UPDATE: The 1980 Miracle on Ice ACTUAL GAME will be REPLAYED on TUESDAY and THURSDAY

[Ol' Dirty Chinaman*]

That would have ruined it for me. I would have known right away.



Whose grand idea was it to tape delay the game anyways? Was it because it was an afternoon game?

The cold war was still in full swing. That should be reason enough.

 

[GKJ]

And the Basketball game was rigged.

Not to go way off topic, but has anyone seen the HBO special '3 seconds from gold'? Yes, it was clear that FIBA tried to rig the game, but if the Americans didn't lose their composure on the last play, this would have never happened.


If anyone wants me to explain it, I will. I actually did and the board ate my response, essentially wasting 10 minutes of my life.

 

[clefty]

There will be replays of the game, I just updated the first post in the thread with the replay schedules.

Dammit.

I don't have ESPN Classic.

 

[PecaFan]

Yeah, go ahead and post it. But I've never bought the "rigged stuff". When I watched it at the time, I don't remember being "shocked or stunned" when the refs made their calls. I wasn't into basketball much though, so I must admit I don't know if they actually had the authority to reset the clock.

 

[GKJ]

Yeah, go ahead and post it. But I've never bought the "rigged stuff". When I watched it at the time, I don't remember being "shocked or stunned" when the refs made their calls. I wasn't into basketball much though, so I must admit I don't know if they actually had the authority to reset the clock.

They also talk about the hostage situation, and how the Soviet players were upset (I think) they weren't allowed to attend the memorial service because the Soviet Union didn't recognize Israel as a nation, so they held a practice.

Well what happened was that one of the directors of FIBA, who wasn't even an on-court official had instructed the clock to be reset. Why was this such a big deal? There was only supposed to be 1 second left instead of 3.

First of all, let's start at the top. During the 2nd half, the Soviets, for whatever reason had sent in their 12th guy on the team (for people who have tapes of the game, I beleive he wears #11). Not too much longer later, he and the USA's top center (#7 I think) were both ejected because they got into a fight. That upset the USA because they claim that that was a plan.


Now, with 1 second left, Doug Collins is fouled (and nearly decapitated). He makes both free throws (I forget his name, but the guy who got suspended from Around the Horn who writes for the Boston Globe claims these were the 2 most pressure packed free throws in the history of the game). If you listen to the game, as he is taking his 2nd shot, a buzzer sounds. The Soviet coach had called a time out, but wasn't granted it, because the button he was supposed to use was broken, so he went to the scorers table and threw a fit. When Collins was handed the ball, the ball is in play and the time out is not supposed to be granted. The Soviets inbound the ball, nothing doing, the game ends. The 1st time. 50-49.

Now HBO points this out great, because if anyone has the tape you can see this. On the bottom along the near side line, around half court, there is a man who stands up and holds up 3 fingers (his thumb and first 2 fingers). He had told an offical that there should be 3 seconds left, and not 1. This is the director of FIBA, who had no business making this decision, but since he is the boss, he got his way (since FIBA really didn't want the USA to win). The narrarator's even says it during the piece "he wanted to give the Soviets something more valuable. More time, he wanted to go by what was fair and not what was in the rules." While the time keeper was fixing this, the ref had missed this, he thought it was just a time out, and handed the ball to one of the Soviets, who inbounded the ball, nothing doing, the game ends. The 2nd time. 50-49. But if you look up at the clock, (the tape even shows this) it doesn't say ':03' it says something different (like 50:09 or something). During the inbound play you hear the same buzzer that you hear while Collins was shooting the free throw. It is not the same buzzer to signal the end of the game, it was the signal that there was a problem and there needed to be an officials time out because the clock wasn't ready.

They finally fix the clock, and they go back and inbound a 3rd time, and this is where it gets really fishy. The referee waves his hand before he blows the whistle between the Soviet inbounder and the American guarding him. For whatever reason, when the referee does this, the American backs off. The American player claims that the referee told him to back off. The referee (who is interviewed by HBO, you do get his take, he also talked about the buzzers going off) said he has no right to do that. He said he was signalling where the baseline was, which he does for EVERY inbound play. This was the American not knowing the rules, and the Soviet inbounder even says that without the American backing off he would have never hit the guy (#14) down the court. #14 for the Soviets, some will say that he fouled an American guaring him, and threw another out of position and there should have been a foul before he made the shot, but if you watch the coverage, there is no way there should have ever even been a shot. However, he does make the shot. The game ends. The 3rd time. 51-50.

