I was at the game 10 days before at Madison Square Garden and we got crushed. What was interesting was the lessons learned from that game helped the US beat USSR less than 2 weeks later. No question the Soviets played the Olympic Games not to lose and we all forget, they are humans, like any other. Nerves play a part, even for that team.
Many, many innovations ...puck possession style, wingers crossing, circling back with the puck when attack doesn't look promising (rather than playing dump and chase, wingers straight up and down, stay in your lanes, blah blah)... Innovations most have come to think of as 'uniquely' Russian, actually came from Lloyd Percival's 'Hockey Handbook', example bouncing tennis balls off a wall to help goalies improve hand/eye coordination was a suggestion Percival made to Terry Sawchuk when he played for Detroit ... Tarasov (who had Percival's book translated into Russian and 500 copies made) called the Hockey Handbook, 'His Bible'... Anatoli? Tarasov basically admitted the debt he owed Percival, in a handwritten note he wrote on the inside cover of one of Percival's books, when Percival was on his death bed... Tarasov made a special point of visiting Percival, his mentor, near the end... Incidentally, Percival was also the author of , 'How to Play Better Hockey' PEACE OUT...
Not a chance 50\50. A 1980 Team USA using the best US players from the NHL plus the best 1980 US Olympic Team players playing a year together would have a 30% at best of winning a series. G Baker - Craig D - Langway - O'Connell Larson - Milbury Norwich - Morrow Ramsey Fidler - Ftorek - Rowe Jensen - Howe - Mullen Christoff - Johnson - Talafous Miller - Pavelich - Holmgren
The difference in net from Tretiak and Baker or Craig is enormous in a 7 game series? US D Corp is good and strength of team. US Forwards don't match up with USSR Forwards over 7 games. You can add Christian to the US Forward group also Its an ok Forward group with Ftorek, Howe, Rowe, Talafous, Fidler and Holmgren being legit top 6 Forwards on their teams.
Wrong, 2 weeks before they played each other at Madison Square Gardens, the Soviets won 10-3 99 out of 100 times if they played the Soviets would have won
I hate to break it to Americans but the day the gamed changed for North America was well before this as impressive as it was for Americans. That year was 1972 and called the Canada/ Russia Summit Series. 4 games in Canada using all Canadian NHL players and 4 games in Russia using supposedly all amature Russian players. It was War on Ice and even though Canada won the FIRST ever contest it completely changed the way hockey was played by all North American players. Watch the 8 games and you will see it was historic beyond just one in Lake Placid.
Just days before the famous USA-USSR hockey match on 22nd February 1980, that same Soviet team played Canada. The Canadians were up in their match 3-1 against the same Soviet team. Coach Tikonov, however, kept calm, and did not pull out his best goalie, Tretiak. The Soviet Union Red Army hockey team would eventually win that match, 6-4. What would have happened, had Tikonov, kept his best goalie in the match, against the US team? We'll never know for sure. I have a feeling that the Soviet Union team might've won that contest with the same final score as they did against the Canadians. Pulling out Tretiak is analogous to pulling out Joe Montana and putting in Steve Young in the 1990 NFC Championship game against the NY Giants, which shockingly ended up with a fumble by Roger Craig that opened the door for the NY Giants to win that game and go on to win Super Bowl 25. Had Joe Montana stayed in that game, I firmly believe that the 49ers would have won that game and won a third consecutive Super Bowl. Likewise, I have a feeling that had the Soviet Coach kept his cool, and kept his confidence in Tretiak, I have a feeling that the final score might've been CCCP 5 or 6, USA 4. Nevertheless, I am so glad that the "Miracle on Ice" happened!
In the wake of the whole Mike Babcock mess, I started to think of old time coaches and what mind games they must have played with players when they had much more power and the players had no way to push back, and I think the US-USSR hockey game was a perfect example of that. Tikhonov was a new coach. Tretiak was his most famous and popular player. Tretiak was unique in that he was not only popular in the USSR but also very popular with the fans in Canada & the US. Tikhonov was asserting his authority and power over Tretiak and, through him, over the whole team & program. He wasn't going to allow any player to be bigger than him and he sacrificed a gold medal to secure his position. The fact that he kept his job after losing to the US in such a spectacular fashion shows that the Soviet Hockey authorities agreed with his tactics. I remember that Canada and, I think, Finland gave the Russians a harder than expected fight in their games. That, plus the fact that so many of the USA players, though pretty much unknowns then, went on to have successful pro careers, makes this game less of an upset in retrospect than it was at the time. Still an upset, just not as big as it seemed. More like two teams that play on the same level, like a mid-table NHL team beating the top team in the league (which happens once in a while) than a high school team beating the Stanley Cup champions, which would never happen and which is what we thought it was.
No the 1980 supposed miracle in ice was a protest by Russian players against their coach. The biggest upset was the 72 Russia Canada series as it was freedom.vs communism. Before things actually opened up. It looked good on tv but behind the scene it was Russians against the KGB coach tikonov
I was at the game 10 days before at Madison Square Garden and we got crushed. What was interesting was the lessons learned from that game helped the US beat USSR less than 2 weeks later. No question the Soviets played the Olympic Games not to lose and we all forget, they are humans, like any other. Nerves play a part, even for that team.
"5 seconds to go...4 seconds...DO YOU BELIEVE IN MIRACLES? YES!" Al Michaels, the 1980 USA vs USSR Olympic hockey match.
