| Ice Hockey At The 1980 Winter Olympics |
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Information AboutIce Hockey At The 1980 Winter Olympics |
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BACKGROUND These Olympics came at a difficult time for United States - USSR relations, as they were deep in the Cold War . Only months before the games began, the USSR invaded Afghanistan , and there was a possibility that the strong Soviet team might not show. However, they competed in the Lake Placid games, and it was the Americans that boycotted the 1980 Summer Olympics in Moscow . The Soviets had won every Winter Olympics ice hockey tournament since the 1960 Winter Olympics , were well-seasoned and had been playing together for many years (though they lacked young players). The Americans were a collection of college students (some from rival schools such as the University Of Minnesota and Boston University ) with little history of playing together. Three days before the Olympics, Coach Herb Brooks scheduled an exhibition game at Madison Square Garden in New York City . The Americans lost 10 - 3, and Jack O'Callahan (defense) tore a ligament, though he returned before the Olympic semi-finals. Coach Brooks gave only a few interviews after the game. Despite setbacks, Coach Brooks managed to unify his players, train them for a year (the usual training for World Championships took a few weeks at that time) and lead them to victory. 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 won the gold medal for the United States. Finland finished 4th in the overall standings. MEDALISTS BLUE DIVISION Top two teams (shaded ones) advanced to the medal round.
RED DIVISION Top two teams (shaded ones) advanced to the medal round.
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.
Carried over group matches:
5th place game
LEADING SCORERS FINAL RANKING # United States # USSR # Sweden # Finland # Czechoslovakia # Canada # Poland # Netherlands # Romania # West Germany # Norway # Japan |
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