Do You Believe in Miracles....Miracle on Ice, 40 years ago this weekend.

[Blansky]

Being Canadian, it was not that emotional of a thing for us but in the US it was a milestone.

The US was having a crisis at the time, hostage crisis, Viet Nam war hangover, a lot of divide in the country and this event at the Olympics where a team of underdogs beat the Soviet Red Army team actually helped galvanize the nation.

In case you were unaware, at the time the Olympic were only allowed to have amateurs but the Soviets circumvented the rules for years saying that their players/athletes were amateurs, although they were really professionals that played together all the time and in most cases for years, but since they were supposedly in the army, they were classified as amateurs.

Every other hockey team was thrown together a few months earlier and in the US they were essentially college players. So for them to beat the mighty Soviets in the semi finals and go on to win the gold 2 days later was really a miracle. It would be the same as a college football team beating the Super Bowl champs.

So Happy Anniversary America, Feb 22 1980 Lake Placid NY.


https://www.nhl.com/news/five-questi...ne/c-315185746

https://www.history.com/this-day-in-...s-soviet-union

[Saltzy]

I create custom high end sports memorabilia pieces in my spare time as a hobby, and I made this one for the Miracle on Ice a few years ago.

The ticket is a full and uncut, and the pins on top were actually worn by the Russian bench during the game.

I think it really came out nice.

[AzPaul]

Generally, I'm not a big fan of sports movies, but I liked 'Miracle' a lot.

[Blansky]

Originally Posted by AzPaul

Generally, I'm not a big fan of sports movies, but I liked 'Miracle' a lot.

Herb Brooks the coach was a hard nose. I always laugh at one of his favorite lines that the players now chuckle at is, he yells at them, YOU GUYS ARE GETTING WORSE EVERY DAY, AND YOU"RE PLAYING LIKE IT'S NEXT WEEK.

He was also famous for his "bag skates".

Kurt Russell did a GREAT job, everyone says.

[TheVTCGuy]

Remember it well, my freshman year in college. I was taking a shower and my roommate yelled “they won! They won!””

[joeychitwood]

I attended the University of Minnesota in 1980 and recall the pride of knowing that 13 of the 20 players were born in Minnesota, nine played for the U of M, and that Herb Brooks was the U of M coach. And I’m very proud of the fact that my son-in-law is now the assistant coach of the legendary U of M hockey program.

[Patton250]

Epic!!!!

[BDon13]

Originally Posted by Saltzy

I create custom high end sports memorabilia pieces in my spare time as a hobby, and I made this one for the Miracle on Ice a few years ago.

The ticket is a full and uncut, and the pins on top were actually worn by the Russian bench during the game.

I think it really came out nice.

Wow that’s amazing, very creative!


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[avidflyer]

Went to the rink last year for the frozen four. Lot of history there great place

[Boothroyd]

I was in a very good place for that game. The Memorial Union at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. It wasn't on TV live (was later shown on ABC via replay), but they pumped in the radio broadcast as there were several UW players on that team--Mark Johnson and Bob Suter. Place went just berserk with that game--UW was more of a hockey than a football town in those days. Very good times!

[brandrea]

A song comes to mind by REM ... It’s The End of The World As We Know It

[GoingPlaces]

I sill have the SI magazine from that historical moment, I'll never forget. Watched it on a 13 inch B/W Panasonic.

[Blansky]

Originally Posted by Boothroyd

I was in a very good place for that game. The Memorial Union at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. It wasn't on TV live (was later shown on ABC via replay), but they pumped in the radio broadcast as there were several UW players on that team--Mark Johnson and Bob Suter. Place went just berserk with that game--UW was more of a hockey than a football town in those days. Very good times!

My wife is from Madison and went to UW '80-'85 same time as Chris Chelois and Pat Flatley, and I think Badger Bob was still there until '82.

[Blansky]

Originally Posted by brandrea

A song comes to mind by REM ... It’s The End of The World As We Know It

We did have the Summit Series in '72. Canada vs the Ruskies.

And a few other highlights as well.

[Blansky]

Originally Posted by joeychitwood

I attended the University of Minnesota in 1980 and recall the pride of knowing that 13 of the 20 players were born in Minnesota, nine played for the U of M, and that Herb Brooks was the U of M coach. And I’m very proud of the fact that my son-in-law is now the assistant coach of the legendary U of M hockey program.

Good for him. Does he have an interest or a shot at climbing up to the NHL.

Tony Granato is the coach in Madison now. Met him a few times in San Jose at kid tournaments.

[Blansky]

One player on the Miracle on Ice team was Kenny Morrow who went from that victory in February directly to the New York Islanders and won a Stanley Cup a few months later.

Not a bad year for him.

[brandrea]

Originally Posted by Blansky

We did have the Summit Series in '72. Canada vs the Ruskies.



And a few other highlights as well.

All to true, yet it still hurts when we lose at our national pass time

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[Blansky]

Originally Posted by brandrea

All to true, yet it still hurts when we lose at our national pass time

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I think in 1980 the NHL was 80% Canadian and now less than 45%.

Hey, we grew the game. But I hear ya.

[RTG]

I know the story but was too young at the time.

