1980 Olympics At the 1980 Winter Olympics hosted in Lake Placid , New York , one ice hockey event was held : Men ' s Ice Hockey , played at the Olympic Center , now known as the Herb Brooks Arena . Background . These Olympics came at a difficult time for American - Soviet relations , as they were deep in the Cold War . Only months before the games began , the USSR had invaded Afghanistan , and there was a possibility that the strong Soviet team might not show up . However , they competed in the Lake Placid games in the end , although the Americans later boycotted the 1980 Summer Olympics in Moscow . The Soviets had won every Winter Olympics ice hockey tournament since 1960 Olympics , were well - seasoned and had been playing together for many years ( though they lacked young players ) . In contrast , the Americans were a collection of college students ( most from the rival schools of University of Minnesota and Boston University ) with little history of playing together . However , the US team also featured several highly promising players who would go on to have successful careers in the National Hockey League after the Olympics . Three days before the Olympics , Coach Herb Brooks scheduled an exhibition game at Madison Square Garden in New York City against the Soviet team . The Americans lost 10 - 3 , and Jack O ' Callahan ( defense ) tore a ligament in his knee , though he returned before the medal round . Coach Brooks gave only a few interviews after the game . Despite these setbacks , Brooks managed to unify his players , training them for a year ( the core of the team had been assembled since the 1979 Ice Hockey World Championship tournament in Moscow ) , and led them to victory . In the end , the Americans were better prepared both physically and mentally than their opponents . Highlights . The USA vs USSR game , called the " Miracle on Ice " in the United States , is the best - remembered game of the tournament and the best - remembered international hockey game in the United States . It was the USA ' s penultimate game of the tournament ' s round - robin medal round . The USA ' s final game , against Finland , was the game which actually won the gold medal for the United States . Finland finished 4th in the overall standings . Another upset which is not always noticed , is when Poland defeated the much better team of Finland 5 - 4 during the Preliminary round . Blue Division . Top two teams ( shaded ones ) advanced to the medal round . Red Division . Top two teams ( shaded ones ) advanced to the medal round . Medal 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 . Carried over group matches : 5th place game Hat Tricks . 3 GOALS Ken Berry , Canada vs . Netherlands Doru Tureanu , Romania vs . West Germany Aleksandr Golikov , Soviet Union vs . Japan Vladimir Krutov , Soviet Union vs . Netherlands Yuri Lebedev , Soviet Union vs . Netherlands Helmut Balderis , Soviet Union vs . Poland Mats Aalberg , Sweden vs . Norway Jack de Heer , Netherlands vs . Poland Peter Stastny , Czechoslovakia vs . West Germany Jaroslav Pouzar , Czechoslovakia vs . West Germany Milan Novy , Czechoslovakia vs . West Germany