Up in the mornin' 'fore day: Thankful Thursday

I remember exactly where I was on February 22, 1980. I was glued to the television watching history being made. Herb Brooks and The US team made up of 20 young amatuer and collegiate hockey players from the United States dared an all professional team from the Soviet Union, which was considered the best hockey team in the world, in what is widely regarded as one of the greatest upsets in sports history. It wasn't the first time they had met.

The Soviet Bear

The Soviet professional team was a true bear to play. In various exhibition games played against American and Canadian professionals in the NHL, Soviet teams went 5 wins, 3 losses and a tie. When their Olympic Team played the NHL All-stars, the blanked the NHL players 6-0. Then, just 3 weeks before the historic match-up in Lake Placid, The two National Olympic Teams met for an exhibition match at Madison Square Gardens.

Pressure was built up higher than normal between the two superpowers. In December of 1979, the Soviet Army had invaded the country of Afganistan and the United States denounced the move publicly and then President Jimmy Carter was considering the US Boycotting the Summer Games in Moscow (which did end up happening).

The results of the matchup were devestating. The Soviets buried the American team, 10-3. The young team of amateurs just didn't seem up to the task of fighting off the physically bigger and more experienced Soviet team. After the February 9th exhibition game, many felt that the US might not even medal in the sport at the Olympics.

Raised Eyebrows

Herb Brooks and the American team didn't let their experience deter them. It was just an exhibition and gave them an opportunity to see the Soviet team's strengths and weaknesses. When Olympic play began, the American team brought a physical and cohesive game to the ice. In their first game, underdogs against Sweden, they earned a 2-2 draw in the last 27 seconds, by leaving the goal untended and pressing the attack with the goalie pushing in.

Moving forward in game play, Czechoslovakia was the next game. The Czechs were considered to be second only to the Soviet Union and so the two Warsaw Pact nations were considered to have the Gold and the Silver Medals already in the bag. Team USA responded to this by soundly and stunningly defeating the Czechs 7-3. The team had managed their first two games and then cruised by the next 3 games without a problem, beating Norway, Romania and West Germany to advance to the medal round with Sweden. The Soviets advanced with Finland and the stage was set.

"Do You Believe In Miracles?"

22 February 1980 - 5pm EST

A capacity home-team crowd filled the Field House with patriotic songs and US Flags everywhere. Like most of the rest of the country, I had to wait until the tape delay played later to find out the outcome of the game. But these were the days before instant news via the internet. It wouldn't matter, I'd have watched it again and again. The game was intense, the first period battling back and forth, the US answering for every shot the Soviets scored. It was like watching a whole different team from the Madison Square Gardens game.

The second period was dominated by the Soviet team, pounding shot after shot at the American goalie. 12 times, the Soviets shot and time after time Jim Craig deflected shots. But eventuality caught up and on a power play, one of the Soviet shots got through. The second period ended with the Soviets up 3-2.

The third period was probably the most explosive period in hockey. A penalty sent one Soviet player to the penalty box and Team USA used the opportunity, scoring twice. With just 10 minutes left in the game, the US had the lead. They would never relinquish it. The Soviets started going wild with an intense desire to recapture the lead. Wild shot after wild shot rang toward the US Goalie and Craig just kept defending his territory. Finally, Team USA regained control of the puck with seconds left. Al Michaels famously counting down the last seconds of the game, "11 seconds, you've got 10 seconds, the countdown going on right now! Morrow, up to Silk. 5 seconds left in the game. Do you believe in miracles? YES!"

Contrary to what a lot of people thing, this was not the game for the Gold Medal. But even though it was not the Gold Medal game, it certainly overshadowed the later game against Finland in which Team USA overcame a late deficit to win 4-2. For all intents and purposes, the US-USSR game, the Miracle on Ice, was the difinitve game of the 1980 Olympics and even today reigns as the International Ice Hockey Federation's top story of the 20th century. It defined what can be done and defied all the odds. It is an inspirational story of what can be done when you challenge the word impossible.