# Ice hockey at the 1980 Winter Olympics

The men's ice hockey tournament at the 1980 Winter Olympics in Lake Placid, United States, was the 14th Olympic Championship. Twelve teams competed in the tournament, which was held from February 12 to 24, 1980. 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 Fieldhouse (8,000) and the Olympic Arena (2,500).

## Format

The IIHF ceased running a World 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. Teams were ranked based on performance during the 1979 World Ice Hockey Championships. Included were the eight teams in the 1979 top Championship Division (Pool "A") as well as the top four teams in the 1979, second-tier, "B" Pool tournament. While Poland finished 8th place in Pool A, the Netherlands, winners of Pool B, were ranked 8th while Poland was ranked 9th going into the Olympics. The total ranking was: Soviet Union (1), Czechoslovakia (2), Sweden (3), Canada (4), Finland (5), West Germany (6), United States (7), Netherlands (8), Poland (9), Romania (10), Norway (11), Japan (12). East Germany was originally ranked tenth, but declined to participate, with Japan filling their spot.

## Overview

The Soviet Union had won the gold medal in five of the six previous Winter Olympic Games, and were the favorites to win once more in Lake Placid. The team consisted primarily of professional players with significant experience in international play. By contrast, the United States' team—led by head coach Herb Brooks—consisted exclusively of amateur players, and was the youngest team in the tournament and in U.S. national team history. In the group stage, both the Soviet and U.S. teams were unbeaten; the U.S. achieved several notable results, including a 2–2 draw against Sweden, and a 7–3 upset victory over second-place favorites Czechoslovakia.
For the first game in the medal round, the United States played the Soviets. Finishing the first period tied at 2–2, and the Soviets leading 3–2 following the second, the U.S. team scored two more goals to take their first lead during the third and final period, winning the game 4–3. Following the game, the U.S. went on to clinch the gold medal by beating Finland in their last game. The Soviet Union took the silver medal by beating Sweden.
The victory became one of the most iconic moments of the Games and in U.S. sports. Equally well-known was the television call of the final seconds of the game by Al Michaels for ABC, in which he declared: "Do you believe in miracles?! YES!" In 1999, Sports Illustrated named the "Miracle on Ice" the top sports moment of the 20th century. As part of its centennial celebration in 2008, the International Ice Hockey Federation (IIHF) named the "Miracle on Ice" as the best international ice hockey story of the past 100 years.

## Medalists

| Gold | Silver | Bronze |
| United States (USA) Bill Baker Neal Broten Dave Christian Steve Christoff Jim Craig Mike Eruzione John Harrington Steve Janaszak Mark Johnson Rob McClanahan Ken Morrow Jack O'Callahan Mark Pavelich Mike Ramsey Buzz Schneider Dave Silk Eric Strobel Bob Suter Phil Verchota Mark Wells | Soviet Union (URS) Helmuts Balderis Zinetula Bilyaletdinov Viacheslav Fetisov Alexander Golikov Vladimir Golikov Alexei Kasatonov Valeri Kharlamov Vladimir Krutov Yuri Lebedev Sergei Makarov Alexander Maltsev Boris Mikhailov Vladimir Myshkin Vasili Pervukhin Vladimir Petrov Alexander Skvortsov Sergei Starikov Vladislav Tretiak Valeri Vasiliev Viktor Zhluktov | Sweden (SWE) Mats Åhlberg Sture Andersson Bo Berglund Håkan Eriksson Jan Eriksson Thomas Eriksson Leif Holmgren Tomas Jonsson Pelle Lindbergh William Löfqvist Harald Lückner Bengt Lundholm Per Lundqvist Lars Molin Mats Näslund Lennart Norberg Tommy Samuelsson Dan Söderström Mats Waltin Ulf Weinstock |

## First round
### Blue Division

| Team | Pld | W | L | D | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification |
| Sweden | 5 | 4 | 0 | 1 | 26 | 7 | +19 | 9 | Advanced to the final round |
| United States | 5 | 4 | 0 | 1 | 25 | 10 | +15 | 9 | Advanced to the final round |
| Czechoslovakia | 5 | 3 | 2 | 0 | 34 | 16 | +18 | 6 | Advanced to the consolation round |
| Romania | 5 | 1 | 3 | 1 | 13 | 29 | −16 | 3 | |
| West Germany | 5 | 1 | 4 | 0 | 21 | 30 | −9 | 2 | |
| Norway | 5 | 0 | 4 | 1 | 9 | 36 | −27 | 1 | |
All times are local (UTC–5).

