Miracle on Ice The " Miracle on Ice " is the nickname given to a February 22 medal - round men ' s ice hockey game during the 1980 Olympic Winter Games , in which a team of amateur and collegiate players from the United States , led by coach Herb Brooks , defeated the Soviet Union team , who were considered to be the best hockey team in the world . The U . S went on to win the Gold Medal by beating Finland ( 4 – 2 ) in their final medal round game . The Soviet Union took the Silver Medal by beating Sweden in their final game . Sweden took home the Bronze Medal . As part of the its 100th anniversary celebrations in 2008 , the International Ice Hockey Federation ( IIHF ) picked the Miracle on Ice as the number - one international hockey story of the century . History . The Soviet Union entered the Olympic tournament as heavy favorites , having won every ice hockey gold medal but one since 1956 , the lone exception being the gold won by the United States team in Squaw Valley in 1960 . Though classed as amateurs , Soviet players essentially played professionally ( the players were active - duty in the Red Army ) in a well - developed league with world class training facilities . They were led by legendary players in world ice hockey , such as Boris Mikhailov ( a top line Right Winger and team captain ) , Vladislav Tretiak ( considered by many to be the best ice hockey goaltender in the world at the time ) , the speedy and skilled Valeri Kharlamov , as well as talented , young , and dynamic players such as defenseman Viacheslav Fetisov and forwards Vladimir Krutov and Sergei Makarov . In exhibitions that year , Soviet club teams had gone 5 – 3 – 1 against National Hockey League ( NHL ) teams , and a year earlier the Soviet national team had routed the NHL All - Stars 6 – 0 to win the Challenge Cup . 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 . The Soviet and American teams were natural rivals due to the decades - old Cold War . In addition , President of the United States Jimmy Carter was at the time considering a U . S . boycott of the 1980 Summer Olympics , to be held in Moscow , in protest of the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan , which had begun the year before . Carter eventually decided in favor of the boycott . On February 9 , the two teams met for an exhibition match at Madison Square Garden in order to practice for the upcoming competition . The Soviet Union won handily , 10 – 3 . In Olympic group play , the United States surprised many observers with their physical , cohesive play . In their first game against favored Sweden , the U . S . earned a dramatic 2 – 2 tie by scoring with 27 seconds left after pulling goalie Jim Craig for an extra attacker . Then came a stunning 7 – 3 victory over Czechoslovakia , considered by many to be the second best team after the Soviet Union and a favorite for the silver medal . With their two toughest games in the group phase out of the way , the U . S . team reeled off three more wins , beating Norway 5 – 1 , Romania 7 – 2 , and West Germany 4 – 2 to go 4 – 0 – 1 and advance to the medal round from their group along with Sweden . In the other group , the Soviets stormed through their opposition undefeated , often by grossly lopsided scores – knocking off Japan 16 – 0 , the Netherlands 17 – 4 , and Poland 8 – 1 – and easily qualified for the next round although both the Finns and the Canadians gave the Russians unexpectedly tough games for two periods . In the end , the Soviet Union and Finland ( who overcame a disastrous start after sensationally losing to Poland in their opening game of the tournament but then rallied to upset Canada ) advanced from their group . The U . S . and USSR prepared for the medal round in different ways . Soviet coach Viktor Tikhonov rested most of his best players , preferring to let them study plays rather than actually skate . U . S . coach Herb Brooks , however , continued with his tough , confrontational style , skating " hard " practices and berating his players for perceived weaknesses . The day before the match , columnist Dave Anderson wrote in the " New York Times " , " Unless the ice melts , or unless the United States team or another team performs a miracle , as did the American squad in 1960 , the Russians are expected to easily win the Olympic gold medal for the sixth time in the last seven tournaments . " " Do you believe in miracles ? " . The home crowd , energized by the U . S . team ' s improbable run during group play and the Cold War " showdown " mentality , were in a patriotic fervor throughout the match , waving U . S . flags and singing patriotic songs such as " God Bless America . " The rest of the United States ( except those who watched the game live on Canadian television ) would have to wait to see the game , as ABC decided to broadcast the late - afternoon game on tape delay in prime time . As in several previous games , the U . S . team fell behind early . Vladimir Krutov deflected a slap shot by Aleksei Kasatonov past U . S . netminder Jim Craig to give the Soviets a 1 – 0 lead , and after Buzz Schneider scored for the United States to tie the game , the Soviets struck again with a Sergei Makarov goal . Down 2 – 1 , Craig improved his play , turning away many Soviet shots before the U . S . team had another shot on goal ( the Soviet team had 39 shots on goal in the game , the Americans 16 ) . In the waning seconds of the first period , Dave Christian fired a slap shot on Tretiak . The Soviet goalie saved the shot but misplayed the rebound , and Mark Johnson scooped it past the goaltender to tie the score with one second left in the period . The Soviet team played the final second of the period with just three players on the ice , as the rest of the team had retired to their dressing room for the first intermission . Tikhonov replaced Tretiak with backup goaltender Vladimir