45 years ago today there was a hockey game played in North Elba, New York
- Thread starter Fenway
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DominicT
Registered User
I'm not even American and I remember where I was on this day.
My daughter was a baby, and I was visiting my parents in Littleton MA and we watched this game.
It was amazing!
It was amazing!
- Jan 29, 2003
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I was 9 and didn’t know it was on delay and when my dad got home from work he pulled the huge tv (not big screen, just a 125 lb. piece of furniture style TV) into the doorway between the kitchen and living room so we could eat dinner while watching.
He knew they won, but wanted me to enjoy it as it (happened) at least in my mind.
He knew they won, but wanted me to enjoy it as it (happened) at least in my mind.
2 weeks earlier the USA played a friendly against the Soviets at Madison Sq Garden and tanked the game. - Brooks had no intention of showing his hand until he had to
quietbruinfan
Salt and light
I remember all of it. Even remember them flashing the result at the end of Saturday night live and Chevy Chase saying something like go beat those Ruskies...... Strange because I know the Finland game was on Sunday afternoon. Maybe SNL was on a rare Friday night?
Team really impressed my father with their skating, and he, like me, was not easily impressed.
Team really impressed my father with their skating, and he, like me, was not easily impressed.
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A little known fact was Brooks took about 11 NCAA players including Joe Mullen,
Jim Craig, Jack O'Callahan and I believe 7 other members of what would be the 1980 US Olympic Team.to the 1979 World's. They tied Czechoslovakia 2-2 with Craig in net. Game was a bit of a harbinger of things to come.
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22Brad Park
Registered User
Watched it on my grandmother's old tube.The ones that looked like all wood with a screen in the middle.I was 11 yrs old.
They could have played that Red Army team 99 more times and not beat them once.I dunno how or why,but it happened that day.Some things are just meant to be.Tikonov taking out Tretiak was definitely not smart.
Greatest upset in N. American sports history, no doubt. With advanced stats today I would love to see the Deserve To Win meter...lol. I will say I don't think it would be 99-1 but not far off. Getting goalied is more than a 1 in 100 event and Craig did play 3 games within a year against Czechoslovakia and USSR and was 2-0-1 BOB.
Also played 2 games against what was called the Soviet and Czechoslovakia B teams. Haven't ever seen the rosters, so I can't comment as to the accuracy of the
talent of the next 20 players from the USSR\Czechoslovakia. We read often on this site about how a Canada B Team would win Gold in several Olympics
So, Craig went 4-0-1 against a legit sample size of very good Czechoslovakia\USSR players. Granted some of the players were NHL players in that Czechoslovakia tie, but 11 of the US Team players were right off their BU (Craig, O'Callahan),
BC (Mullen), Wisconsin (Johnson), Minnesota, UNH (Cox) and PC (Korn) teams.
As the Olympics advanced, Brooks saw that the Soviets were not taking the competition as seriously having to come from behind in the 3rd to beat Finland and if memory serves Canada in their pool play.
There was no Friday night SNL live. Was night after USSR win and 12 hours before puck drop of Finland game.
quietbruinfan
Salt and light
ok......for some reason I thought it was after the game but before the delayed broadcast.
You know the last two times the US faced Tretiak was in the 1978 Worlds and 1980 Olympics. The US scored 5 goals on Tretiak in the 1978 Worlds, including the 4th goal evening the game about halfway through the 2nd period. So in the last 4 periods Tretiak faced US Teams that scored 7 goals off him. Wonder if that was in Tikhonov's mind after watching Myshkin shutout the NHL All Stars in the deciding game of the Challenge Cup? Mark Johnson and Ken Morrow were on that 1978 US Team.
The highlights of the game are on YouTube and is a neat thing to watch.
My GF at the time who had dealt with me through Bucky Dent and Too Many Men drove to a JC Penny location 6 weeks earlier as they were the official ticket distributor for Lake Placid (Boston didn't have JC Penny then - I think Attelboro was the closest ) She got figure skating for Saturday and the 5 PM hockey game on Friday. (The 8 PM was sold out ) - Ironically I had been in Lake Placid working the week before as TV38 got the contract to work the games at the 1932 arena and unexpectlicly the USA/Norway game wound up being on ABC live.
CFCF-TV in Montreal had the contract to cover the games at the 1980 arena.
The nearest hotel room she could find for Friday night was in DORVAL, QUEBEC
Being at that game was surreal as in the last 10 minutes it seemed liked they would play 3 minutes but only 20 seconds came off the clock.
USA Hockey wanted BU's Jack Parker to be the coach but he said no hire Herb Brooks. In the end Brooks loaded the team with Minnesota players BUT included several players from BU that Parker coached that made an impact.
Brooks saw a flaw in the Soviet style that nobody else did and exploited it but allowed the team to be embarrassed at MSG 2 weeks before.
CFCF-TV in Montreal had the contract to cover the games at the 1980 arena.
