The men's ice hockey tournament at the 1980 Winter Olympics in Lake Placid, U.S.A., was the 14th Olympic Championship. Twelve teams competed in the tournament, which was held from February 12 to 24. The United States won its second gold medal, including a win over the heavily favored Soviet Union that became known as the "Miracle on Ice". Games were held at the Olympic Arena and the Olympic Fieldhouse.
Video Ice hockey at the 1980 Winter Olympics
Background
The Olympics came at a difficult time for Soviet-U.S. relations, as they were deep in the Cold War. Only months before the games began, the USSR had invaded Afghanistan, and there was speculation that the Soviet Union might not be allowed to compete in these Olympics. The Soviet Union did compete in the Lake Placid games, but the United States and 65 other nations boycotted the 1980 Summer Olympics in Moscow later that year.
The Soviets, who had won every Winter Olympics ice hockey tournament since the United States took gold at the 1960 Olympics, were well-seasoned "amateurs" who were employed by industrial firms or military organizations for the sole purpose of playing hockey on their organization's team. Many players on the Soviet team had participated in the 1976 Canada Cup - although the Soviets only finished third in that tournament, they dominated a U.S. national team comprising the country's top professionals, winning 5-0 at the Philadelphia Spectrum.
In contrast to the professionals who represented the U.S. in September 1976, the 1980 American team was a collection of amateur college students, most from the rival schools of University of Minnesota and Boston University. The U.S. team did however, feature several highly promising players who went on to successful careers in the National Hockey League in the 1980s.
Three days before the Olympics, Coach Herb Brooks scheduled an exhibition game at Madison Square Garden in New York City against the Soviet team. The Americans lost 10-3, and defenseman Jack O'Callahan pulled a ligament in his knee, though he returned for the medal round of the Olympic tournament. Coach Brooks gave only a few interviews after the game, but blamed his early conservative strategy as a factor.
Despite these setbacks, Brooks managed to unify his players. He enjoyed one key advantage in contrast to the hastily-assembled Canada Cup teams in that he was able to train them for a year (the core of the team had been assembled since the 1979 World Ice Hockey Championships in Moscow), and lead them to victory.
The IIHF ceased running a championship in Olympic years. Nations that did not participate in the Lake Placid Olympics were invited to compete in the inaugural Thayer Tutt Trophy in Ljubljana, Yugoslavia.
Going into the games, the teams were ranked and divided into two groups. The ranking was: Soviet Union (1), Czechoslovakia (2), Sweden (3), Canada (4), Finland (5), West Germany (6), United States (7), Poland (8), Netherlands (9), Romania (10), Norway (11), Japan (12). East Germany was originally ranked tenth but declined to participate, with Japan filling their spot.
Maps Ice hockey at the 1980 Winter Olympics
Highlights
The format for the medal round meant that the United States and Sweden carried the result of their 2-2 preliminary round game into the medal round, where they would each play the Soviet Union and Finland to determine the final rankings. The United States vs USSR game, called the "Miracle on Ice" in the United States, is the best-remembered game of the tournament. The United States was down by a goal entering the third period then scored two to win 4-3.
Their 4-2 victory over Finland, in the penultimate game of the tournament, earned the United States the gold medal. Due to the format, had Finland defeated the United States, then the Soviet Union would have earned the Gold Medal, with Finland earning the Silver and the United States earning the Bronze. Had the United States and Finland tied, then the United States and the Soviet Union would have tied in points, and the tiebreaker of goal differential would have given the Gold medal to the Soviet Union.
Final ranking
First round
Blue Division
All times are local (UTC-5).
Red Division
All times are local (UTC-5).
Consolation round
The third-placed teams in each division, Czechoslovakia and Canada, played each other to determine fifth place.
Final round
The top two teams from each group play the top two teams from the other group once. Points from previous games against their own group carry over, excluding teams who failed to make the medal round. First place team wins gold, second silver and third bronze.
Carried over group matches:
- February 12: Sweden 2-2 USA
- February 18: Finland 2-4 USSR
Statistics
Leading scorers
Hat trick scorers
Leading goaltenders
Goaltenders with 40% or more of their team's total minutes.
Shutouts
- Paul Pageau (CAN) (vs. Japan)
- Ji?í Králík (TCH) (vs. Norway)
- William Löfqvist (SWE) (vs. Romania)
- Vladislav Tretiak (URS) (vs. Japan)
References
External links
- Official Report
- Washington Post article
- Montreal Gazette article about the Dutch team
Source of article : Wikipedia
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