This was and always will be the defining moment for hockey in the United States.
Back in 1980 most Americans thoughts of hockey came from what they saw in the movie Slap Shot that was released 3 years earlier. The fans who loved the game were simply hoping that the US wouldn't lose 10-1 and I was among that group.
Through complete dumb luck, my girlfriend at the time got tickets through JC Penny for the 5 PM game on February 22nd. She had tried to get figure skating but they were sold out but she wanted to experience Lake Placid. I told her we most likely would see a game between Finland and Sweden as the US if they were still alive would play the later game. (who knew )
Driving up she was all excited saying we can beat the Russians - me who had gone to BU and was a big fan of the program just faintly smiled because I was also a NHL fan and I knew exactly who we were playing.
ABC did not televise the game live simply because they feared the anger of affiliates screaming we gave up local news to see the US lose 12-1?
We arrived in the area around 3 PM and waited for the Greyhound shuttle buses ( traffic in Lake Placid was awful ) and finally got to the arena at 4:45 PM.
I can not describe what being in that arena was like. In the third period the teams would play for 20 minutes and ten seconds came off the clock. I have never been happier about being so wrong about an outcome of a sporting event.
More importantly that game changed the way NHL clubs looked at NCAA players.
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