The nearest hotel room she could find for Friday night was in DORVAL, QUEBEC
Being at that game was surreal as in the last 10 minutes it seemed liked they would play 3 minutes but only 20 seconds came off the clock.
USA Hockey wanted BU's Jack Parker to be the coach but he said no hire Herb Brooks. In the end Brooks loaded the team with Minnesota players BUT included several players from BU that Parker coached that made an impact.
Brooks saw a flaw in the Soviet style that nobody else did and exploited it but allowed the team to be embarrassed at MSG 2 weeks before.
My GF at the time who had dealt with me through Bucky Dent and Too Many Men drove to a JC Penny location 6 weeks earlier as they were the official ticket distributor for Lake Placid (Boston didn't have JC Penny then - I think Attelboro was the closest ) She got figure skating for Saturday and the 5 PM hockey game on Friday. (The 8 PM was sold out ) - Ironically I had been in Lake Placid working the week before as TV38 got the contract to work the games at the 1932 arena and unexpectlicly the USA/Norway game wound up being on ABC live.
CFCF-TV in Montreal had the contract to cover the games at the 1980 arena.
The nearest hotel room she could find for Friday night was in DORVAL, QUEBEC
Being at that game was surreal as in the last 10 minutes it seemed liked they would play 3 minutes but only 20 seconds came off the clock.
USA Hockey wanted BU's Jack Parker to be the coach but he said no hire Herb Brooks. In the end Brooks loaded the team with Minnesota players BUT included several players from BU that Parker coached that made an impact.
Brooks saw a flaw in the Soviet style that nobody else did and exploited it but allowed the team to be embarrassed at MSG 2 weeks before.
The reason Brooks loaded the team with Minnesota kids was every one of them
earned their spots. My senior year of college was 1976-77 and being a huge
college hockey fan, I had watched some of the non ECAC players at the 1977 NCAA
Tourney (Johnson, Suter), 1978 NCAA Tourney (Morrow, Wells) and 1979 NCAA Tourney (All 8 Gopher players). The only ECAC player who clearly should have made the roster based on talent was Ralph Cox of UNH\Braintree who hurt his ankle which killed his chances. Jack Hughes of Harvard\Somerville was one of the two last cuts and Ryan Suter's Dad was selected over him. That selection was possibly the only selection made that was "political", being Suter was coached by Bob Johnson and Hughes and Brooks apparently didn't get along.
There were 4 Minnesota players who never played in the NHL in Harrington, Strobel, Schneider and Verchota and with Mark Fidler regressing significantly his Sophomore year at BU cemented the other players spots. After his Freshmen season of 1977-78, Fidler looked like a shoe in for the 1980 US Team. Mark Wells basically beat out Fidler.
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Brooks respected the players that Parker coached.
That 1980 Olympic team played a brutal schedule starting in October when they were the visiting team at Harvard's new rink that ESPN carried.
I to this day don't know how Herb Brooks knew but he did
I watched that Harvard\1980 Team USA game. I didn't recall who broadcasted it
but for some reason thought WGBH picked it up.
My nephews long time Burlington Youth Hockey Teammate, Mark Fusco, played his first or second Harvard game that night. Watching that game, Team USA looked like a hybrid NHL\AHL Team that night and thats what they were.
I honestly believed they were good enough for Bronze for sure and after they tied Czechoslovakia in April 1979 in Moscow, with roughly what would be half the US Olympic squad with Craig in net and that team in '79 not including Dave Christian, Mark Pavelich, Neal Broten, Dave Silk and Ken Morrow, I felt right then they could challenge Czechoslovakia at home in Lake Placid. Now I didn't think they could beat the USSR but the sport has more variables than the other three and getting goalied
by a decent random netminder riding a goalie bender is one.
Brooks also had the 1978 and 1979 National Sports Festivals to evaluate talent. In 1978 BU had won the NCAA's, but The Midwest Team was all Minnesota players
and they pummeled the New England team that was basically BU,BC,UNH and Harvard players from Greater Boston. Brooks coached in the WCHA and had Minnesota HS players in his own back yard to watch develop.
Massachusetts had Steve Baker, Langway, Bob Miller leave before what would have been their senior year of 1978-79. For whatever reason Minnesota's best NCAA players opted to stay amateur and play for Brooks a Minnesota guy. I wonder how many may have turned pro if Parker was the coach?
Hard to believe saying this but they ended up better off without two HOF players
in Langway\Mullen and arguably the most highly thought of US goalie since Frank Brimsek, in Steve Baker. Shows how random hockey can be.
ODAAT
Registered User
we watched the game on the RPI campus in their pub/bar with my dads old teammates from his NCAA winning team from 1954 for alumni weekend.
I was 9 but remember every minute of it, the streets in Troy, NY were nuts after
I was 9 but remember every minute of it, the streets in Troy, NY were nuts after
Same here, I was 14 at the time and could not believe they beat the Soviets, 45 years! Where has time gone so quickly?