I was a huge hockey fan growing up though. Now days the only sporting events I care to watch are USA vs Canada hockey. I remember our wins well. For the games we didn't win: Screw you guys!

[Cru Jones]

[Blansky]

Originally Posted by RTG

I know the story but was too young at the time.

I was a huge hockey fan growing up though. Now days the only sporting events I care to watch are USA vs Canada hockey. I remember our wins well. For the games we didn't win: Screw you guys!

Canada vs US in both men's and women's now are pretty much 50-50. Although the Canadian men's are so deep they could probably ice 2 teams.

I had seasons tickets in Edmonton when Gretzky won his first cup. Then I moved to LA and a year later he move there. He was very instrumental in growing the game in parts of the US.

I still think he was stalking me though.

[AzPaul]

There's a movie called Red Army that's a must for hockey fans, particularly going back to that era.

[subtona]

Unbelievable how time flies! An amazing moment for American sports!

[joeychitwood]

Originally Posted by Blansky

Good for him. Does he have an interest or a shot at climbing up to the NHL.

An NHL assistant job would mean far fewer nights away from home. College coaching is a grind because of recruiting. He was offered a D-1 head coaching job two years ago. He is 35. He turned it down because he didn’t feel he was ready yet and because he likes working with Bob Motzko, the Gopher head coach. He wanted to see how a team is rebuilt, as the Gophers had dropped in rankings lately. They were also together at St. Cloud State and went to the Frozen Four there. I think he will wind up as a head coach in college in the near future.

Bill Baker from the 1980 team is now an orthodontist, and he has a practice in Brainerd and here in DL.

[AzPaul]

Originally Posted by joeychitwood

An NHL assistant job would mean far fewer nights away from home. College coaching is a grind because of recruiting. He was offered a D-1 head coaching job two years ago. He is 35. He turned it down because he didn’t feel he was ready yet and because he likes working with Bob Motzko, the Gopher head coach. He wanted to see how a team is rebuilt, as the Gophers had dropped in rankings lately. They were also together at St. Cloud State and went to the Frozen Four there. I think he will wind up as a head coach in college in the near future.

Bill Baker from the 1980 team is now an orthodontist, and he has a practice in Brainerd and here in DL.

My mother went to St Cloud State. That was her home town. Don't see it mentioned all that often.

[Blansky]

Originally Posted by joeychitwood

An NHL assistant job would mean far fewer nights away from home. College coaching is a grind because of recruiting. He was offered a D-1 head coaching job two years ago. He is 35. He turned it down because he didn’t feel he was ready yet and because he likes working with Bob Motzko, the Gopher head coach. He wanted to see how a team is rebuilt, as the Gophers had dropped in rankings lately. They were also together at St. Cloud State and went to the Frozen Four there. I think he will wind up as a head coach in college in the near future.

Bill Baker from the 1980 team is now an orthodontist, and he has a practice in Brainerd and here in DL.

Lots of hockey talent in Minnesota. Good luck to him. A lot of coaching jobs are tied to people that work together and when one goes up they take their people with them. Coaches like to surround themselves with their own people because they get to where they finish each other’s sentences.

I noticed on the St. Cloud team they have a couple of Alberta boys on the team. Also Bret Hedican who played there is now a color guy for the San Jose Sharks and he’s married to Kristi Yamaguchi. He had a great NHL career. He’s a class act all they way.

[JasoninDenver]

I was 13 years old and home sick with strep throat during the Olympics that year. I watched every game the US team played and still remember how amped I was for that final game. One of my best childhood memories.

[joeychitwood]

Originally Posted by AzPaul

My mother went to St Cloud State. That was her home town. Don't see it mentioned all that often.

Originally Posted by Blansky

I noticed on the St. Cloud team they have a couple of Alberta boys on the team. Also Bret Hedican who played there is now a color guy for the San Jose Sharks and he’s married to Kristi Yamaguchi. He had a great NHL career. He’s a class act all they way.

Herb Brooks also coached at St. Cloud State, and the arena there is named after him. Another great SCSU alumnus, Matt Cullen, just retired from the NHL last year. He won Stanley Cups with the Hurricanes and Penguins. He and his wife are two of the finest humans on the planet. They have a children’s charity that gives millions to local hospitals and organizations around here.

[Blansky]

Originally Posted by joeychitwood

Herb Brooks also coached at St. Cloud State, and the arena there is named after him. Another great SCSU alumnus, Matt Cullen, just retired from the NHL last year. He won Stanley Cups with the Hurricanes and Penguins. He and his wife are two of the finest humans on the planet. They have a children’s charity that gives millions to local hospitals and organizations around here.

Matt Cullen was a great character player and played 21 years in the NHL. Clutch performer too. Loved watching him.

Unless you live near them you rarely get to see all the charity work these guys do, and a lot of them are REALLY involved in the community. Good for him.

A shame about Herb Brooks, doing a some charity dinner thing, had a couple of drinks and driving home, fell asleep and game over. Very sad.

[Blansky]

For anyone interested, on Sunday the 23 on ABC at around 3PM Pacific is a special on this called Miracle on Ice at 40. And ESPN 2

On Saturday 22, Miracle the movie is on the NHL network.