Miracle On Ice

1980 USA Hockey Team Defeats Soviet Juggernaut 4-3 - 2/22/03

"Miracle On Ice", that's the first thing that appears in our mind whenever we remembered about the occasion at 22 February 1980. Yes, that was the time when USA's hockey team defeated the Soviet team, who were considered to be the best ice hockey team in the world at the time, in the 1980 Winter Olympics at Lake Placid, New York. At that time, USA's hockey team were made up of amateur and collegiate players and led by coach Herb Brooks. Team USA went on to win the gold medal by winning its final match over Finland, who finished 4th. The Soviet Union took the silver medal by beating bronze medal winner Sweden in its final game. As part of its 100th anniversary celebrations in 2008, the International Ice Hockey Federation (IIHF) chose the "Miracle on Ice" as the number-one international ice hockey story of the century.

The Field House (capacity 8,500) was packed. The home crowd waved American flags and sang patriotic songs such as "God Bless America. Before the game, Brooks read his players a statement he'd written out on a piece of paper, telling them that "You were born to be a player. You were meant to be here. This moment is yours." In the first period, as in several previous games, the U.S. team fell behind early. Vladimir Krutov deflected a slap shot by Aleksei Kasatonov past U.S. netminder Jim Craig to give the Soviets a 1–0 lead, and after Buzz Schneider scored for the United States to tie the game, the Soviets struck again with a Sergei Makarov goal. Down 2–1, Craig improved his play, turning away many Soviet shots before the U.S. team had another shot on goal (the Soviet team had 39 shots on goal in the game, the Americans 16). In the waning seconds of the first period, Dave Christian fired a slap shot on Tretiak from 100 feet away. The Soviet goalie saved the shot but misplayed the rebound, which bounced out some 20 feet in front of him. Mark Johnson sliced between the two defenders, found the loose puck and fired it past a diving Tretiak to tie the score with one second left in the period. The first period ended with the game tied 2–2.

For the second period, Tikhonov replaced Tretiak with backup goaltender Vladimir Myshkin immediately after Johnson's tying goal, a move which shocked players on both teams. Tikhonov later identified this as the "turning point of the game" and "the biggest mistake of my career". Myshkin allowed no goals in the second period. The Soviets dominated play in the second period, outshooting the Americans 12–2, but scored only once, on a power play goal by Aleksandr Maltsev. After two periods the Soviet Union led 3–2. In the third period, Vladimir Krutov was sent to the penalty box at the 6:47 mark of the third period for high-sticking. The Americans, who had managed only two shots on Myshkin in 27 minutes, had a power play and a rare offensive opportunity. Myshkin stopped a Ramsey shot, then Eruzione fired a shot wide. Late in the power play, Dave Silk was advancing into the Soviet zone when Vasilev knocked him to the ice. The puck slid to Mark Johnson. Johnson fired off a shot that went under Myshkin and into the net at the 8:39 mark, as the power play was ending, tying the game 3–3. Only a couple shifts later, Mark Pavelich passed to U.S. captain Mike Eruzione, who was left undefended in the high slot. Eruzione, who had just come into the game, fired a shot past Myshkin, who was screened by Pervukhin. This goal gave Team USA a 4–3 lead, its first of the game, with exactly 10 minutes left. The Soviets attacked furiously. Moments after Eruzione's goal, Maltzev fired off a shot which ricocheted off the right goal post. As the minutes wound down, Brooks kept repeating "Play your game. Play your game.” Instead of going into a defensive crouch, the United States continued to play offense, even getting off a few more shots on goal. The Soviets began to shoot wildly, and Starikov admitted that "we were panicking." As the clock ticked down below a minute the Soviets got the puck back into the American zone, and Mikhailov passed to Petrov, who shot wide. The Soviets never pulled Myshkin for an extra attacker, much to the disbelief of the Americans. Starikov later explained that "We never did six-on-five", not even in practice, because "Tikhonov just didn't believe in it." Craig kicked away a Petrov slap shot with 33 seconds left. Kharlamov fired the puck back in as the clock ticked below 20 seconds. A wild scramble for the puck ensued, ending when Johnson found it and passed to Morrow.

As the U.S. team tried to clear the zone (move the puck over the blue line, which they did with seven seconds remaining), the crowd began to count down the seconds left. Sportscaster Al Michaels, who was calling the game on ABC along with former Montreal Canadiens goalie Ken Dryden, picked up on the countdown in his broadcast, and delivered his famous call :“Eleven seconds, you've got ten seconds, the countdown going on right now! Morrow, up to Silk. Five seconds left in the game. Do you believe in miracles?...YES!” In the locker room afterwards, players spontaneously broke into a chorus of "God Bless America". As his team ran all over the ice in celebration, Herb Brooks sprinted back to the locker room and cried.