Miracle on Ice - 40 years later

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Ogee Ogilthorpe

Ogee Ogilthorpe

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Last night was the 40th anniversary of the dramatic USA Men's Hockey team knocking off the Russians in the semifinal game of the Winter Olympics in Lake Placid. Still vivid in the memory of many of the folks on the board to this day, no doubt.

So who stepped up and truly rolled out the red carpet and recognized and honored most of the remaining players, as well as Al Michaels in attendance and speaking, on an historic night? Not the Minnesota Wild, which would have made sense with a massive 13 Minnesota born players on the USA roster. Of course not.

It was of course the Vegas Golden Knights, putting on a show of appreciation like only the city of Las Vegas can to honor an amazing group of young men (not so young anymore). It was a great night at T-Mobile Arena, the crowd was electric, the Knights played great and won their 5th game in a row. The players were truly honored and expressed their appreciation of the Knights organization for how they were taken care of over the last several days, and Eruzione commented that the Knights were the only organization to reach out to discuss putting on such an event.

Great event, great night, by a truly first class organization. USA!! USA!!! USA!!!

Go Knights Go!!!
 


To be fair, the Wild didn't play last night. They play tonight and may do something then instead.
 

GophersInIowa said:
To be fair, the Wild didn't play last night. They play tonight and may do something then instead.
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A) This
B) Since college students made up the Olympic hockey roster, many of the players on that team were Gophers, along with head coach, Herb Brooks. So I would think that the Gophers would be the more likely team to honour the 1980 Olympic team.

And....while we're on the topic....the Wild are 6-2 all time against the Golden Dykes. :)
 

Ogee Oglethorpe said:
Last night was the 40th anniversary of the dramatic USA Men's Hockey team knocking off the Russians in the semifinal game of the Winter Olympics in Lake Placid. Still vivid in the memory of many of the folks on the board to this day, no doubt.

So who stepped up and truly rolled out the red carpet and recognized and honored most of the remaining players, as well as Al Michaels in attendance and speaking, on an historic night? Not the Minnesota Wild, which would have made sense with a massive 13 Minnesota born players on the USA roster. Of course not.

It was of course the Vegas Golden Knights, putting on a show of appreciation like only the city of Las Vegas can to honor an amazing group of young men (not so young anymore). It was a great night at T-Mobile Arena, the crowd was electric, the Knights played great and won their 5th game in a row. The players were truly honored and expressed their appreciation of the Knights organization for how they were taken care of over the last several days, and Eruzione commented that the Knights were the only organization to reach out to discuss putting on such an event.

Great event, great night, by a truly first class organization. USA!! USA!!! USA!!!

Go Knights Go!!!
Click to expand...

What Eruzione should have said is that the Golden Knights were the "only origination to reach out and pay us for an event."

St.Paul put on a Celebration Event for the 40th Anniversary yesterday. Doubt that outside of the autograph session there was much money exchanged. Looks like most of the actual players went to Vegas.

The Greatest Day Celebration - Feb. 22
Celebrate the 40th anniversary of the greatest day in USA sports history on Feb. 22.

Celebrities include: Herb Brooks Family: Dave and Karen Brooks; 1980s United States Olympic Team: Olympic Senior Executive Chef Ray Thering, U.S. Olympic Committee Team Doctor Sheldon Burns, MD, three-time Olympic Team Physician Dr. George Nagobads and 1972 Olympic Coach Murray Williamson; 1960 Men’s Olympic Gold Medal Team: John Mayasich (Parade Grand Marshal), Dick Meredith and Jack McCartan; NHL and Fighting Saints Alumni: Scott Bjugstad, Jim Boo, Paul Broten, Henry Boucha, Bill Butters, Jack Carlson, Curt Dahlquist, Dave Hanson, Christian Hanson, Reed Larson, Brad Maxwell, Lou Nanne, Steve Payne, Mike Peluso, Tom Reid, Neil Sheehy, Bill Watson, Carl Wetzel and Rick Zemlock; Minnesota Wild and FOX Sports North: Owner Craig Leipold (Parade Grand Marshal), General Manager Bill Guerin (Parade Grand Marshal), Ryan Carter, Tom Chorske, John deCausmeaker, and Kevin Gorg;..

www.visitsaintpaul.com

Visit Saint Paul Minnesota

Visit Saint Paul – Official Site. Discover the City of Saint Paul. Explore our comprehensive travel guide, your gateway to the best of St. Paul, whether you’re visiting for a vacation getaway or corporate event.
www.visitsaintpaul.com www.visitsaintpaul.com
 
