Editing Miracle on Ice (section)

==History==
===The Soviet and American teams===
[[File:Vladislav Tretiak.JPG|alt=Shoulder high portrait of smiling man wearing a suit and tie|thumb|upright|The Soviet team's Vladislav Tretiak (pictured here in 2008) was considered the best goaltender in ice hockey in 1980. The Americans scored two goals against him before he was pulled from the game at the end of the first period.]]
The Soviet Union entered the Lake Placid games as the heavy favorite, having won four consecutive gold medals dating back to the [[Ice hockey at the 1964 Winter Olympics|1964]] games. In the four Olympics following their [[1960 Winter Olympics|1960]] bronze-medal finish at [[Squaw Valley, Placer County, California|Squaw Valley]], Soviet teams had gone 27–1–1 (wins-losses-ties) and outscored their opponents 175–44.<ref>Coffey, p.&nbsp;35</ref> In head-to-head matchups against the United States, the cumulative score over that period was 28–7.<ref>Coffey, p.&nbsp;17</ref> The Soviet team had not lost a game in Olympic play since [[Ice hockey at the 1968 Winter Olympics|1968]].<ref>{{Cite web |title=Miracle on Ice: the U.S. Beats the Soviets |url=https://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/u-s-hockey-team-makes-miracle-on-ice |access-date=2024-01-31 |website=HISTORY |language=en}}</ref>

The Soviets were led by legendary players in world ice hockey, such as [[Boris Mikhailov (ice hockey)|Boris Mikhailov]] (a top line [[Winger (ice hockey)|right winger]] and team captain), [[Vladislav Tretiak]] (the consensus best goaltender in the world at the time), the speedy and skilled [[Valeri Kharlamov]], and talented, dynamic players such as defenseman [[Viacheslav Fetisov]] and forwards [[Vladimir Krutov]] and [[Sergei Makarov (ice hockey, born 1958)|Sergei Makarov]]. From that team, Tretiak, Kharlamov, Makarov, and Fetisov were eventually enshrined in the [[Hockey Hall of Fame]]. Many of the Soviet players had gained attention in the [[Summit Series]] eight years before and, in contrast to the American players, were ''de facto'' professionals with long histories of international play,<ref>Podnieks, ''Andrew: Team Canada 1972: The Official 40th Anniversary Celebration of the Summit Series'' {{ISBN|978-0771071195}} p.212</ref> employed by industrial firms or military organizations for the sole purpose of playing hockey on their organization's team.<ref>{{cite journal| url = https://www.csmonitor.com/1980/0415/041531.html| title = How the Russians break the Olympic rules - CSMonitor.com| journal = Christian Science Monitor| date = 15 April 1980}}</ref> Western nations protested the Soviet Union's use of full-time athletes, as they were forced to use amateur (mainly college) players due to the [[International Olympic Committee]]'s (IOC) amateur-only policy.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1974/07/21/archives/soviet-amateur-athlete-a-real-pro-dr-john-nelson-washburn-is-an.html|title=Soviet Amateur Athlete: A Real Pro|work=[[The New York Times]]|author=J. N. Washburn|date=July 21, 1974}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.cia.gov/readingroom/docs/CIA-RDP80-00810A005900310006-0.pdf|title=Central Intelligence Agency Information Report: SOVIET CONTROL OF SPORTS ACTIVITIES AND SPORTS PROPAGANDA|website=Cia.gov|access-date=2022-02-17}}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal |last=Soares |first=John |date=February 21, 2018 |title=Amateur vs. Professional in Cold War Hockey: A Consideration of Relative Skill Levels and Their Implications for Professional Hockey Today |url=https://core.ac.uk/download/pdf/268221813.pdf |journal=Notre Dame Journal of International & Comparative Law |volume=8 |issue=1}}</ref> The situation even led to Canadian withdrawal from the 1972 and 1976 Olympics, but the IOC did not change the rules until the late 1980s.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://webarchive.iihf.com/iihf-home/the-iihf/100-year-anniversary/100-top-stories/story-17/index.html|title=PROTESTING AMATEUR RULES, CANADA LEAVES INTERNATIONAL HOCKEY|author=IIHF|date=2008|publisher=IIHF.com|access-date=2017-08-25}}</ref><ref name="auto">Coffey, p.&nbsp;59</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.cia.gov/readingroom/document/cia-rdp80-00810a005800260002-1 |title=Soviet Sports As An Instrument Of Political Propaganda|website=Cia.gov |date=2008-06-19 |accessdate=2022-02-17}}</ref>