I'm not defending anyone here, but HBO gave it an objective look. I think FIBA tried to rig it, but if the Americans kept their composure on the last play, they could have still won. One of the players said he put it in his will that no member of his family is ever allowed to accept the silver medal he "won". The silver medals still sit in a vault in wherever the museum for the Olymipics is (somewhere in Europe) waiting to be claimed.

I think that's the whole story, if i missed anything or I see it again, I'll come back and fix it.

 

[MiamiScreamingEagles]

I don't get why he gets killed for yanking Tretiak as much as he does. Tretiak gave up two brutal goals in the first period. The move seemed to wake the Soviets up as they dominated the 2nd period. Only the brilliance of Craig kept it a one goal game after two periods.

Myshkin (sp?) wasn't an untested goalie. He was in net for game 3 of the NHL - Soviet Challange Cup in 1979, and he beat the NHL stars 6-0.

Eruzione likened it to replacing Patrick Roy with Marty Brodeur.

 

[David Puddy]

"How can you do that?" It's one thing to put me on the bench, or even to put Mikhailov on the bench, but to put Tretiak on the bench? It felt like a big hole had been put in our team."
-- Sergei Starikov, defenseman, 1980 Soviet National Team

The whole team was not happy when Tikhonov made the switch. It was the worst mooment of Vlady's career. Tikhonov was panicking. He couldn't control himelf. That's what it was--panic."
-- Sergei Makarov, right wing, 1980 Soviet National Team

"I've known Tikhonov twenty-five or thiry years and I couldn't believe he did that."
-- Bill Torrey, General Manager of the New York Islanders, 1972-1992, at USA-USSR game

"The biggest mistake of my career was replacing Tretiak with Myshkin. Tretiak always played better after he gave up a goal. The decision was a reult 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."
-- Viktor Tikhonov, head coach, 1980 Soviet National Team

all quotes from Wayne Coffey's The Boys of Winter, New York: Crown, 2005. pages 90-91.

Eruzione likened it to replacing Patrick Roy with Marty Brodeur.

Wow! I can't believe that Eruzione thinks Myshkin was better than Tretiak.

 

[Matt Foley*]

Whose grand idea was it to tape delay the game anyways? Was it because it was an afternoon game?

The USA / USSR game began on a Friday afternoon at 5:00; Olympic coverage on weekdays via ABC typically was only from 8:00 PM to 11:00PM on weeknights and from noon to 11:00 PM on the weekends.

They did show the gold medal game live on the following Sunday morning at 11:00 AM, however. In addition, ABC also was going to show the entire USSR / Sweden game that followed, but once the Soviets got up by about 7 or 8 goals, ABC changed over to something else.

 

[GKJ]

but once the Soviets got up by about 7 or 8 goals, ABC changed over to something else.

What was the score of the 2 games Sweden was invovled in?

 

[MiamiScreamingEagles]

Here is another summary that explains, among other things, the tie-breaking procedure and the mindset of the team as the Olympics developed. It is interesting:

http://lakeplacidhockey.com/hockeygame.html

 

[rwilson99]

The start time was 5:00 PM. ABC wanted to show it at 8:00 PM. According to Wayne Coffey's book, The Boys of Winter, ABC had agreed to pay the IIHF $125,000 to allow the game to be rescheduled. ABC also checked with four teams, offering them $12,500 each.

Three of the four teams agreed to the deal. The Soviets blocked it because 8:00 PM would be 4:00 AM in Moscow.

What I wanted to know is if the 8:00 PM tape delay was interupted to go to bobsledding or cross-country skiing? I really can't believe that they would have, with the exception of intermissions.

I've actually watched the full broadcast at the Mesuem of Radio & TV in New York. The game was broken up into chunks, with other events cutting in and out, and portions of the game were edited out. The ESPN broadcast on Sunday had very limited commericial as well.

Great broadcast. One of my first ever memories was hearing about the game on a Saturday morning at my Grandmother's house. It will be great to revisit the game over and over.

 

[Matt Foley*]

What was the score of the 2 games Sweden was invovled in?

