special! Always be prepared, like Al Michaels.
Al Michaels deserves to be in all sports hof
The greatest story in the history of sports! ❤ But it transcended sports because it lifted this country at a time when we really needed it!
Do you believe in miracles?!
The country desperately needs something like this today!
At the time, the USSR was stacking the deck in the Olympics. While the US was working very hard to maintain amateur status, the Soviets "amateur" players were soldiers who spent all their time playing hockey. We all knew it was fixed. We did not expect to beat the USSR. This was their dream team, and the US was facing them with a group of college players.
I remember this well!! So proud!!
Ken Dryden was also the goaltender for Canada's hockey team of the 20th century. Team Canada 1972, and the team that defeated the Soviet Union in the Summit Series.
The greatest sports moment in my lifetime. The country was in such a bad place, spiritually, mentally, just deflated across the board. I remember a Time Magazine cover from that time showing cartoon Carter dressed as a sheriff, standing alone on main street like Gary Cooper in High Noon only he had scared eyes while every western nation hid behind the locked doors, peeking out the window's as he faced off against the Eastern Bloc. That was the mood of the country as 1980 rolled around.
Then these kids started winning hockey games at Lake Placid. And with each win the nation's collective chest puffed out a bit and our back stood a bit straighter. The fact that it was tape delayed didn't matter to me and my friends. We knew ahead of time that we had won and we were still riveted to our seats, cheering each goal like it was happening live. I remember the street filling up as the final horn sounded and all the neighbors coming out and drinking toasts. It was like our hometown team had just won the Cup. The game against Finland was a bit anti-climatic. Yeah, they trailed after two periods but you just knew they were gonna win. I think even if they had lost that game it still would have been okay. We beat the f**kin Soviet SOB's and that was what mattered. For me, it was like landing on the Moon. We were back on top! It may sound hyperbolic but if you were there you know what I'm talking about.
Sometimes a thing happens at just the right time and if it happened at any other time it might just be a nice thing and you know when it happens is just as important and you know it makes that thing historic. A lot of time has passed since then and I've seen some great sporting moments but nothing that topped this game and at this point in my life I doubt anything ever will. U-S-A, U-S-A, U-S-A!
" It may sound hyperbolic but if you were there you know what I'm talking about."
I'm a bit to young to have seen this live but still watching it today the energy in that hockey rink is absolutley incredible. Those kids didn't do the impossible. They didn't win a hockey game. They changed the world.
For those who didn't live it, it really is almost impossible to describe. It's like the old saying..."If you know, I don't have to tell you, and if you don't, there's no way for me to really explain it." This country at the time, plain and simple, was in the shitter. Interest rates were through the roof, inflation was running around 13%, unemployment was high, the hostages were in Iran with no sign of an end to that mess in sight, the Russian's were on the move in Afghanistan and seemed strong. There was nothing to cheer about. Politically, we were still reeling from the sad mess of Watergate. The nation believed in NOTHING...least of all itself. And then, as God is my judge, this game happened and it ALL began to change. You may think it exaggeration when people say it, but it is not. Everything just seemed to turn. We started to believe that we could again, and so we began anew. It was amazing. I was 14 when this aired. I honestly can still not watch this game when Eruzione scores and not get choked up nearly to tears. Ran around my block screaming "WE BEAT THE RUSSIANS" at the top of my lungs after the game.
It was a good opening to Reagan and the next 8 years. Time was the high watermark of the United States.
Carter was President not Reagan.
Bet you kiss Trump ass.
My aunt had front row, blue line tickets to this game (she bought them before the Olympics even kicked off as just the “bronze medal hockey match” and had no clue how special that match would be). Anyways, she was offered $1000 per ticket outside the arena, (in 1980s money) and turned it down. She doesn’t regret it.
That's awesome!! It was before my time, but I've always loved this story! Also nice to see Finland get their first gold the other day!
I was 15 years old and watching the WPIX News (Channel 11) sports report with Jerry Girard. He announced that the game was now a final and he would hold up the final score and to look away if you didn’t want to know. Remember the game was being shown later that evening. Of course I looked to see thinking the US had no chance. When I saw final 4-3, unbelievable. Didn’t diminish my excitement watching the game later.
I heard it at the end of the sports on WCCO in Minneapolis about 6:30 PM CT
11:40 Goosebumps
I watched on TV at home. Not normally a hockey fan. I was that year. Skipped church Sunday to watch them win the gold. The making of a true team from disparate and opposing collegiates was Brooks’s own miracle. I remember him leaving the arena because it wasn’t him, it was “the boys.” Uff da.
Thank you!! Im 46 or 47 leep Year? 😊 i try not too miss a shift!! Im a Devils fan living in Minnesota !! Great midwest !!
My favourite sports quotes:
1) Do you believe in miracles? YES!”