U.S. head coach Herb Brooks held tryouts in [[Colorado Springs, Colorado|Colorado Springs]] in the summer of 1979. Of the 20 players who eventually made the final Olympic roster, [[Buzz Schneider]] was the only one returning from the [[Ice hockey at the 1976 Winter Olympics|1976]] Olympic team.<ref>Coffey, pp.&nbsp;19–20</ref> Nine players had played under Brooks at the [[Minnesota Golden Gophers men's ice hockey|University of Minnesota]] (including [[Rob McClanahan]], [[Mike Ramsey (ice hockey)|Mike Ramsey]], and [[Phil Verchota]]), while four more were from [[Boston University Terriers men's ice hockey|Boston University]] ([[Dave Silk]], [[Jack O'Callahan]], goaltender [[Jim Craig (ice hockey)|Jim Craig]], and team captain [[Mike Eruzione]]).<ref>Coffey, p.&nbsp;21</ref> As Boston University and Minnesota were perennial rivals in college hockey (for instance, they had faced off in a bitter NCAA national semifinal in [[1976 NCAA Division I Men's Ice Hockey Tournament|1976]]), Brooks' selection process was a 300-question psychological test that would give him insight on how every player would react under stress; anyone who refused to take the test would automatically fail. Brooks had to select from 68 players who started the tryout.<ref name="A Reminder Of What We Can Be">{{cite magazine|url=https://www.si.com/vault/1980/12/22/106775781/a-reminder-of-what-we-can-be |magazine=Sports Illustrated |last=Swift |first=E.M. |title=A reminder of what we can be |date=December 22, 1980 |page=30}}</ref>

The average age of the U.S. team was 21 years, making it the youngest team in U.S. history to play in the Olympics (in addition to being the youngest team in the 1980 Olympic tournament), but Brooks knew the limits of every player. As forward [[John Harrington (ice hockey)|John Harrington]] said, "He knew exactly where to quit. He'd push you right to the limit where you were ready to say, 'I've had it, I'm throwing it in' — and then he'd back off." Brooks continued the organization by campaigning for the players' selection of Eruzione as the captain, and Craig had been the goalie for him in the [[1979 Ice Hockey World Championships|1979 World Championship tournament]].<ref name="A Reminder Of What We Can Be" /> Assistant coach [[Craig Patrick]] had played with Brooks on the 1967 U.S. national team.<ref>Coffey, p.&nbsp;25</ref>

The Soviet and American teams were natural rivals due to the decades-old [[Cold War]]. In addition, U.S. President [[Jimmy Carter]] was considering [[1980 Summer Olympics boycott|boycotting the 1980 Summer Olympics]], which were to be held in [[Moscow]], in protest of the December 1979 [[Soviet invasion of Afghanistan]]. On February 9, the same day the American and Soviet teams met in an exhibition game in [[New York City]], U.S. Secretary of State [[Cyrus Vance]] denounced the impending [[1980 Summer Olympics|Moscow Games]] at an IOC meeting.<ref>Coffey, pp.&nbsp;159–160</ref> President Carter eventually decided in favor of the boycott.

===Exhibitions===
In exhibitions that year, Soviet club teams went 5–3–1 against [[National Hockey League]] (NHL) teams and, a year earlier, the Soviet national team had defeated a team of NHL All-Stars two games to one (by scores of 2–4, 5–4, and 6–0) to win the [[1979 Challenge Cup (ice hockey)|Challenge Cup]].<ref name=espn>{{cite news |first= Kevin |last= Allen |date= December 23, 1997 |url= https://www.espn.com/classic/s/miracle_ice_1980.html |title= College kids perform Olympic miracle |publisher= [[ESPN]] |access-date= September 3, 2012}}</ref> In 1979–80, virtually all the top North American players were Canadians, although the number of U.S.-born professional players had been on the rise throughout the 1970s. The 1980 U.S. Olympic team featured several young players who were regarded as highly promising, and some had signed contracts to play in the NHL immediately after the tournament.

