Miracle On Ice - the 40th Anniversary

Saturday was the 40th anniversary of "Miracle on Ice", the unexpected and amazing defeat of the Soviet Union hockey team by the US at the 1980 Lake Placid Olympics. It was a VERY big deal at the time, and it still is because it was a fairy-tale come true. Those things don't happen often. 

Here's a copy of the cover of "Sports Illustrated" celebrating
the "Miracle on Ice" from 40 years ago on the 22nd of
February. 

The team of 20 kids, many from my homeland, here in the Frozen Northlands, coached by Herb Brooks, also from my state, pulled together and became a team instead of a disparate group. That's what has to happen in team sports - individual goals and backgrounds have to be buried for the greater good. It can work well, but it can also be a problem. 

The full team from 1980 is in this photo, with coaches and
all the players. There were a lot of these boys who went on
from their college and Olympic careers to become professional
hockey players. 

For these boys, their training and their learned responses of trust in their fellow players and in what the Coach was telling them worked. It worked well. They managed to pull out an amazing win that we're all still celebrating today - 40 years after the fact. That's impressive. Keep in mind that the game against the Soviets wasn't the final game, just one of the hardest. The US had won a very difficult game in the prior level against Sweden, and they still had to win over Finland before achieving the Gold Medal. The Soviets were a powerhouse, though, comprised of mostly professional hockey players with lots of international experience. They were the expected winners and the USA managed a true miracle beating them on the ice that day. 

Brian Suter (l) and his son Ryan (r) were both members
of Olympic hockey teams. Brian has had several interviews
over the past week regarding his time with Herb Brooks
and the Miracle on Ice team. 

Training to rely on the person to your left and your right is done for team sports, and also for the military, in family dynamics (both good and bad) and in some jobs where that reliance on others is necessary for success. It can be beneficial, but also constricting. The best thing about the US Olympic team was that it was a team for less than a full year. That allowed the teamwork to develop, but also allowed the team to break apart at the end, remain friends, and bond over an incredible experience. 

So I'm going to continue enjoying the 40th anniversary of a great hockey game, and I'll hope I'm still around when it comes to the 50th anniversary in another ten years. Won't THAT be the celebration - LOL. Have an excellent Monday and I'll be back tomorrow.