2) LOOK AT MILLS, LOOK AT MILLS! (Tokyo 1964, US runner Billy Mills sprinted past the favourites to win the 10 000m gold medal)
3) Bernard is losing some ground, HERE COMES LEZAK, HE’S DONE IT, THE US HAVE WON IT! (Beijing 2008 4x100 freestyle relay USA upset the heavy favourites France)
I remember it so well.
wonderful.....
Was at Couzens Hall at University of Michigan (52-53). We were listening to the game from a radio station out of Up State New York. So we knew it as it happened.
the fact that i have skated on the very same ice that the USA team beat the Soviets really hits me. I wasn't even alive when this game was out, but my dad knew every detail down to the marks on the boards. such an experience, and an excellent game
i did as well...herb could motivate
LOVE IT
Amazon Prime is glad to have you!
I was one of the few lucky Americans that watched the Soviet game live on TV. It was LIVE on CTV and living so close to the border I could pick up the game. I wish someone would post THAT broadcast.
Greatest upset in sport history. I was a bit miffed because I'm Canadian and I thought the US and Russia would come to dominate hockey. But that didn't happen. Russia, America, Sweden, Finland, Canada, and many other countries produce fantastic players for the best spectator sport in the world.
Even though the US won this groundbreaking and history making event, it was the sport of hockey that benefited the most Worldwide Martin. This Miracle on Ice almost single handily exposed to the rest of the planet the beauty and greatness of hockey. Before 1980, hockey was basically a regional sport with interest only in say mainly Canada, the now former USSR and a few European/Scandinavian countries.
While impressive, the US was only a 7-1 underdog in the betting. They were young, at home, fired up, against a complacent squad that hadn't been looked in the eye in years. Sixteen players went into the NHL off that team.
@@raygordonteacheschess5501 You make a good point. Matter of fact, (someone can correct me) I think the Writers at SI actually predicted the US to win “Bronze” at those same ‘80 Olympics. I bet the rest of the American media especially those Commentators that had regularly covered the NHL/International hockey thought SI was drunk with that prediction. 😯
@@americangiant1003 part of the 7-1 betting odds were simply because of Americans betting on pride so the number tightened up. Pre-games, I remember hearing/reading they were selected to be the 7th best team.
thats right!
is that sister bertrile?
It's 1980 and the game was on delay, no internet, no cell phones, no Fax machines, just the game feed. They show Jim McKay and the Lake Placid crowd in the background. People are jumping up and down, waving flags and we just looked at each other. Could we have won? Iranian hostages, gas lines, 12% interest rates. What a boost.
after this happened! there was no more rivalry between the university of boston and the university of minnesota they united
Mark Johnson's Goal didn't come out of nowhere. That Goal had been in the making since "Day One". God said, to the Soviets ... 'Im the Boss""""...
I am lucky, I love hockey, I love lake placid. I live 20 miles away. I walk around inside the arena couple times a year
I was a freshman at CBA Albany High in Jan 1980. I remember this USA 1980 Olympic Team Hockey miracle well. We had our own miracle when we beat Sam Perkins undefeated Latham high basketball team in March the same year.
Al Michaels, Great American! Ken Dryden. Best Hockey player. My favorite player.
July 20 1969. One GREAT ON THE MOON!
To this day I still say this is the biggest upset in sports history
Upset? Yes. The job Brooks did picking the kids and pushing them to better them and them not knowing. Great motivator. It is not hard to piss off blue collar irish or italian hockey players from mass.
Hope win Gold in hockey in China this year
Still shivers
One shot. One goal...literally changed a man's life and his legacy. Eruzione misses and most likely they lose, they don't get Gold. Never made it in the NHL. No more interviews. No more TV. No more movies about him. No books. No inspirational tours. The internet would have been an empty place for the name. Nothing. He would have had a nice banking/finance career and would have told his grandkids about the time they played the Soviets and lost. That goal changed his life. One goal.
Not very much has changed in lake placid, it's beautiful!
i am in lake placid right now to watch the ice knights play in the frozen 4 and i agree
As i heard it said before.....
This was and most watched event that was seen live by the least..
As it was shown tape delay later that evening.
If I had access to DeLorium with enough plutonium to relive any event in history, no question my choice. I would be in attendance here: Lake Placid, NY. February 22, 1980.
Make sure to make a stop in Vegas first!
Someone said that this was the Bobby Orr Olympics. Apparently prior to 1965 Boston had only a couple of public arenas and with the incredible work of Orr and the others on the Boston Bruins, got lots of kids into hockey instead of something else. This made them the right age for 1980 and it also made for deep waters in the selection of the team. Now, obviously, there are other factors, but it shows the effect of a special athlete.
Can't discount the impact that Orr and the 2x Cup Champion Bruins from both '70 and '72 had on getting many of the New England born Miracle on Ice to become hockey players. Great point Henri.
Eruzione was already playing hockey when Orr came to Boston
and the other 16 Midwesterners
(12 Minnesotans, 2 Michiganders
and 2 Wisconsin natives) weren't
motivated at all by #4.
So Craig was probably the only
one truly impacted by Orr.
