‎33 years ago today

[norm1909]

This was 33 years ago today (darn, I'm getting old).

Pause the tape at 1:29 for good measure.

[LakerFan99]

Re: 33 years ago today

I may have been 2 years old when this happened, but I still get chills every time I see that moment.

[VT bragging rights]

Re: 33 years ago today

Hopefully this is not the last year at Lake Placid for Div III semi's & finals

[ColdInRomney]

Re: 33 years ago today

Hopefully this is not the last year at Lake Placid for Div III semi's & finals

+1 The echo still reverberates in there.

[EastCoastBias]

Re: 33 years ago today

Without question the greatest upset in a contest since David took out Goliath. The 11-month a year Soviet communist professional team beaten by a bunch of college amatuers thrown together for an Olympic Games. Good triumphed evil that day in Lake Placid.

[polarbear2]

Re: 33 years ago today

I can still remember watching that game like it was yesterday (darn, I'm getting old). It still send chill down my spine. Thanks for the reminder!

[spwood]

Re: 33 years ago today

I was 8 and we were living in Minot, North Dakota and this was the first hockey game I had ever seen. I still get a chill every single time I hear Al Michaels say "Do you belive in Miracles?....Yes!!!"

[admiral0417]

Re: 33 years ago today

I was right in the thick of it while being a student-athlete at Plattsburgh State. I saw the games vs. Czechoslovakia, West Germany, Sweden, Romania. Unfortunately, we had a game that night of the game vs. Soviet Union with Oswego at the Ronald B. Stafford. All the American players on our team cared about was the score of the USA game being played 45 minutes away. After Oswego laid a 5 spot on us in the 2nd period the place cleared out!
I remember the pride in our locker room amongst the few Americans on the team. Most of us drifted up to Placid to see the final game vs. Finland. People don't remember that the US would've recieved NO Medal unless they won that game. I think they were behind after 2 but the crowd (including us) would not let them lose. It's like their skates were barely touching the ice. I remember the celebration in the streets with the staging area being the old Arena Bar & Grill right outside the front doors. What an experience!!

[OZFEST]

Re: 33 years ago today

Sgt Pepper taught the band to play.....(Friday afternoon Beatles tip of the cap)

[jcase]

Re: 33 years ago today

People don't remember that the US would've recieved NO Medal unless they won that game.

Not to nitpick but for accuracy, it's actually could've not would've. The medal round results weren't final until after the Soviet-Sweden game which followed. The Soviets won that game and had the US actually lost to Finland they would've won Bronze. Thank goodness they didn't or we wouldn't be having this discussion.

Good to hear other's stories...
I was on vacation in Florida with my parents and brother. Sick in a hotel bed with the flu and nothing to do but watch the Olympics. Right before the tape-delayed broadcast on ABC, Jim McKay said the game just ended, we're going to show the score and if you don't want to know the result, look away. I tried not to look but glanced at the TV and saw the result. When my family returned from going out to dinner I told my brother the US won. He said I was a liar because the game was just starting. I told him it was played earlier and it was fun looking at him after US every goal like the Vicki Vallencourt/Lynn Swann exchange at the end of The Waterboy.

[Russell Jaslow]

Re: 33 years ago today

Without question the greatest upset in a contest since David took out Goliath. The 11-month a year Soviet communist professional team beaten by a bunch of college amatuers thrown together for an Olympic Games. Good triumphed evil that day in Lake Placid.

Not exactly "thrown" together. The USA team trained and played together for about nine months.

But yes, it still pales in comparison to the Soviet "professional" style.

[Russell Jaslow]

Re: 33 years ago today

Not to nitpick but for accuracy, it's actually could've not would've. The medal round results weren't final until after the Soviet-Sweden game which followed. The Soviets won that game and had the US actually lost to Finland they would've won Bronze. Thank goodness they didn't or we wouldn't be having this discussion.

Correct. If the US lost to Finland, and Sweden beat USSR, then the USA would have won nothing.

[Russell Jaslow]

Re: 33 years ago today

I remember the pride in our locker room amongst the few Americans on the team. Most of us drifted up to Placid to see the final game vs. Finland. People don't remember that the US would've recieved NO Medal unless they won that game. I think they were behind after 2 but the crowd (including us) would not let them lose. It's like their skates were barely touching the ice. I remember the celebration in the streets with the staging area being the old Arena Bar & Grill right outside the front doors. What an experience!!

I got into the third period of the Finland game, so I may have been standing next to you during those celebrations...

The US was down 2-1 going into the third period before scoring three straight goals, the last shorthanded.

[NUProf]

Re: 33 years ago today

Correct. If the US lost to Finland, and Sweden beat USSR, then the USA would have won nothing.

That's because it was set up like a round robin, rather than a tournament. The top 2 from each group counted the prelim game as their contest, and played the two teams from the other group. The medals were determined by the standings of the 4 team "league"

[admiral0417]

Re: 33 years ago today

I was sitting in the 2nd row on the blueline (corporate tickets from my Dad) with the late Bruce Bullard , who's brother played a number of years in the NHL. He was from Ottawa, but that didn't stop us from having a memorable night draped in US flags, etc...The whole Cardinal team was there at the game mainly because we had a couple of Lake Placid natives on the team.

A lot of people forget Bill Baker's slapshot from the blueline in the waning seconds against Sweden really saved the day. It seems like a million years ago !! I vividly remember Eruzione calling all the players up on the medal podium no more than 30 feet from us! Geez, now that I'm in the wayback machine, I may have to pull out the Miracle DVD !!