“Do you believe in Miracles?”
Today marks the 30th anniversary of the 1980 "Miracle On Ice" US Olympic hockey team's victory over the Soviet Union. It was one of the greatest sporting upsets since...well..."Upset" defeated Man O' War.
There was also a significant hockey game yesterday, in which the US team defeated the favored Canadian team 5-3 in pool play. Since sportscasters, more than anything, are looking for a story to put out, this win has drawn a lot of unfair comparisons to the 1980 Semi-final. Let's put things in perspective.
The 1980 US team was comprised of a group of amateur and college players, (since at the time, NHL players were not allowed to compete in the Olympics) while the Soviet players were the best the USSR had to offer. The 2010 team is made up of many of the younger American NHL stars who play hockey for a living, with a couple of veterans with prior International Hockey experience mixed in. While the US team may be built with an eye to the future (With young players like Kane and Kessel headlining the team) the scoring in last night's game was done primarily by the veterans.
Let's also keep in mind that we actually still kinda like Canada. They make good maple syrup, their bacon is wonderful, and we're not in the middle of a cold war with them. So while I'm sure there's some rivalry going on between the players, the US-Soviet hatred simply is not there this time around.
The 1980 Miracle game was for the Olympic Semifinal. The loser had to play for the bronze, with the winner going to the Gold Medal game. The 2010 game...a game in pool play good enough for Bragging Rights, and a bye into the Quarterfinals. Canada can only hope to make it to the Quarters be beating Germany. Yes...the same 0-3 Germany that has lost to Sweden, Finland and Belarus by combined scores of 12-3. Big whoop.
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