Herb Brooks

[KEN W]

St Paul, Minnesota's own Herb Brooks made his GREAT motivational speech tonight before playing the Russians at the 1980 Olympics.

Al Michaels....."Do you believe in Miracles!!!"

"Great moments are born from great opportunity, and that's what you have here tonight, boys. That's what you've earned here tonight. One game; if we played them ten times, they might win nine. But not this game, not tonight. Tonight, we skate with them. Tonight we stay with them, and we shut them down because we can.

Tonight, we are the greatest hockey team in the world. You were born to be hockey players — every one of you, and you were meant to be here tonight. This is your time. Their time is done. It's over.

I'm sick and tired of hearing about what a great hockey team the Soviets have. Screw 'em. This is your time. Now go out there and take it!"

 

[LPS]

Before our town even had hockey we were all at the bar watching.  Unreal the electricity it sparked.  Was an awesome time!!!

[Steve-o]

Kurt Russel's portrayal of Herbie's speech in the movie Miracle has got nothing on this kid.

[KEN W]

In what could be called the greatest moment in US sports history, The US Olympic hockey team had 13 out of 20 players from Minnesota. The State of Hockey. Plus the coach. And 9 of them played for Brooks at the University of Minnesota!!!



 

[LPS]

Man if that doesn't give you goose bumps I don't know what would.  What a thrill that was.  Thanks for posting Ken. 

[Dotch]

Thanks for bringing back a lot of memories Ken. I was an undergrad at the U when Herbie was coaching. A fellow student & coworker played for the Gophers hockey JV. Went to a few of their games at old Mariucci when someone got their hands on tickets. When that place got rockin' we thought the bleachers were gonna come down. We watched the replay of the Soviet game on our little black & white TV in our apartment off of St. Paul campus. Also caught the gold medal game where the US defeated Finland. Made us proud to be Americans and U of M students after seeing our boys pull off such a stunning upset.

https://www.hockeydb.com/ihdb/stats/leagues/seasons/teams/0022241980.html

[glenn57]

watched that game in real life......it was unbelieveable!!!!

[Dotch]

As in on TV or were you there? One of those games was on in the middle of the night if I recall and we didn't have cable. A lot of the TV stations went off the air then after midnight too. Of course, if it was on in the middle of the night, we might have been busy studying like the hardworking angels we were...

[glenn57]

  it was on the toobe......now i dont recall if it was taped???? that was a long time ago!!!

[KEN W]

This game was on a Friday night right after supper. Then the Gold Medal Game against Finland was on Sunday afternoon. From Lake Placid, New York. watched them both.

[KEN W]

The Miracle on Ice is the single greatest and most iconic sports moment in the history of the United States. Americans were enduring some dark times leading up to the game and had no real reason to feel proud to be Americans. Many Americans were still dealing with the betrayal of the Watergate Scandal. The Iranian Revolution had caused an oil crisis. Americans were still being held hostage in Iran and had been up to that point for over two months. To make matters worse the Soviets had invaded Afghanistan on Christmas eve just 4 weeks ahead of the Olympic Games in Lake Placid.

On February 22nd, 1980, a hockey game, that was never just a hockey game, gave hope to the nation and finally gave them something to rally behind. A bunch of young college kids upset the four-time defending gold medalist and heavily favored Soviet Union team 4-3. This sent the Americans to the gold medal game which they would eventually win. By defeating the long-standing rival of the Soviets it inspired millions. It showed that there is no greater underdog than the United States and that even when times are tough, we always battle through it.

We could definitely use another Miracle for this country to unite behind again.

[Steve-o]

The video failed to document the turning point in the game.  The USA lads tied the game 2-2 in the last second of Period One, after which Coach Viktor Tikhonov pulled the best goalie in the world, Vladislav Tretiak - and the rest is history.

USA: 
Russians:   

Tikhonov's admisssion:  Remembering Viktor Tikhonov: A Hockey Legend

The loss to the United States in the famed “Miracle On Ice” game at the 1980 Winter Olympics in Lake Placid saw Tikhonov face heavy criticism for pulling superstar goalie Vladislav Tretiak, after the first period. Tikhonov admitted his mistake in a book called “The Boys of Winter” by Wayne Coffey. An excerpt was published in the New York Times in 2005, where Tikhonov, through an interpreter, spoke of the ill-fated move.

“The biggest mistake of my career. Tretiak always played better after he gave up a goal. The decision was a result of getting caught up in emotions. After Tretiak gave up the rebound and let in the soft goal by (Mark) Johnson, my blood was boiling. It was my worst mistake, my biggest regret.”

Tikhonov’s temper showed following the loss when he went to Tretiak, Vladimir Petrov, team captain Boris Mikhailov and superstar forward Valery Kharmalov pointing his finger in their faces and telling them in Russian: “This is your loss! This is your loss.” Defenceman Valery Vasilliev grabbed Tikhonov by the neck proclaiming: “I will kill you right now,” before Russian officials separated them.

Russian Hockey Team:   

I don't think Tikhonov or anyone went to Siberia over it, but I'll bet they lost their plush penthouse apartments overlooking Red Square.