Post by doc on Feb 21, 2020 14:52:21 GMT
I can't believe when I was reminiscing last week about my senior year in college (1980) that I completely failed to mention one of the top 2 or 3 memories from that year - the miracle on ice by the US Olympic Hockey Team. Tomorrow marks the 40th anniversary of that memorable game and I still recall the events of that Friday evening like it was yesterday.
My room mate and I announced Ohio State hockey games on WOSR, which was Ohio State's student radio. The team typically played a two game series - a game Friday and Saturday night - and my room mate and I announced the Saturday night games. We would go to the Friday night games to scout the visiting team and get a feel for their best players. The games always started at 7 pm.
So Friday, February 22 we're at the OSU game - they would typically draw 500 or so fans - and the game begins. When they get to the first stoppage of play the PA announcer says, 'a final hockey game score just in from the Olympics - Russia 3, the United States.......(long pause) 4!!!!!!! The place erupted in chants of USA...USA...USA...and then, everyone got up and left. The Olympics game wasn't being aired until 8 pm so everyone got up and went home (or somewhere) to watch. My room mate and I sat there in a nearly empty arena for the first period and as soon as it was over we ran back to our dorm to catch the game. And even though it was tape delayed and we knew the outcome I still couldn't believe we were going to win while watching - the Russians had nearly double the shots that the USA had but Jim Craig played like a maniac that evening. It was truly one of the most exciting games I've ever watched - regardless of the sport. And the difference was probably a goal by Mark Johnson with 1 second left in the first period that tied the score at 2-2. This led to the Russians pulling the greatest goalie in the world at the time (Vladimir Tretiak) and provided the confidence for the USA to believe they could pull off the improbable win. They actually trailed 3-2 after 2 periods but the USA scored twice in the third period (with a winning goal by Mike Eruzione) to literally 'ice' the game.
Many believe that this game won the USA the gold medal but they still had to beat Finland (which the did two days later, 4-2) to capture the gold. And to this day, 40 years later, the USA has never won another gold medal in hockey.
It was an amazing outcome. The Russians had invaded Yugoslavia and President Carter would eventually boycott the summer games played in Moscow. This led to the Russians boycotting thew LA games 4 years later. It wouldn't be till the '88 games that the USA and USSR squared off against each other in the Olympic games. I recall Eric Heiden and his sister Beth also having great success at the Lake Placid games. The US was hosting, it was America against the communists and the Americans won. The other memory from that Olympics was the skating team of Tai Babalonia and Randy Gardner had to withdraw due to an injury by Gardner - they were favored to win the pairs competition and I remember Dick button was devastated when they couldn't skate in the finals. But for the USA, it was as good an Olympics as they could expect since the Americans typically didn't do well in the winter games.
My room mate and I announced Ohio State hockey games on WOSR, which was Ohio State's student radio. The team typically played a two game series - a game Friday and Saturday night - and my room mate and I announced the Saturday night games. We would go to the Friday night games to scout the visiting team and get a feel for their best players. The games always started at 7 pm.
So Friday, February 22 we're at the OSU game - they would typically draw 500 or so fans - and the game begins. When they get to the first stoppage of play the PA announcer says, 'a final hockey game score just in from the Olympics - Russia 3, the United States.......(long pause) 4!!!!!!! The place erupted in chants of USA...USA...USA...and then, everyone got up and left. The Olympics game wasn't being aired until 8 pm so everyone got up and went home (or somewhere) to watch. My room mate and I sat there in a nearly empty arena for the first period and as soon as it was over we ran back to our dorm to catch the game. And even though it was tape delayed and we knew the outcome I still couldn't believe we were going to win while watching - the Russians had nearly double the shots that the USA had but Jim Craig played like a maniac that evening. It was truly one of the most exciting games I've ever watched - regardless of the sport. And the difference was probably a goal by Mark Johnson with 1 second left in the first period that tied the score at 2-2. This led to the Russians pulling the greatest goalie in the world at the time (Vladimir Tretiak) and provided the confidence for the USA to believe they could pull off the improbable win. They actually trailed 3-2 after 2 periods but the USA scored twice in the third period (with a winning goal by Mike Eruzione) to literally 'ice' the game.
Many believe that this game won the USA the gold medal but they still had to beat Finland (which the did two days later, 4-2) to capture the gold. And to this day, 40 years later, the USA has never won another gold medal in hockey.
It was an amazing outcome. The Russians had invaded Yugoslavia and President Carter would eventually boycott the summer games played in Moscow. This led to the Russians boycotting thew LA games 4 years later. It wouldn't be till the '88 games that the USA and USSR squared off against each other in the Olympic games. I recall Eric Heiden and his sister Beth also having great success at the Lake Placid games. The US was hosting, it was America against the communists and the Americans won. The other memory from that Olympics was the skating team of Tai Babalonia and Randy Gardner had to withdraw due to an injury by Gardner - they were favored to win the pairs competition and I remember Dick button was devastated when they couldn't skate in the finals. But for the USA, it was as good an Olympics as they could expect since the Americans typically didn't do well in the winter games.
