The Soviets had not lost a game in the Olympics since 1968 and had won, and had not lost the gold medal since 1960. They had won 21 Olympic match-ups going into the game against the United States.(Jones 1) Before the Olympic tournament started the Soviets had scrimmages with the United States and the NHL All-stars. First the Soviets shutout the NHL All-stars by a score of 6-0 then went on to destroy the young feeble American team that was hand picked by head coach Herb Brooks by a score of 10-3. So going into the Olympic Tournament the USA was the seventh seed out of twelve teams, so winning was unthinkable(2).

It was now time for these 24 young college men to show what they were made of against worldwide competition.(ESPN 1) The first they were up against was Sweden where the USA found

themselves just seconds away from being eliminated when a goal coming late in the third period managed a tie for the USA and they advanced to the next round.(Carlton 2) Next they went up against Czechoslovakia whom was heavily favored opponent and the USA toppled them 7-3 (3). “ Years after the Olympics, Peter Stastny, a member of the 1980 Czechoslovakia team that had lost 7-3, cornered Captain Mike Eruzione.

Even with the USA winning games everyone knew what their destiny was, having to play against Russians. Playing maybe the best team of all time did not keep brooks down though. “Brooks did the best to yank the Russian players down from hockey Olympus, even referring to long-faced Soviet star Boris Mikhailov as “Stan Laurel.” How could you be afraid of Oliver Hardy’s partner?” (Jones 1) In the game against the Soviet Union Goalie Jim Craig was outstanding stopping 36-39 shots on goal.(3) With one second remaining in the first period the USA had scored on their second goal of the game making the score 2-2 thanks to Mark Johnson. At this point the Soviet team had pulled Vladislav Tretiak who was the best goalie in the world at the time and put in their back up Vladimir Myshkin. Tretiak did not return to the game for the second period. The Soviets dominated the second period out shooting the Americans 12-2 and taking a 3-2 lead. In the third period Mark Johnson struck again his second goal of the game and tying the score up at 3-3. A short 1 minute and 21 seconds later captain Mike Eruzione scored to take a 4-3 lead their first lead of the game.(4) “The U.S. team was heaven-high at

Some topics in this essay:
Jim Craig, Mike Eruzione, Al Michaels, Championships Olympic, Soviets Arrived, Sweden USA, USA Olympic, Soviets American, Soviet Union, Myshkin Tretiak, hockey team, jim craig, third period, gold medal, captain mike eruzione, period usa, olympic tournament, nhl all-stars, mike eruzione, american team, goaltender jim, hockey team 1980, goaltender jim craig,