The U.S. upset of the Soviet Union in the medal round of the 1980 Olympic ice hockey tournament was so stunning that in the intervening 20 years, many have forgotten that Team USA still had another game to play to win the gold medal.
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Mike Eruzione accepts a U.S. flag from a fan after the defeat of Finland.
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That contest, which took place two days after the Soviet game, on Sunday, Feb. 24, pitted the U.S. against Finland.
Coming off such a monumental upset, coach Herb Brooks had less than two full days to get his team off its emotional peak and ready to face the Finns, a pretty fair team in their own right.
"I think if we had to play Finland the next day, that might have been a little difficult," said team captain Mike Eruzione, whose game-winning goal against the Soviets propelled the U.S. into the Finland game.
When the team arrived at practice on Saturday, Brooks had a surprise for them.
"[Coach Brooks] just skated our butts off in practice on Saturday," recalled Eruzione. "I was thinking, 'God, what's he doing this for? We've got a big game tomorrow.' But I think what he was trying to do was get us down right away. Make us tired, get us emotionally drained, so that we could get ready on Saturday afternoon, Saturday night and gear up for the big one the next day. I think if he didn't put us through a tough practice, if we were kind of just laughing around and having fun, we wouldn't have been able to play on Sunday."
To sense just how far the U.S. team had come to this point, it is helpful to go back a few weeks. After being blown out 10-3, by the Soviets at Madison Square Garden a few days before the Games, the players still harbored notions of winning a medal, but were far from overconfident.
"We were thinking of possibly winning a medal," said team member Neal Broten, who was quick to add, "but just basically not embarrassing ourselves."
After watching the hockey competition at 1979 National Sports Festival in Colorado Springs, where the team was largely selected, Mike Moran, who served as the press chief for the U.S. delegation at Lake Placid, had his doubts.
"The hockey writers who were here and everyone else were in the same frame of mind," said Moran. "That we were going to pick a college team to go against an international field and we didn't have a chance.
"I don't think anybody thought that this team stood a chance of winning any color of medal, as good as some of these college players were."
Eruzione was slightly more optimistic.
"I think we thought we could win a bronze medal" he said. "We felt we were good enough and confident enough to get to that medal round."
According to Eruzione, it was a simple progression from there.
"The objective from the beginning was to just get to the medal round, you know, put ourselves in a position to win. Once we got to the medal round, our first goal was achieved. From there, you have to look at, 'well, if we get to the medal round, we only have to play two games.' You win once, you win a silver. If you win two, you win gold."
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U.S. flag in hand, Jim Craig searched the crowd for his father.
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Simple enough, right? But things didn't start off that way against Finland. The U.S. failed to score the first goal -- for the sixth time in seven Olympic games, and trailed, 2-1, after two periods.
"We were prepared and ready to go against Finland," Eruzione said. "Actually, I look at the first period, and we dominated the first period. We just couldn't get a goal -- we couldn't buy a goal. And I was sitting there thinking, 'Oh my God. This goalie's going to have the game of his life against tonight.' And then were finally able to break through."
The man who helped provide the break-through was Dave Christian, whose father and uncle had played for the 1960 U.S. team that also won the gold medal. Phil Verchota converted Christian's pass to tie the game just 2:25 into the final period.
Rob McClanahan gave them the lead at 6:05 and Mark Johnson provided an insurance goal at 16:25. Final score: 4-2.
When it was over, Al Michaels provided one more memorable call on ABC. "This impossible dream, comes true!" he shouted.
Even though more was at stake -- the gold medal -- in the Finland game, it still suffers in comparison to the epic upset of the Soviets.
"Anti-climactic? Frighteningly so," said Ken Dryden, who served as Michaels' broadcast partner on ABC. "You're on the verge, but you're not there yet. You're desperately afraid that you don't have the emotion you need. You almost write your own ironic story in your mind that you beat the Soviets and lose to a team you're as good as or better than. That happens a lot, and those situations are tough to deal with."
According to Moran, who had a rink-side seat for both games, there was a noticeable difference in the atmosphere in the arena. The electricity that spread through the crowd during the Soviet game had been replaced by a feeling of destiny.
"Even behind 2-1 after two periods, I remember everybody around me thought we'd win it," recalls Moran. "I didn't detect any nervousness. I think everybody thought we'd come back and do it. It was destined.
"There was a script written here that had to be fulfilled in some way. And it was going to get done."
Many of the millions watching on television had probably never seen a hockey game before. My wife, growing up in basketball-mad Kentucky, recalls being let out of church early to be able to watch the afternoon contest -- something that didn't even happen for important University of Kentucky basketball games.
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Eruzione insisted the entire team join him on the medal stand.
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At the conclusion of the game, those watching were treated to two unforgettable scenes. The first was heroic goaltender Jim Craig, draped in the American flag, scanning the crowd and asking, "Where's my father?"
The second came during the medal ceremony. Eruzione stood on the platform as team captain. But as the national anthem concluded, he urged the entire team to join him in a moment of spontaneous celebration.
Across the U.S., people were spurred by patriotic emotions they hadn't felt in a long time. But for the players, the true impact of their accomplishment wouldn't be realized until the following day, when they boarded the Presidential plane at the invitation of Jimmy Carter and flew to the White House.
"We got into Washington and it was rainy and bleak and there were people lining the streets," said Moran. "We've been to the White House with every Olympic team since, and we've come in unnoticed. But there were people lining the streets three or four blocks from the White House."
For Moran, who has been an eyewitness to 11 Olympics and seen countless memorable moments, nothing will ever top the "Miracle on Ice" at Lake Placid.
"The whole scenario, the games and the gold medal and everything else is still the most significant Olympic moment I have seen in 11 Olympics," he said. "A lot of people attribute it to the climate in the country and that's part of it, the Cold War and beating the Soviets, but more to the point it says something about American kids and what can be accomplished against tremendous odds, which continues to be part of the fabric of the Olympics.
"I think this is a moment burned forever into the stones. I don't think we're ever going to see anything like it in the Olympics again. I just don't think the climate is there ever to permit such a thing again. I think that will stand on its own forever."
