What Is The Impact Of The 1980 United States Men's Miracle On Ice Hockey?

In the final seconds of the Men’s Olympic Ice Hockey game in 1980 between the United States and Russia, announcer Al Michaels shouted, "Do you believe in miracles? ... Yes!" (“The 1980” ). The United States’ Men’s Hockey team had pulled off arguably the greatest win in United States Olympic hockey history by beating the Russians, who were considered a world superpower both on and off the ice. This led to the game becoming known as “The Miracle on Ice.” This win provided America with the opportunity to compete for a gold medal, which had never occurred previously, and the United States becoming one of few teams to ever beat the Soviets. The 1980 United States Men’s Hockey Team’s win over Russia in the semifinal game is influential when discussing

This war, which lasted from 1941 to 1991, was fought between The United States and Russia, or the USSR. It’s main causes consisted of the “Red Scare”, or the belief that communism would spread throughout Europe, Russia’s uncooperative actions in occupation zones, or the four zones Germany was divided up into after World War II, and Stalin’s continuous expansion of communist beliefs (“The Cold War Erupts” 1). One way “The Miracle on Ice” was effected by the Cold War was that two countries, who were both considered world superpowers, competed against one another simultaneously on ice and in war. Because of the overlapping occurrence of these events, the war was commonly referred to as indication of who the hockey game was going to side with. In addition to the attention this matchup was receiving for various political reasons, the popularity of this matchup was magnified significantly because it took place during one of the biggest international sporting events: the Olympics. Donald Abelson, author of the Canadian Review of American Studies, states, “After all, during the Cold War, any major event that involved a matchup between the Soviets and Americans— whether it was a chess tournament or, in this case, a hockey game—was bound to be viewed as not only a confrontation between the world’s two superpowers, but as a competition between two very different political systems and sets of ideological

For example, Markku Jokisipilä stated, “As the worldʼs two hockey giants clashed together, world peace and other similar subtle ideals were pushed aside by national pride and political passions” (Jokisiplä 48). This quote explains that this hockey contest was valued as more than an Olympic hockey game for both the United States and the Soviet Union. He further develops this statement by providing a quote from Paul Henderson, who is known for scoring the “Goal of the Century” in the Summit Series. Henderson stated, “I guess war is the only thing that could bring a country together like that series did” (Jokisipilä 47). Because of the political circumstances during the Olympics, this quote describes how this hockey contest helped to unify the country. In addition to the unification of the country, the middle class, the largest part of the population, now had something they could relate to in society. The United States hockey team consisted of “young, hard-working college kids that reflected white middle-class America” (Buckel 91). Because most of these players were similar to the majority of the population, people enjoyed watching and cheering for their national team more than they typically would. The middle class also saw the United States hockey team as the Americans that are “carrying the load for the President, the State