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I've posted this sentiment here before and will repeat it: that was a brief period when there was hope that hockey--and the NHL in particular--would move away from clutching, grabbing slogs and fighting and toward a more beautiful style of play. Brooks utilized the skating, cycling style of the European game for Team USA, and the next year our North Stars made a run to the Stanley Cup finals with a very pretty skating style. That coincided with the rise of the Edmonton Oilers with Gretzky, etc.--the most beautiful and awesome hockey I'd ever seen and would ever see. That still feels like the zenith of North American hockey, and although there have been a number of great, skating stars, they've had to overcome the rise of the neutral zone trap and the return of dump & chase and clutch and grab. Watching the 1980 Olympics again now, it reinforces how gorgeous hockey was for the better part of the 1980s.
 

Current Olympic Hockey on the bigger ice is still awesome. For me, it's the highlight of the winter Olympics. Much more skating and less physical play than the NHL.
 

Bad Gopher said:
Watching the 1980 Olympics again now, it reinforces how gorgeous hockey was for the better part of the 1980s.
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Hockey still is gorgeous to watch. Except you have to watch it played by college teams working their asses off to qualify for the Division I NCAA playoffs with a chance to get into the Frozen Four.
 
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nm
 
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Cruze said:
Hockey still is gorgeous to watch. Except you have to watch it played by college teams working their asses off to qualify for the Division I NCAA playoffs with a chance to get into the Frozen Four.
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Or our high school teams. That's a very watchable hockey.
 

Ogee Oglethorpe said:
Last night was the 40th anniversary of the dramatic USA Men's Hockey team knocking off the Russians in the semifinal game of the Winter Olympics in Lake Placid. Still vivid in the memory of many of the folks on the board to this day, no doubt.

So who stepped up and truly rolled out the red carpet and recognized and honored most of the remaining players
Click to expand...

That would be President Donald J Trump! ;)
 


I was 10 y/o when the USA made it's run and I still remember sitting cross legged in front of the old Black & White TV in my living room. I was the perfect age for it to really impact me.

Sadly my interest in the Olympics basically died with the end of the Soviet Union. As a kid I could get into any event because there was a good guy and a bad guy. Like pro wrestling. You rooted for the USA & against the Russians/East Germans/Czechs/et al. Now, hockey's about the only sport in the Olympics I can stomach.
 



Costa Rican Gopher said:
I was 10 y/o when the USA made it's run and I still remember sitting cross legged in front of the old Black & White TV in my living room. I was the perfect age for it to really impact me.

Sadly my interest in the Olympics basically died with the end of the Soviet Union. As a kid I could get into any event because there was a good guy and a bad guy. Like pro wrestling. You rooted for the USA & against the Russians/East Germans/Czechs/et al. Now, hockey's about the only sport in the Olympics I can stomach.
Click to expand...

Kind of taking the thread in a new direction but here goes. American Olympic coverage is awful. US tv executives have convinced themselves the wider audience that the Olympics brings means you need to tell stories about the athletes rather than focus on sports. It is brutal.

If you can, stream Canadian coverage of the games, it is so much better, although they do focus on the 14th place Canadian athlete a little too much.
 

Winnipegopher said:
Kind of taking the thread in a new direction but here goes. American Olympic coverage is awful. US tv executives have convinced themselves the wider audience that the Olympics brings means you need to tell stories about the athletes rather than focus on sports. It is brutal.

If you can, stream Canadian coverage of the games, it is so much better, although they do focus on the 14th place Canadian athlete a little too much.
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We love the Olympics in my house, but agree with you here. If it's not the backstory stuff, they show way too much figure skating & gymnastics and not enough of the other sports. My favorite events are speed skating short track and biathlon. Thankfully Apollo Anton Ohno bought short track some popularity.

Sorry, back to the topic at hand. Yeah, the MoI was cool.
 


Costa Rican Gopher said:
I was 10 y/o when the USA made it's run and I still remember sitting cross legged in front of the old Black & White TV in my living room. I was the perfect age for it to really impact me.

Sadly my interest in the Olympics basically died with the end of the Soviet Union. As a kid I could get into any event because there was a good guy and a bad guy. Like pro wrestling. You rooted for the USA & against the Russians/East Germans/Czechs/et al. Now, hockey's about the only sport in the Olympics I can stomach.
Click to expand...
I have a similar memory. Color t.v. though as I remember how cool I thought the US teams uni's were. I still have my Lake Placid t-shirt my dad after the games were over. I still can picture Jim Craig scanning the crowd for his dad.
 

tikited said:
I have a similar memory. Color t.v. though as I remember how cool I thought the US teams uni's were. I still have my Lake Placid t-shirt my dad after the games were over. I still can picture Jim Craig scanning the crowd for his dad.
Click to expand...

