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Upsets in sports history merit our attention because they appeal to
the underdog in all of us. They keep alive the notion that on any
given day, any given champion can rise. That's the beauty of sports.
Major upsets are always special. For sheer long-shot-ishness, a few
come to mind: Francis Ouimet at the 1913 U.S. Open; Cassius Clay
defeating Sonny Liston in 1964; the Amazin' Mets of 1969; Buster
Douglas knocking out Mike Tyson on February 11, 1990; and two
Olympic gold medals won by the United States Olympic Team.
Either of those wins could qualify on their own merits, but I've
condensed them into one for the purposes of simplicity. The
Miracle of Lake Placid:
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Mike Eruzione,
Captain of 1980 U.S. Olympic hockey team.
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1980 Team Roster
When an upset is so high profile that it brings a nation to it's
feet, it's something special. Picture it: the
Cold War was burning hot, American hostages were still in Iran,
inflation and unemployment were at post-Depression highs and Jimmy
Carter was still in office. That's 0-4.
The country was looking for a
way to end the "malaise," and what better way was there
than a win at the Olympics over the "Evil Empire"?
Unfortunately, the four-time defending gold medalist Soviet team had
blown away all five of their division games, outscoring their
opponents 51-11, and had embarrassed the Americans 10-3 at Madison
Square Garden 13 days before the Lake Placid Games began. In fact,
these Soviet players had beaten the NHL All-Stars one year earlier
in the Challenge Cup. If odds-makers had been posting odds at game
time, they would have been anywhere from 10:1 to 35:1.
The U.S. team has surprised Sweden by drawing a tie in the opener,
and had then shocked powerful Czechoslovakia, 7-3, to qualify for
the four-team medal round. In the semi-final game, they
drew the Soviets - so it was that on February 22, a nation tuned in
to watch a group of 21- and 22-year-old college hockey players
trying to overcome insurmountable odds to defeat the Soviet Union's
Olympic team, which consisted of experienced, veteran,
professional-caliber players from the Central Red Army.
The Soviets had breezed through the tournament with a 5-0 record.
The U.S. had already exceeded expectations by making it into the
medal round, but U.S. coach
Herb Brooks told his team: "You were born to be players. You
were meant to be here. This moment is yours."
Falling behind 1-0, and then
2-1, the U.S. fought to tie it each time. Mark Johnson's fluky goal
in the first period at 19:59 inexplicably caused Soviet coach Viktor
Tikhonov to pull the greatest goalie of all time, Vladislav Tretiak,
from the game, and replace him with the less experienced Vladimir
Myshkin. Apparently, the Soviet coach believed that his team could
win no matter who was in goal.
In the second period, the Soviets dominated again, outshooting the
Yanks 12-2. They pushed ahead 3-2.
In the third period, the superior conditioning of the American
athletes began to show. They skated better, and buoyed by the crowd
they began evening the tempo of play. When Johnson tied it on a
power-play goal, the crowd went insane. 81
seconds later, U.S. team captain fired in a wrist shot from the
slot, and the foundations of the Lake Placid arena shook. With ten
minutes to play, the U.S. played tough defense, and got superb
goaltending from Jim Craig. As the crowd took up the final countdown
... "Ten, nine, eight ... " ... Al Michaels gave the game
this epitaph: "Do you believe in miracles? Yes!"
Two days later, the US went on to beat Finland (after trailing 1-0
and 2-1) to win the gold.
Roster: General
Manager - Ralph Jasinski Coaches
- Herb Brooks (head coach), Craig Patrick (assistant coach), Warren Strelow (goalkeeping coach), Gary Smith
(trainer) Captain
- Mike Eruzione Goaltenders
- Jim Craig, Steve Janaszak Team
- Bill Baker, Neal Broten, Dave Christian, Steve Christoff, Robert
Fleming, John Harrington, Mark Johnson, Bud Kessel, Ken Morrow, Jack
O'Callahan, Rob McLanahan, George Nagobads, Mark
Pavelich, Mike Ramsey, Buzz Schneider, Dave Silk, Eric Strobel, Bob
Suter, Phil Verchota, Mark Wells Road
to the Gold: Game
1 USA - 2 vs Sweden -2
Game 2 USA - 7 vs Czechoslovakia - 3
Game 3 USA - 5 vs Norway - 1
Game 4 USA - 7 vs Romania - 2
Game 5 USA - 4 vs West Germany - 2
Game 6 USA - 4 vs Russia - 3
Game 7 USA - 4 vs Finland - 2
The
Miracle of Squaw Valley:
From 1920 to 1959, the United States national teams were 2-15-2 in
international competition against Canada. In 1954, the Soviets
entered international play for the first time, won the first world
championship in which they entered, and breezed to Olympic gold in
1956. So in 1960, the U.S. team - made up mostly of former college
players with full-time jobs - was seen as a possible bronze medalist,
but certainly no better.
The U.S. played well in the preliminary rounds, beating
Czechsolvakia 7-5 in a key matchup, then knocking off Australia,
Sweden and Germany. In the semi-final matchup, they faced Canada.
They took an early 1-0 lead on a power play goal by Billy Cleary
(who is now Harvard's athletic director). His brother Bob Cleary
assisted. In the second period, Jack McCartan stopped all 20 of
Canada's shots in the second period, and the Americans went up 2-0
thanks to Paul Johnson. In the third, despite being outplayed and
outshot, the U.S. hung on for a 2-1 upset.
The final against the Soviet Union was another mismatch - although
they were called amateurs, the Soviet players were tough as boots
and essentially full-time pros from the Soviet Army. The two teams
exchanged scoring chances all night, in a game of skill that made
full use of the Olympic ice surface which is 20% larger than those
in the NHL. Billy Cleary put the U.S. up 1-0 early, but the Soviets
scored twice before the buzzer went. In the second period, Billy
Christian (at 5'9", 145 pounds the smallest player in the game)
tied it off a pass from his brother Roger.
With 5:01 left in the final period, Billy Christian became a hero,
sliding the puck past Nikolai Pushkov for the winner.
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