I'd all ah an grew up in an already
hockey mad section of Boston and Silk came from another traditional
hockey 'burb.
There were more than 2 MDC rinks
in Greater Boston and BU,BC,Harvard had rinks and there were rinks in Lynn, Walpole and Framingham.
There was an outdoor rink my brother played on in a AAA Select League run out of Belmont Hill
3 years before Orr came to Boston.
Also the 1996 US victory in the World Cup of Hockey was actually the most influenced by Orr.
There were a bunch of Mass\New Englabd players on that team including.
Keith Tkachuk, Tony Amonte, Scott Youg, Bill Guerin, Shawn McEachern from Massachusetts
and John Leclair, Brian Leech and
Eric Weinrich from Vermont, Conn. and Maine respectively. They were born in the 1967-72 range, which has them in youth hockey before Orr left Boston in 1976.
Certainly Leetch, Young, Amonte Guerin, McEachern, and Wienrich.
The night of the game, it was on TV ( even though I'm a Canadian and we didn't have cable ). I recall Canada giving the USSR a good game, but I thought the USA didn't have much of a chance, so I went to the movies ( Steve Martin's "The Jerk", "the story of a poor Black sharecropper's son who never dreamed he was adopted." )
I believe!
42 years ago today 🇺🇸!
12 years old at the time I heard a radio dj say USA 3 USSR 3 in the third period BEFORE the game on tape delay. Was very excited but not knowing what happened till later! Michael's call is the greatest sports call ever! 🇺🇸
3:32 now why I thought as a kid jim lampley was with Al in the miracle on ice I had no idea it’s was Ken Dryden.
Legends has it that game trigger the ripple effect of the end of the Cold War. Yes regan pope and the Berlin Wall help but the ripple effect started with team usa hockey team win in 80.
"You score on Tretiak, keep the puck"
My dad was 22 years old first year teaching!! 2nd grade he brought me to school only radio !! I dont remeber that !! But i rember fox and the Hound do u believe saving america
absolutely. Was only 9. Remember it clearly today
Somebody forgot to tell the Americans they were playing Soviet professionals and they were supposed to lose. One of the most incredible upsets in modern sports.
Good on the 1980 US Olympic hockey team winning gold. But the 1960 US Olympic hockey team also won gold and beat the USSR in the process.
Sportscaster Warner Wolf,leading off the news on NYC's ABC affiliate Ch.7,started his report proclaiming:"It was as if God was the 7th man on the ice."
After this happened,Carter should have lifted the boycott on the Summer Games.
Yup. I think that clip of that newscast on WABC-TV with Warner Wolf is still up on CZcams.
US vs Russia - the greatest sporting event EVER!!!!!!!
At the time, we all called it a miracle, but it wasn't close to a miracle. They just needed time to gel together. Herb Brooks had a great eye for exceptional talent. Look at the team and what they did in the NHL later. Neal Broten - only player ever to win the NCAA Championship, an Olympic Gold, and a Stanley Cup, 17 seasons in the NHL - 923 career points. Ken Morrow to the Islanders - the Mike Bossy, Bryan Trottier Islanders - he's the final piece of the puzzle and wins the Gold and the Stanley Cup in the same year, and helps win 4 Cups in a row. Mike Ramsey - 1,070 games over 18 years in the NHL, leaves the Sabres - goes to the Red Wings and plays in the Cup but loses to the Devils - and Neal Broten. Dave Christian -14 years in the NHL, 340 goals, a Stanley Cup appearance with the Bruins and an All Star appearance. Mark Johnson - 11 years in the NHL - team captain for the Hartford Whalers. Jack O'Callahan, Mark Pavelich, and Dave Silk were all solid NHL players with 23 combined years and 903 NHL game appearances. Two more years together and they would beat any team, any time. Underdogs in 1980 for sure - but no miracle - it was a great team with tremendous talent.
I would love to feel the way I did that night again, but with our country divided the way it is, I don't know if we'll ever see true patriotism again. I might settle for watching George Probert board MTG through the glass though.
I knew the game was being shown on tape delay. I was watching the 6:00 p.m News and I live in central time. When the sports came on someone handed the announcer a note. He said the game was over and if you do not want to know, turn the sound down. I did not need to because his smile gave it away. After the game was finished, my phone rang. It was my father. He did not know the game was delayed and was ecstatic. He said: We beat the Russians. We beat the Russians. When I told him the game was taped and I knew the outcome, he really got mad because he was on pins and needles the whole time.
They should have showed RUZ bringing the whole team to the gold medal platform!
Had the USA lost to Finland, not only would they have not won Gold, there was a chance they would not have won any medal because of the “round robin” format of the medal round which combined standings from the preliminary round against the common opponent (in the case of the USA: Sweden)
Dryden has 6 Stanley Cups. He didn't need to come up with aomething better than Unbelievable.
Welches Endergebnis (der Tabelle) hätte eigentlich ein Unentschieden Finnland-USA bedeutet? Hätte das Torverhältnis entschieden oder der direkte Vergleich?