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.
==Medalists==
Gold: 	Silver: 	Bronze:
United StatesJim CraigJack O'CallahanBill BakerKen MorrowMike RamseyBob SuterDave ChristianDave SilkSteve JanaszakMark JohnsonRob McClanahanJohn HarringtonMark PavelichBuzz SchneiderSteve ChristoffNeal BrotenMike EruzioneEric StrobelMark WellsPhil Verchota	Soviet UnionHelmuts BalderisZinetula BilyaletdinovViacheslav FetisovAleksandr GolikovVladimir GolikovAlexei KasatonovValeri KharlamovVladimir KrutovYuri LebedevSergei MakarovAleksandr MaltsevBoris MikhailovVladimir MyshkinVasili PervukhinVladimir PetrovAleksandr SkvortsovSergei StarikovValeri VasilievVladislav TretiakViktor Zhluktov	SwedenPelle LindberghWilliam LöfquistTomas JonssonSture AnderssonUlf WeinstockJan ErikssonTommy SamuelssonMats WaltinThomas ErikssonPer LundqvistMats ÅhlbergHåkan ErikssonMats NäslundLennart NorbergBengt LundholmLeif HolmgrenBo BerglundDan SöderströmLars Molin
==Blue Division==
Top two teams (shaded ones) advanced to the medal round.
Team 	Pld	W	L	T	GF	GA	Pts
Sweden 	5 	4	0	1	26	7 	9
United States 	5 	4	0	1	25	10	9
Czechoslovakia	5 	3	2	0	34	16	6
Romania 	5 	1	3	1	13	29	3
West Germany 	5 	1	4	0	21	30	2
Norway 	5 	0	4	1	9 	36	1
*February 12
**Czechoslovakia 11-0 Norway
**Romania 6-4 West Germany
**Sweden 2-2 USA
*February 14
**Romania 0-8 Sweden
**Norway 4-10 West Germany
**USA 7-3 Czechoslovakia
*February 16
**USA 5-1 Norway
**Romania 2-7 Czechoslovakia
**Sweden 5-2 West Germany
*February 18
**Norway 1-7 Sweden
**West Germany 3-11 Czechoslovakia
**USA 7-2 Romania
*February 20
**Norway 3-3 Romania
**Czechoslovakia 2-4 Sweden
**West Germany 2-4 USA
==Red Division==
Top two teams (shaded ones) advanced to the medal round.
Team 	Pld	W	L	T	GF	GA	Pts
Soviet Union	5 	5	0	0	51	11	10
Finland 	5 	3	2	0	26	18	6
Canada 	5 	3	2	0	28	12	6
Poland 	5 	2	3	0	15	23	4
Netherlands 	5 	1	3	1	16	43	3
Japan 	5 	0	4	1	7 	36	1
*February 12:
**Netherlands 1-10 Canada
**Poland 5-4 Finland
**Japan 0-16 USSR
*February 14:
**Netherlands 4-17 USSR
**Poland 1-5 Canada
**Japan 3-6 Finland
*February 16
**Japan 3-3 Netherlands
**USSR 8-1 Poland
**Canada 3-4 Finland
*February 18
**Canada 6-0 Japan
**Netherlands 5-3 Poland
**Finland 2-4 USSR
*February 20
**Poland 5-1 Japan
**USSR 6-4 Canada
**Finland 10-3 Netherlands
==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.
Team 	Pld	W	L	T	GF	GA	Pts
United States	3 	2	0	1	10	7 	5
Soviet Union 	3 	2	1	0	16	8 	4
Sweden 	3 	0	1	2	7 	14	2
Finland 	3 	0	2	1	7 	11	1
*February 22
**USA 4-3 USSR
**Finland 3-3 Sweden
*February 24:
**Sweden 2-9 USSR
**USA 4-2 Finland
Carried over group matches:
*February 12 Sweden 2-2 USA
*February 18 Finland 2-4 USSR
5th place game
*February 22 Czechoslovakia 6-1 Canada
==Leading scorers==
Rk	Team 	GP	G	A	Pts
1 	Milan Novy 	6 	7	8	15
2 	Peter Stastny 	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 	Sergei Makarov 	7 	5	6	11
8 	Marian Stastny 	6 	5	6	11
8 	Mark Johnson 	7 	5	6	11
==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
==Final ranking==
# United States
# Soviet Union
# Sweden
# Finland
# Czechoslovakia
# Canada
# Poland
# Netherlands
# Romania
# West Germany
# Norway
# Japan
==References==
*Official Report
==See Also==
*1979-80 Canada men's national ice hockey team
*1980 Czechoslovakia national ice hockey team
*1980 Finland national ice hockey team
*1980 Japan national ice hockey team
*1980 Netherlands national ice hockey team
*1980 Norway national ice hockey team
*1980 Poland national ice hockey team
*1980 Romania national ice hockey team
*1980 Soviet Union national ice hockey team
*1980 Sweden national ice hockey team
*1980 United States national ice hockey team
*1980 West Germany national ice hockey team
Category:Olympic Games
Olympics, Winter