When looking back to the 1980’s what sporting even comes to your mind? The Philadelphia Flyers record setting thirty five game win streak? The Steelers fourth super bowl in six years? Or are you thinking of a marble tournament that you won in your younger days? Well, while you were king of the marble circuit, one of the greatest underdog stories of all time took place during the 1980 winter Olympics. It stole Americans hearts, gave us hope, and allowed us to dream again as a country.
In the 1970’s the U.S. was full of troubles. The Vietnam war had took a toll on the country and was finally coming to an end. We also had the Watergate Scandal which was a series of political scandals during the presidency of Richard Nixon. These were obviously difficult times for everyone. It was at this crucial moment that the U.S. needed the greatest David and Goliath story of all time to lift the spirits of the American people.
The year was 1980 people were playing space invaders, the Voyager 1 passed Saturn, big hair bands were all the rage, and the United States entered the Olympic medal round with a seventh seed in a twelve team pool that qualified for the Olympics in Lake Placid. Their team was made up of young collegiate players and amateurs. This young team had “speed, defense, scorers, conditioning, goaltending and coaching“ (Allen) , however the Soviets were expected to win the tournament with ease. The Soviet players for the most part played professionally in well developed leagues with top of the line training facilities. They were led by team captain Boris Mikhailov, the best goaltender in the world, Vladimir Tretiak, as well as young talented players such as Vladimir Krutov, Sergei Makarov and Valery Kharlamov. This team was so good a year earlier the Soviets routed the NHL all-stars 6-0 to win the challenge cup. They also beat the United States earlier in the year 10-3 in an exhibition game at Madison square garden. However, hockey as the world knew it was about...