I also got to stay up late and watch. I was in first grade, I think, the time. It made such a huge impression.

Sadly, they’re now being attacked online.
Online Harassment


I do wonder who Bernie was cheering for that February night in 1980...
 

kellyleeks said:
I also got to stay up late and watch. I was in first grade, I think, the time. It made such a huge impression.

Sadly, they’re now being attacked online.
Online Harassment


I do wonder who Bernie was cheering for that February night in 1980...
Click to expand...


Fuck those Leftist nutjobs, they ruin EVERYTHING they touch.
 



He was indeed! I always thought that he was a great player. I have not looked it up, but it seems that he was traded a lot during his NHL career.
 

denguegopher said:
He was indeed! I always thought that he was a great player. I have not looked it up, but it seems that he was traded a lot during his NHL career.
Click to expand...
Yes, though he played for 11 NHL Seasons he was a bit of a journeyman with 5 teams. He actually had a cup of coffee with the North Stars. As far as goal scoring he did have a couple of pretty good years with the Whalers, but that was about it.

www.hockey-reference.com

Mark Johnson Stats, Height, Weight, Position, Salary, Title | Hockey-Reference.com

Checkout the latest stats of Mark Johnson. Get info about his position, age, height, weight, trade, draft, salary and more on Hockey-Reference.com
www.hockey-reference.com www.hockey-reference.com

I remember him playing for his old man back at Old Mariucci which I guess was still just Williams Arena back then. Electric.
 

Bad Gopher said:
I've posted this sentiment here before and will repeat it: that was a brief period when there was hope that hockey--and the NHL in particular--would move away from clutching, grabbing slogs and fighting and toward a more beautiful style of play. Brooks utilized the skating, cycling style of the European game for Team USA, and the next year our North Stars made a run to the Stanley Cup finals with a very pretty skating style. That coincided with the rise of the Edmonton Oilers with Gretzky, etc.--the most beautiful and awesome hockey I'd ever seen and would ever see. That still feels like the zenith of North American hockey, and although there have been a number of great, skating stars, they've had to overcome the rise of the neutral zone trap and the return of dump & chase and clutch and grab. Watching the 1980 Olympics again now, it reinforces how gorgeous hockey was for the better part of the 1980s.
Click to expand...
And we had Peter Puck!
 

I was 7 years old when the Miracle on Ice happened and it's still my most indelible sports memory of all time--it launched my sports fandom into being. A few months after, there was a made for TV movie about the build up to the Miracle on Ice/gold medal game and I subjected my very patient parents and older siblings to a live sports broadcast (not exclusive to the '80 Olympic team-also covered the Vikings, Twins, Gophers, Stars) before we sat down to view the movie.

It wasn't long before hockey found itself a distant fourth among the Big 4 sports in the pecking order, but I do find it humorous that my favorite sports memory and favorite sports movie (Slap Shot) come from the sport.
 

Alright, so I found the made for TV movie, Miracle on Ice through YouTube--for those interested in seeing Karl Malden as Herb Brooks, Jessica Walter as Pat Brooks and Steve Guttenberg as Jim Craig, here you go! Don't let the nearly 3 hours intimidate you--seems it was run on a channel that really loved to stretch the commercial breaks out. It also appears that George Brett had a cameo in the film as a member of the Swedish hockey team. And Jerry "Dave's a Killer!" Houser from Slap Shot!
 
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Could never figure how anyone could cast Malden as Brooks. Beyond bad. Kurt Russell in the later movie, much better.
 

coolhandgopher said:
Alright, so I found the made for TV movie, Miracle on Ice through YouTube--for those interested in seeing Karl Malden as Herb Brooks, Jessica Walter as Pat Brooks and Steve Guttenberg as Jim Craig, here you go! Don't let the nearly 3 hours intimidate you--seems it was run on a channel that really loved to stretch the commercial breaks out. It also appears that George Brett had a cameo in the film as a member of the Sweden hockey team. And Jerry "Dave's a Killer!" Houser from Slap Shot!
Click to expand...

I'm pretty sure Houser played Les Auge, former Gopher and one of the last guys cut.
 

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