Myshkin to start the second period , a move which shocked players on both teams . Fetisov later identified this as the " turning point of the game . Myshkin allowed no goals in the second period . Aleksandr Maltsev scored on a power play to make the score 3 – 2 for the Soviets , but Craig made numerous saves to keep the U . S . in the game Johnson scored again for the U . S . , 8 : 39 into the final period , firing a loose puck past Myshkin to tie the score just as a power play was ending . Only a couple shifts later , Mark Pavelich passed to U . S . captain Mike Eruzione , who was left undefended in the high [ [ Slot slot . Eruzione fired a shot past Myshkin , who was screened by his own defenseman . This goal gave the U . S . a 4 – 3 lead with exactly 10 minutes to play in the contest . Craig withstood another series of Soviet shots to finish the match , though the Soviets did not remove their goalkeeper for an extra attacker . As the U . S . team tried to clear the zone ( move the puck over the blue line , which they did with seven seconds remaining ) , the crowd began to count down the seconds left . Sportscaster Al Michaels , who was calling the game on ABC along with former [ [ Montreal Canadiens ] ] goalie [ [ Ken Dryden ] ] , picked up on the countdown in his broadcast , and delivered his famous call : The victory was voted the greatest sports moment of the twentieth century by " Sports Illustrated " . U . S . aftermath . [ [ Image : Miracle on Ice - podium . jpg | thumb | left | 300px | The team jubilantly crowds the medal stand . ] ] Many people incorrectly recall that the U . S . won the gold medal that night . In fact , the medal round was a round - robin , not a single elimination format like it is today . Under Olympic rules at the time , the group game with Sweden was counted along with the medal round games versus the Soviet Union and Finland so it was mathematically possible for the U . S . to finish anywhere from 1st to 4th . Needing to win to secure the gold medal , the U . S . team came back from a 2 - 1 third period deficit to defeat Finland ( Hockey dalton [ [ Jari Kurri ] ] was a member of the Finnish team ) 4 – 2 . At the time , the players ascended a podium to receive their medals and then lined up on the ice for the playing of the national anthem , as the podium was only meant to accommodate one person . Only the team captains remained on the podium for the duration . After the completion of the anthem , Eruzione motioned for his teammates to join him on the podium . Today , the podiums are large enough to accommodate all of the players . The victory bolstered many U . S . citizens ' feelings of national pride , which had been severely strained during the turbulent 1970s . The match against the Soviets popularized the " U - S - A ! U - S - A ! " chant , which has been used by U . S . supporters at many international sports competitions since 1980 . [ [ Image : 2002 Winter Olympics flame . jpg | right | thumb | The team had the honor of lighting the [ [ Olympic Flame | Olympic cauldron ] ] at the [ [ 2002 Winter Olympics ] ] . ] ] Of the 20 players on the U . S . team , 13 eventually played in the NHL . Five of them would go on to play over 500 NHL games : [ [ Jim Craig ( ice hockey ) | Jim Craig ] ] appeared in 30 NHL games from 1980 through 1984 . Team captain [ [ Mike Eruzione ] ] played his last high - level hockey game in the 1980 Olympics , as he felt that he had accomplished all of his hockey goals with the gold medal win . One of Brooks ' assistant coaches , [ [ Craig Patrick ] ] , went on to become a successful general manager in the NHL and is now in the [ [ Hockey Hall of Fame ] ] . Brooks himself would coach several NHL teams following the Olympics , with mixed results . Both Patrick and later Brooks would coach ( and in Patrick ' s case , become general manager of ) the [ [ Pittsburgh Penguins ] ] . Brooks returned to the Olympics as coach of the 2002 team , winning the silver medal . Brooks died in a car crash near Forest Lake , Minnesota on August 11 , 2003 at the age of 66 , and the ice arena in Lake Placid where the Miracle on Ice took place is now named [ [ Herb Brooks Arena | in his honor ] ] . Michaels was named " Sportscaster of the Year " in 1980 for his coverage of the event , and the team received " Sports Illustrated " magazine ' s " Sportsmen of the Year " award , as well as being named as Athlete of the Year by the Associated Press and American Broadcasting Company ' s " Wide World of Sports " . In 2004 , ESPN , as part of their 25th anniversary , declared the Miracle on Ice to be the top sports headline moment , and game of the period 1979 – 2004 . Soviet reaction . Despite the loss , the USSR would remain the preeminent power in international hockey until the country ' s 1991 break - up . Throughout the 1980s , NHL teams continued to draft Soviet players in hopes of enticing them to eventually play professionally in North America , but the first would not do so until the [ [ 1988 – 89 NHL season ] ] , when veteran [ [ Sergei Pryakhin ] ] joined the [ [ Calgary Flames ] ] . In the [ [ 1989 – 90 NHL season ] ] , other 1980 Olympians joined the NHL , including [ [ Vyacheslav Fetisov ] ] , [ [ Alexei Kasatonov ] ] , [ [ Vladimir Krutov ] ] , [ [ Helmut Balderis ] ] and [ [ Sergei Makarov ] ] . That same season , young star [ [ Alexander Mogilny ] ] defected to play for the Buffalo Sabres . Soon thereafter , the collapse of the Soviet Union led to a flood of ex - Soviet stars in the NHL like Igor Larionov and Sergei Fedorov ; since then , many of the NHL ' s top players have come from the former Soviet republics . Team rosters . [ [ Image : TeamUSA1980 stamp . png | thumb | 100px | Paraguayan stamp featuring Robert McClanahan ] ] Officials . U . S . vs . U . S . S . R . [ [ Category : 1980 in hockey ] ] External links . [ [ Category : Olympic Games ] ]