Excellent documentary. Thanks for the upload @kid
the 1980 team brought some of the best players to the nhl
Many, many innovations ...puck possession style, wingers crossing, circling back with the puck when attack doesn't look promising (rather than playing dump and chase, wingers straight up and down, stay in your lanes, blah blah)... Innovations most have come to think of as 'uniquely' Russian, actually came from Lloyd Percival's 'Hockey Handbook', example bouncing tennis balls off a wall to help goalies improve hand/eye coordination was a suggestion Percival made to Terry Sawchuk when he played for Detroit ...
Tarasov (who had Percival's book translated into Russian and 500 copies made) called the Hockey Handbook, 'His Bible'... Anatoli? Tarasov basically admitted the debt he owed Percival, in a handwritten note he wrote on the inside cover of one of Percival's books, when Percival was on his death bed... Tarasov made a special point of visiting Percival, his mentor, near the end... Incidentally, Percival was also the author of , 'How to Play Better Hockey'
PEACE OUT...
They are wrong if herb Brooks and his incredible kids play the Soviets 100 times it be 50-50 tie .
Not a chance 50\50.
A 1980 Team USA using the best
US players from the NHL plus
the best 1980 US Olympic Team players playing a year together
would have a 30% at best of winning a series.
G Baker - Craig
D - Langway - O'Connell
Larson - Milbury
Norwich - Morrow
Ramsey
Fidler - Ftorek - Rowe
Jensen - Howe - Mullen
Christoff - Johnson - Talafous
Miller - Pavelich - Holmgren
The difference in net from
Tretiak and Baker or Craig is enormous in a 7 game series?
US D Corp is good and strength of team.
US Forwards don't match up with
USSR Forwards over 7 games.
You can add Christian to the US Forward group also
Its an ok Forward group with
Ftorek, Howe, Rowe, Talafous, Fidler and Holmgren being
legit top 6 Forwards on their teams.
You could not be more wrong.
@@KMK7355Broten was better than any of those forwards
Wrong, 2 weeks before they played each other at Madison Square Gardens, the Soviets won 10-3 99 out of 100 times if they played the Soviets would have won
I hate to break it to Americans but the day the gamed changed for North America was well before this as impressive as it was for Americans. That year was 1972 and called the Canada/ Russia Summit Series. 4 games in Canada using all Canadian NHL players and 4 games in Russia using supposedly all amature Russian players. It was War on Ice and even though Canada won the FIRST ever contest it completely changed the way hockey was played by all North American players. Watch the 8 games and you will see it was historic beyond just one in Lake Placid.
Да эту олимпиаду проиграли...бывает......ну а в остальном...СССР выигрывали у сша всегда!
Just days before the famous USA-USSR hockey match on 22nd February 1980, that same Soviet team played Canada. The Canadians were up in their match 3-1 against the same Soviet team. Coach Tikonov, however, kept calm, and did not pull out his best goalie, Tretiak. The Soviet Union Red Army hockey team would eventually win that match, 6-4. What would have happened, had Tikonov, kept his best goalie in the match, against the US team? We'll never know for sure. I have a feeling that the Soviet Union team might've won that contest with the same final score as they did against the Canadians. Pulling out Tretiak is analogous to pulling out Joe Montana and putting in Steve Young in the 1990 NFC Championship game against the NY Giants, which shockingly ended up with a fumble by Roger Craig that opened the door for the NY Giants to win that game and go on to win Super Bowl 25. Had Joe Montana stayed in that game, I firmly believe that the 49ers would have won that game and won a third consecutive Super Bowl. Likewise, I have a feeling that had the Soviet Coach kept his cool, and kept his confidence in Tretiak, I have a feeling that the final score might've been CCCP 5 or 6, USA 4. Nevertheless, I am so glad that the "Miracle on Ice" happened!
Sports are ALWAYS a proverbial "what if".....like former Boston Bruins head coach Don Cherry once said "IF my aunt had nuts she'd be my uncle*
In the wake of the whole Mike Babcock mess, I started to think of old time coaches and what mind games they must have played with players when they had much more power and the players had no way to push back, and I think the US-USSR hockey game was a perfect example of that. Tikhonov was a new coach. Tretiak was his most famous and popular player. Tretiak was unique in that he was not only popular in the USSR but also very popular with the fans in Canada & the US. Tikhonov was asserting his authority and power over Tretiak and, through him, over the whole team & program. He wasn't going to allow any player to be bigger than him and he sacrificed a gold medal to secure his position. The fact that he kept his job after losing to the US in such a spectacular fashion shows that the Soviet Hockey authorities agreed with his tactics.
I remember that Canada and, I think, Finland gave the Russians a harder than expected fight in their games. That, plus the fact that so many of the USA players, though pretty much unknowns then, went on to have successful pro careers, makes this game less of an upset in retrospect than it was at the time. Still an upset, just not as big as it seemed. More like two teams that play on the same level, like a mid-table NHL team beating the top team in the league (which happens once in a while) than a high school team beating the Stanley Cup champions, which would never happen and which is what we thought it was.
I thought Joe, Montana was knocked out of the game
That is a good point.
Get real 😂😂😂😂bro😂😂😂😂😂 USA NUMBER ONE 😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂 CANADA 😢😢😢😢😢
No the 1980 supposed miracle in ice was a protest by Russian players against their coach. The biggest upset was the 72 Russia Canada series as it was freedom.vs communism. Before things actually opened up. It looked good on tv but behind the scene it was Russians against the KGB coach tikonov