Sweden tied Finland 3-3 in the first medal round game, and then they got their butts kicked by a very angry Soviet team 9-2 in the second game, which wasn't even that close; it was total and complete domination by the Soviets. Sweden earned the bronze medal by virtue of their 0-1-2 record against the medal round teams vs. Finland's 0-2-1 record.

 

[Accord]

Johnson scored the game-tying goal. Mike Eruzione scored the game-winner.


BTW, I caught the tail end of PTI and I can't believe that Wilbon picked the game 3rd! What the......???? (Lemme guess, Kornheiser had something to do with it too, right?)

Kornheiser said something along the lines of "Wilbon your list is crap blah blah blah" and ripped down Wilbon's list and put his own up with the Miracle on Ice as #1.

 

[David Puddy]

What was the score of the 2 games Sweden was invovled in?

Here is a Japanese page (translated with Google) that shows the results of all the hockey games of the XIII Winter Olympics in Lake Placid.

 

[MiamiScreamingEagles]

Here are a list of tie-breakers for the 1980 Olympics (as listed in a newspaper I kept):

1. Goal differential (goals for MINUS goals against) in games involving the four teams battling in the medal round (Finland, USSR, USA and Sweden).

2. Goal quotient (goals scored DIVIDED by goals against) with the same four teams.

3. Goal differential in all games.

4. Goal quotient in all four games.

So, the way I understand it is that Finland could have defeated the US in that last game and still not won the Gold medal. If the Swedes and Soviets tied in their last game, then all four teams would have ended up with three points (points from medal round games) and the medals would have been determined by goal differential.

 

[MiamiScreamingEagles]

Here is a February 10, 1980 Boston Globe article as written by Peter Gammons, the day after the Soviets won 10-3 over the US in a prelim:

"Hockey is simply not the place for the evocation of political passion, not when it involves the Soviets. That was yesterday's first lesson. The second was that no one in the Olympics is going to challenge them. And the third, as the yawning 10-3 rout of the US Olympians dragged on, was that when the Americans make their run for a medal against Sweden and Czechoslovakia, they are going to have to play a lot better under more difficult circumstances than they did yesterday or the great American Selling of Herb Brooks is going to be a major disappointment."

 

[acr*]

Here is a February 10, 1980 Boston Globe article as written by Peter Gammons, the day after the Soviets won 10-3 over the US in a prelim:

"Hockey is simply not the place for the evocation of political passion, not when it involves the Soviets. That was yesterday's first lesson. The second was that no one in the Olympics is going to challenge them. And the third, as the yawning 10-3 rout of the US Olympians dragged on, was that when the Americans make their run for a medal against Sweden and Czechoslovakia, they are going to have to play a lot better under more difficult circumstances than they did yesterday or the great American Selling of Herb Brooks is going to be a major disappointment."

Heh, another gem from Gammons...that's up there with his free agent predictions(Pavano is definitely going to the Red Sox, if not, then the Tigers. The Yankees are going to officially sign Pedro Martinez tomorrow...)

 

[MiamiScreamingEagles]

To those who have asked why the USSR-US game wasn't broadcast live, I found another interesting article (written by Jack Craig of the Boston Globe). This one mentioned three reasons why the game wasn't shown live and I am summarizing greatly:

1. From 5-7 PM, that air time belonged to local network affiliates. They were reluctant to show the game because they made a load of money from TV ads during this time. Reruns, syndicated shows, etc. were big money makers.

2. The national network news would be scrubbed.

3. The FCC needed to waive the 7:30-8:00 local access period.

As far as the game time possibly changing to later that night, ABC blamed the Lake Placid Olympic Committee which assured the network 18 months prior to the Games that changes could be made for TV purposes -- meaning that the times of events were flexible. But the final authority was in the hands of the International Ice Hockey Federation who claimed they were contacted late in the negotiations. They then said all four teams in the final round would have to agree to a time change but at least one team privately (some say the Soviets, some say the Soviets and Finns) blocked the move.

 

[David Puddy]

So, the way I understand it is that Finland could have defeated the US in that last game and still not won the Gold medal. If the Swedes and Soviets tied in their last game, then all four teams would have ended up with three points (points from medal round games) and the medals would have been determined by goal differential.

