US-Canada Olympic Men's Hockey

[NUTS4theBUCKS28]

Tonight was fun, but to compare the magnitude of this win with the one in 1980 is quite a stretch. That was kids versus commies. This was NHL versus NHL.

i agree! i really dont get why they were saying after the game that this was the biggest upset since the "miracle on ice" game. US has tremendous talent, they are just young and unexperienced, but they are all pros. the 1980 team were all a bunch of 20 year old boneheads out of college who had no professional experience. ya, this was an upset, but definitely not the magnitude of the game against USSR in 1980.

 

[NUTS4theBUCKS28]

Somewhat off-topic.. a friend of mine texted me and asked what Rick Nash did that was so bad. I told him he assisted on a goal. He asked if he was playing for the US or Canada. I told him Canada. He said "why the [censored] is he playing for Canada?" I responded "He's Canadian?" He then called me and explained how big of a traitor Rick Nash was because he played for Team Canada instead of Team USA and that he's glad he lost.

wow, that has happened with me a bunch of times the last few days. non-hockey fans are officially retarded

 

[cincibuck]

It's the Olympics, the games should be ahead of the commercials and I refuse to accept otherwise. It's why I hate NBC. Wouldn't you think you'd televise the games based on the games themselves? Nope. Other worldwide channels are doing this the right way, I'm pretty sure.

I'd guess that this Canada/US game would be worth putting on the main channel. Or USA. Or something that most people get. They have other options and they chose this channel that a lot of people don't get.

Fuck commercials, I want hockey to be popular again.

Pay for View? I'd have paid 5 bucks to watch that game in hi-def and no commercial breaks -- or 3 bucks if they ran commercials between periods to defray costs to folks like me.

 

[cincibuck]

Quote:
Originally Posted by 3074326

I don't know what the mindset was like back in 1980 around the hockey team. Were they expected to compete at all?


BB73 "The Soviet team waxed them 10-3 a few days before the games, so they were given virtually no chance to beat them."

You had to be there to understand. The Soviet team had dominated world hockey for a decade. Teams from outside the Warsaw Pact were not allowed to use "professional athletes" so the US basketball team and the Canadian olympic team were teams of "amateurs" (college scholarships and AAU funding not considered pay) while the Warsaw Pact teams were soldiers from the national armies whose duty consisted of playing hockey. Eventually a series of games were set up in which a team of all stars from the NHL would play the Soviets. The assumption, and the media hype and fan anticipation, being that the all stars would put the Soviets in their place. Everyone west of the Dneiper River was sure the stars would rout the Red Army. Instead the NHL stars found themselves in a fight.

Along side all of this was US Hockey which hadn't medaled in Olympic hockey since the 30s. In Canada the 1980 US team would have been mid-level junior hockey players. Expectations of winning any medal, much less a gold, were non-existent.

It was also an era in which the propaganda wars between the US and Russia became a significant part of the Olympic hype. Think Rocky IV. Every event was cast in the light of Truman vs Stalin at Potsdam. Tears were shed each time the Russians played (and crushed) a team from the Warsaw Pact. And in the background some 70 American diplomats and Marines were being held captive in Tehran.

 

[Buckeye Nut]

Think Rocky II.

I think you meant Rocky IV, that's the one where he fought the Russian Ivan Drago.

 

[cincibuck]

Thanks, but I was in the process of getting my facts... only 70 hostages in Tehran too.

 

[BB73]

You had to be there to understand. The Soviet team had dominated world hockey for a decade. Teams from outside the Warsaw Pact were not allowed to use "professional athletes" so the US basketball team and the Canadian olympic team were teams of "amateurs" (college scholarships and AAU funding not considered pay) while the Warsaw Pact teams were soldiers from the national armies whose duty consisted of playing hockey. Eventually a series of games were set up in which a team of all stars from the NHL would play the Soviets. The assumption, and the media hype and fan anticipation, being that the all stars would put the Soviets in their place. Everyone west of the Dneiper River was sure the stars would rout the Red Army. Instead the NHL stars found themselves in a fight.

Along side all of this was US Hockey which hadn't medaled in Olympic hockey since the 30s. In Canada the 1980 US team would have been mid-level junior hockey players. Expectations of winning any medal, much less a gold, were non-existent.

It was also an era in which the propaganda wars between the US and Russia became a significant part of the Olympic hype. Think Rocky IV. Every event was cast in the light of Truman vs Stalin at Potsdam. Tears were shed each time the Russians played (and crushed) a team from the Warsaw Pact. And in the background some 70 American diplomats and Marines were being held captive in Tehran.

US hockey won a surprising gold in 1960, who in similar fashion to the 1980 team upset a powerful Soviet team (that hadn't lost in 4 years) in the semis, then beat the Czechs for the gold. That team's accomplishment is almost lost in history, but was also a bunch of college kids beating a powerful Soviet team on US soil.

Link

Prior to The Miracle on Ice, The USA also won silver in '20, '24, '32, '52, '56, and '72. And a bronze in '36.

Link

 

[BB73]

Couldn't have asked for a better draw.

In order to have it in 1 place, ongoing discussion of the matchups from here on out will be better placed in the 'Gold Medal' thread.

 

[jenkinswoody]

This was one of the best games that I have ever seen (of any sport). The pace was so frantic that I was on the edge of my seat. And I'm not even a hockey fan. USA! USA! USA!

 

[cincibuck]

US hockey won a surprising gold in 1960, who in similar fashion to the 1980 team upset a powerful Soviet team (that hadn't lost in 4 years) in the semis, then beat the Czechs for the gold. That team's accomplishment is almost lost in history, but was also a bunch of college kids beating a powerful Soviet team on US soil.

Link

Prior to The Miracle on Ice, The USA also won silver in '20, '24, '32, '52, '56, and '72. And a bronze in '36.

Link

Thanks for the corrections BB. My memory of "The Miracle on Ice" build up was that the US hadn't done squat since the 36 Olympics. Clearly that was not the case.

 

[jlb1705]

@ Twitter:

freeMurphy
The Canadian workplace is no match for the amount of comments about Olympic hockey that need to made on the internet today about 1 hours ago from web

 

[Mike80]

Somewhat off-topic.. a friend of mine texted me and asked what Rick Nash did that was so bad. I told him he assisted on a goal. He asked if he was playing for the US or Canada. I told him Canada. He said "why the fuck is he playing for Canada?" I responded "He's Canadian?" He then called me and explained how big of a traitor Rick Nash was because he played for Team Canada instead of Team USA and that he's glad he lost.

You should have told him that Tyutin and Hejda are big traitors too, just to egg him on

 

[gracelhink]

You should have told him that Tyutin and Hejda are big traitors too, just to egg him on

Unlike New Jersey's Martin Brodeur, one of the few American loyalists.

Winter Olympics 2010: media savages Canada goalie Martin Brodeur after US defeat - Telegraph

 

[bucknutz]

 

[osucollegebuck]

I was 3 minutes behind the coverage because we had to watch that like 10 times here and laugh at that. I'm from western new york and always have to hear about canadian dominance in hockey...this was a great night for american hockey fans. Those guys made us proud!!!!