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At the 1980 Winter Olympics hosted in Lake Placid, New York, one Ice Hockey event was held: Men's Ice Hockey.
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.
| Pld | W | L | T | GF | GA | Pts | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 5 | 4 | 1 | 26 | 7 | 9 | ||
| 5 | 4 | 1 | 25 | 10 | 9 | ||
| 5 | 3 | 2 | 34 | 16 | 6 | ||
| 5 | 1 | 3 | 1 | 13 | 29 | 3 | |
| 5 | 1 | 4 | 21 | 30 | 2 | ||
| 5 | 4 | 1 | 9 | 36 | 1 |
- February 12
- Czechoslovakia 11-0 Norway
- Romania 6-4 West Germany
- Sweden 2-2 USA
- February 14
- Romania 0-8 Sweden
- Norway 4-10 West Germany
- USA 7-3 Czechoslovakia
- February 16
- USA 5-1 Norway
- Romania 2-7 Czechoslovakia
- Sweden 5-2 West Germany
- February 18
- Norway 1-7 Sweden
- West Germany 3-11 Czechoslovakia
- USA 7-2 Romania
- February 20
- Norway 3-3 Romania
- Czechoslovakia 2-4 Sweden
- West Germany 2-4 USA
Red Division
Top two teams (shaded ones) advanced to the medal round.
| Pld | W | L | T | GF | GA | Pts | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 5 | 5 | 51 | 11 | 10 | |||
| 5 | 3 | 2 | 26 | 18 | 6 | ||
| 5 | 3 | 2 | 28 | 12 | 6 | ||
| 5 | 2 | 3 | 15 | 23 | 4 | ||
| 5 | 1 | 3 | 1 | 16 | 43 | 3 | |
| 5 | 4 | 1 | 7 | 36 | 1 |
- February 12:
- Netherlands 1-10 Canada
- Poland 5-4 Finland
- February 14:
- Japan 0-16 USSR
- Netherlands 4-17 USSR
- Poland 1-5 Canada
- February 16
- Japan 3-6 Finland
- Japan 3-3 Netherlands
- USSR 8-1 Poland
- Canada 3-4 Finland
- February 18
- Canada 6-0 Japan
- Netherlands 5-3 Poland
- Finland 2-4 USSR
- February 20
- Poland 5-1 Japan
- USSR 6-4 Canada
- Finland 10-3 Netherlands
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.
| Pld | W | L | T | GF | GA | Pts | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 3 | 2 | 1 | 10 | 7 | 5 | ||
| 3 | 2 | 1 | 16 | 8 | 4 | ||
| 3 | 1 | 2 | 7 | 14 | 2 | ||
| 3 | 2 | 1 | 7 | 11 | 1 |
- February 22
- USA 4-3 USSR (see Miracle on Ice)
- Finland 3-3 Sweden
- February 24:
- Sweden 2-9 USSR
- USA 4-2 Finland
Carried over group matches:
- February 12 Sweden 2-2 USA
- February 18 Finland 2-4 USSR
5th place game
- February 22 Czechoslovakia 6-1 Canada
Leading scorers
| Rk | GP | G | A | Pts |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Milan Novy6 | 7 | 8 | 15 |
| 2 | Peter Stastny6 | 7 | 7 | 14 |
| 3 | Jaroslav Pouzar6 | 8 | 5 | 13 |
| 4 | Alexander Golikov7 | 7 | 6 | 13 |
| 5 | Jukka Porvari7 | 7 | 4 | 11 |
| 6 | Boris Mikhailov7 | 6 | 5 | 11 |
| 6 | Vladimir Krutov7 | 6 | 5 | 11 |
| 8 | Sergei Makarov7 | 5 | 6 | 11 |
| 8 | Marian Stastny6 | 5 | 6 | 11 |
| 8 | Mark Johnson7 | 5 | 6 | 11 |
Final ranking
- United States
- USSR
- Sweden
- Finland
- Czechoslovakia
- Canada
- Poland
- Netherlands
- Romania
- West Germany
- Norway
- Japan
1980 Winter Olympics | 1980 Winter Olympics events | 1980 in ice hockey | Ice hockey at the Olympics
Olympische Winterspiele 1980/Eishockey | Hockey sobre hielo en los Juegos Olímpicos de Lake Placid 1980 | Hockey sur glace aux jeux Olympiques de 1980 | Hockey su ghiaccio alle olimpiadi invernali 1980 | レークプラシッドオリンピック (1980年) におけるアイスホッケー競技 | Olympische Winterspelen 1980/IJshockey | Hokej na lodzie na Zimowych Igrzyskach Olimpijskich 1980 | Jääkiekko 1980 talviolympialaisissa | Ishockey under Vinter-OL 1980 | OS-ishockey 1980
"Ice hockey at the 1980 Winter Olympics"