In September 1979, before the Olympics, the American team started exhibition play. They played a total of 61 games in five months against teams from Europe and the United States.<ref>Coffey, p.&nbsp;26</ref> Through these games, Brooks instilled a European style of play in his team, emphasizing wide-open play with sufficient body contact. He believed it would be the only way for the Americans to compete with the Soviets.<ref name=latimes>{{cite news |first=Green |last=Ted |title='We Aren't Awed' Please...Nobody Tell the U.S. Hockey Team It Has No Chance |date=2 February 1980 |work=Los Angeles Times }}</ref> From the start of the exhibition matches, he conducted the team through skating wind sprints consisting of end line to blue line and back, then end line to red line and back, then end line to far blue line and back, and finally end line all the way down and back. Some of the players took to calling these "Herbies".<ref name="A Reminder Of What We Can Be" /> On September 17,<!-- 1979,--> the team played to a 3–3 tie in Norway.<ref name="1980 Pre Olympic Tour Schedule">{{cite web|title=1980 Pre Olympic Tour Schedule|url=http://history.vintagemnhockey.com/page/show/1166356-1980-pre-olympic-tour-schedule-results|publisher=Vintage Minnesota Hockey}}</ref> Believing the team wasn't putting up sufficient effort, an angry Brooks had them skate Herbies after the game and, after a while, arena custodians turned the lights off and the Herbies continued in the dark. Brooks skated the team for over an hour.<ref>{{cite web | url=https://www.twincities.com/2020/02/20/again-an-oral-history-of-the-infamous-herb-brooks-bag-skate-in-norway/ | title='Again!' an oral history of Herb Brooks' (In)famous bag skate in Norway | date=20 February 2020 }}</ref> The two teams played again the next night, with the U.S. winning handily 9–0. Near the end of the exhibition season, Brooks, because of subpar play, threatened to cut Eruzione (the captain) from the team and replace Craig with [[Steve Janaszak]] as the starting goaltender, although he had supported them throughout.<ref name="A Reminder Of What We Can Be" />

In their last exhibition game, against the Soviets at [[Madison Square Garden]] on Saturday, February 9,<!-- 1980,--> the Americans were crushed 10–3.<ref name=rtuht>{{cite news |url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=o7ssAAAAIBAJ&pg=3368%2C1942580 |work=Sunday Star-News |location=(Wilmington, North Carolina) |agency=Associated Press |title=Russians trounce U.S. hockey team |date=February 10, 1980 |page=8C}}</ref><ref>Coffey, pp.&nbsp;46–48</ref> Soviet head coach [[Viktor Tikhonov (ice hockey, born 1930)|Viktor Tikhonov]] later said that this victory "turned out to be a very big problem" by causing the Soviets to underestimate the American team.<ref>Coffey, p.&nbsp;51</ref> The&nbsp;game was also costly for the Americans off-ice, as defenseman [[Jack O'Callahan]] pulled a ligament in his knee; however, Brooks kept O'Callahan on the roster, which meant the U.S. was virtually playing with only 19 players throughout the tournament. O'Callahan eventually returned for the game against the Soviets, playing limited minutes.

===Olympic group play===
{{main|Ice hockey at the 1980 Winter Olympics}}
In Olympic group play, the Americans surprised many observers with their physical, cohesive play. In their first game, on February 12 against favored [[Sweden men's national ice hockey team|Sweden]], Team USA earned a dramatic 2–2 draw by scoring with 27 seconds left after pulling goalie [[Jim Craig (ice hockey)|Jim Craig]] for an extra attacker.<ref name=tisedw/> Then came a stunning 7–3 victory over [[Czechoslovakia men's national ice hockey team|Czechoslovakia]], who were a favorite for the silver medal. With its two toughest games in the group phase out of the way, the U.S. team reeled off three more wins, beating [[Norway men's national ice hockey team|Norway]] 5–1, [[Romania men's national ice hockey team|Romania]] 7–2, and [[West Germany national ice hockey team|West Germany]] 4–2 to go 4–0–1 and advance to the medal round from its group, along with&nbsp;Sweden.<ref name=amdftwge>{{cite news |url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=kbssAAAAIBAJ&pg=6865%2C4196650 |work=Wilmington Morning Star |location=(North Carolina) |agency=Associated Press |title=American defeat West Germans, 4-2 |date=February 21, 1980 |page=4D}}</ref><ref name=dsnfus>{{cite news |url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=gEBYAAAAIBAJ&pg=6042%2C1258201 |work=The Bulletin |location=(Bend, Oregon) |agency=UPI |title=Dangerous Soviets next for the U.S. |date=February 21, 1980 |page=17}}</ref>

In the other group, the Soviets stormed through their opposition undefeated, often by grossly lopsided scores. They defeated [[Japan men's national ice hockey team|Japan]] 16–0, the [[Netherlands men's national ice hockey team|Netherlands]] 17–4, [[Poland men's national ice hockey team|Poland]] 8–1, [[Finland men's national ice hockey team|Finland]] 4–2, and [[Canada men's national ice hockey team|Canada]] 6–4 to easily qualify for the next round, although both the Finns and the Canadians gave the Soviets tough games for two periods. In the end, the Soviet Union and Finland advanced from their group.<ref name=boxscore>{{cite book |author= Lake Placid Organizing Committee for the Olympic Games |url= http://www.la84foundation.com/6oic/OfficialReports/1980/orw1980v2.pdf| title= Official Results of the XIII Olympic Winter Games—Lake Placid 1980 |publisher= Amateur Athletic Foundation of Los Angeles |year= 1985 |pages= 105–111}}</ref><!-- See this PDF file for all official game information, including won-loss records, game outcomes, information on qualifying and advancing, etc. -->