Miracle on Ice: How a Stunning Upset United a Country
or stood tightly together because the crowd was several thousand people larger than what the arena was built to hold Now in a tie game against the sport’s greatest team Mike Eruzione took the puck in a play set up by Harrington and Pavelich Eruzione launched a shot at Soviet goalie Vladimir Myshkin At almost the same time a Soviet defenseman dropped to his knees on the ice to try to block the shot The puck shot past him and flew toward Myshkin who had trouble seeing it In an instant the puck was in the net and Eruzione was celebrating the goal that gave the Americans their first lead of the game It was also the first time a U S team had held a lead over any Soviet team in the Olympics since 1960 Now the Americans and their fans wondered Could they keep that lead THE 1960 OLYMPICS Team USA and the Soviet team had squared off in another important game 20 years before their match in Lake Placid In the 1960 Olympic Games the two teams played to see who would compete for the gold The Soviet team was on its way to becoming a powerhouse team having won the gold medal at the previous games The Americans had never beaten them in hockey competition The Americans had won the silver medal in the 1956 Games but they were not expected to do well in 1960 even though they were playing before a home crowd in Squaw Valley California But Team USA made it to the medal round and a game against the Soviets The hero of the game was Bill Christian who scored twice with his brother Roger assisting on each play The final score was 3-2 and the Americans then went on to beat Czechoslovakia to win the gold medal The 1980 U S team had some connections to the 1960 team Before the Squaw Valley Games future coach Herb Brooks was the last player cut from the roster And Dave Christian who played defense for Brooks in 1980 was the son of Bill Christian
Roger and Bill Christian from left teamed up for two goals during the 1960 win against the Soviets For the next 10 minutes the Soviets pressed hard on offense trying to get a tying goal Craig played well turning away shots but luck helped him when Aleksandr Maltsev hit a goal post with one shot and missed a partly open net with another The American defensemen tried to block as many shots as they could and Craig tried not to freeze the puck He didn’t want a face-off near his net He wanted the clock to keep running down and stop the Soviets from setting up a play As the action went on Herb Brooks called out from
behind the bench Play your game Play your game And in the stands the American fans chanted their encouragement U-S-A U-S-A Goalie Jim Craig blocked a shot during the game against the Soviets one of 36 saves The Americans knew the Soviets could come from behind to win they had done it in the teams last two games But this time the Soviets could not produce any heroics As the clocked ticked off the minutes then the seconds it was clear that Team USA was going to pull off one of the greatest upsets in the history of sports On a platform above the action TV announcer Al Michaels watched the clock as well as the skaters on the ice Just before the horn sounded to end the game he asked his audience Do you believe in miracles Yes In front of his goal Jim Craig leapt into the air and soon his teammates raced toward him as they all celebrated their historic victory At
that instant sports photographer Heinz Kluetmeier snapped a picture of the joyous moment with fans waving a U S flag in the background The photo soon became almost as well known as the Americans stunning upset The game between Team USA and the Soviet Union was not broadcast live in the United States but millions of Americans heard Michaels question about miracles several hours later when they watched it on tape delay The viewers like the people in the Olympic Arena witnessed the Miracle on Ice