### Red Division

| Team | Pld | W | L | D | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification |
| Soviet Union | 5 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 51 | 11 | +40 | 10 | Advanced to the final round |
| Finland | 5 | 3 | 2 | 0 | 26 | 18 | +8 | 6 | Advanced to the final round |
| Canada | 5 | 3 | 2 | 0 | 28 | 12 | +16 | 6 | Advanced to the consolation round |
| Poland | 5 | 2 | 3 | 0 | 15 | 23 | −8 | 4 | |
| Netherlands | 5 | 1 | 3 | 1 | 16 | 43 | −27 | 3 | |
| Japan | 5 | 0 | 4 | 1 | 7 | 36 | −29 | 1 | |
All times are local (UTC–5).

## Consolation round

The third-placed teams in each division 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.
| Team | Pld | W | L | D | GF | GA | GD | Pts |
| United States | 3 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 10 | 7 | +3 | 5 |
| Soviet Union | 3 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 16 | 8 | +8 | 4 |
| Sweden | 3 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 7 | 14 | −7 | 2 |
| Finland | 3 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 7 | 11 | −4 | 1 |
Head-to-head results carried forward from group matches:
* February 12: Sweden 2–2 USA
* February 18: Finland 2–4 USSR
Final round matches:

## Statistics
### Average age

Team Japan was the oldest team in the tournament, averaging 30 years. Gold medalists team USA was the youngest team in the tournament, averaging 22 years and 5 months. Silver medalists team USSR averaged 26 years and 5 months. Tournament average was 25 years and 5 months.

### Leading scorers

| Rank | Player | GP | G | A | Pts |
| 1 | Milan Nový | 6 | 7 | 8 | 15 |
| 2 | Peter Šťastný | 6 | 7 | 7 | 14 |
| 3 | Jaroslav Pouzar | 6 | 8 | 5 | 13 |
| 4 | Aleksandr Golikov | 7 | 7 | 6 | 13 |
| 5 | Jukka Porvari | 7 | 7 | 4 | 11 |
| 6 | Boris Mikhailov | 7 | 6 | 5 | 11 |
| 6 | Vladimir Krutov | 7 | 6 | 5 | 11 |
| 8 | Marián Šťastný | 6 | 5 | 6 | 11 |
| 9 | Sergei Makarov | 7 | 5 | 6 | 11 |
| 9 | Mark Johnson | 7 | 5 | 6 | 11 |
Hat trick scorers
* Ken Berry (CAN) (vs. Netherlands)
* Jaroslav Pouzar (TCH) (vs. West Germany)
* Milan Nový (TCH) (vs. West Germany)
* Marián Šťastný (TCH) (vs. Canada)
* Peter Šťastný (TCH) (vs. West Germany)
* Jack de Heer (NED) (vs. Poland)
* Doru Tureanu (ROU) (vs. West Germany)
* Helmuts Balderis (URS) (vs. Poland)
* Aleksandr Golikov (URS) (vs. Japan)
* Vladimir Krutov (URS) (vs. Netherlands)
* Yuri Lebedev (URS) (vs. Netherlands)
* Mats Åhlberg (SWE) (vs. Norway)

### Leading goaltenders

Goaltenders with 40% or more of their team's total minutes.
| Rank | Goaltender | TOI | GA | SV | GAA | SV% |
| 1 | Jim Craig (USA) | 419:36 | 15 | 163 | 2.14 | 91.57 |
| 2 | Antero Kivelä (FIN) | 180:00 | 10 | 90 | 3.33 | 90.00 |
| 3 | Vladimir Myshkin (URS) | 260:00 | 9 | 77 | 2.08 | 89.53 |
| 4 | Paul Pageau (CAN) | 236:50 | 11 | 82 | 2.79 | 88.17 |
| 5 | Pelle Lindbergh (SWE) | 300:00 | 18 | 124 | 3.60 | 87.32 |
Shutouts
* Paul Pageau (CAN) (vs. Japan)
* Jiří Králík (TCH) (vs. Norway)
* William Löfqvist (SWE) (vs. Romania)
* Vladislav Tretiak (URS) (vs. Japan)

## Final ranking

| 1 | United States |
| 2 | Soviet Union |
| 3 | Sweden |
| 4 | Finland |
| 5 | Czechoslovakia |
| 6 | Canada |
| 7 | Poland |
| 8 | Romania |
| 9 | Netherlands |
| 10 | West Germany |
| 11 | Norway |
| 12 | Japan |
These standings are presented as the IIHF has them; however, the IOC maintains that Poland and Romania tied for 7th, the Netherlands and West Germany tied for 9th, and Norway and Japan tied for 11th.