Your right that Finland could have won against the US and still not gotten a medal, but there was a way Finland could have won the gold medal. Below are the standing after the first medal-round game, plus the preliminary game that counted towards the medal, team (record points) goals for-goals allowed:

1. U.S.A. (1-0-1 3) 6-5
2. U.S.S.R. (1-1-0 2) 7-7
2. Sweden (0-0-2 2) 5-5
4. Finland (0-1-1 1) 5-7

If the Soviets and Sweden finished in a tie, they would have both had three points and an even goal differential.

If Finland defeated the US by three or more goals, both of these teams would also have three points. However, the US would then have a goal differential of -2, and Finland would have a goal differential of +1, the highest among the four tied teams.

Under this scenario, Finland would have won the gold, Soviets would have gotten the bronze (by virtue of goal differential in all games) and Sweden the bronze. The US would have had a negative goal differential, and we would not have won a medal.

Also, thank you for posting the tie-breaking procedure. I had pieced together the procedure from various things that I have read over the years, but never knew the diffinitive rules.

 

[Tricolore#20]

I watched Miracle again last night, I was wondering why the US players came off the bench to celebrate Rizo's goal in the 3rd. I could understand the Johnson goal, as it was at the end of the 2nd period, but why for Eruzione? Or is this just something that happened in the movie?

I think the movie did a great job in trying to create the sense that USA were underdogs. All of the US players looked like kids, compared to the experienced look of Mikhailov, Kharmalov, etc... Even as a Canadian, I probably really would have loved this team had I been around. Herb Brooks is a genius, and the only shame is that he wasn't around to see the final take of the movie.

 

[Lou is God]

I watched Miracle again last night, I was wondering why the US players came off the bench to celebrate Rizo's goal in the 3rd. I could understand the Johnson goal, as it was at the end of the 2nd period, but why for Eruzione? Or is this just something that happened in the movie?

They did it for just about every goal, at the time it wasn't illegal to do so.

 

[svetovy poharu]

Here is the official game summary from 1980 USA-URS game:

DATE: 02.22.80 (Friday)
OLYMPIC FIELDHOUSE - GAME 32
GAME TIME: START: 17.06, END: 19.26, LENGTH OF GAME: 2:20

TEAM A: USA DRESS: WHITE...............TEAM B: URS DRESS: RED

# 1 G JANASZAK, Steve.....................# 1 G MYSHKIN, Vladimir
#30 G *CRAIG, James..........................#20 G *TRETJAK, Vladislav
# 3 D *MORROW, Kenneth...................# 2 D *FETISOV, Viacheslav
# 5 D *RAMSEY, Michael.....................# 5 D PERVUKHIN, Vasili
# 6 D BAKER, William (A)...................# 6 D VASILIEV, Valeri (A)
#17 D O'CALLAHAN, John....................# 7 D *KASATONOV, Aleksei
#20 D SUTER, Bob............................#12 D STARIKOV, Sergei
# 8 F *SILK, David............................#14 D BILJALETDINOV, Zinetula
# 9 F BROTEN, Neal..........................# 9 F KRUTOV, Vladimir
#10 F *JOHNSON, Mark........................#10 F MALTSEV, Alexander
#11 F CHRISTOFF, Steven..................#11 F LEBEDEV, Juri
#15 F WELLS, Mark...........................#13 F *MIKHAILOV, Boris (C)
#16 F PAVELICH, Mark.......................#16 F *PETROV, Vladimir
#19 F STROBEL, Eric..........................#17 F *KHARLAMOV, Valeri
#21 F ERUZIONE, Michael (C)..............#19 F BALDERIS, Helmut
#23 F CHRISTIAN, David.....................#22 F ZHLUKTOV, Victor
#24 F *McCLANAHAN, Robert................#23 F GOLIKOV, Aleksander
#25 F SCHNEIDER, William...................#24 F MAKAROV, Sergei
#27 F VERCHOTA, Philip......................#25 F GOLIKOV, Vladimir
#28 F HARRINGTON, John....................#26 F SKVORTSOV, Aleksander

*starters

SCORING: USA-URS 4:3 (2:2, 0:1, 2:0)
SHOTS ON GOAL: USA-URS 16:39 (8:18, 2:12, 6:9)
PENALTY MINUTES: USA-URS 6:6 (0:2, 6:2, 0:2)
POWER PLAY GOALS/ATTEMPTS: USA: 1-of-2, URS: 1-of-2
GOALIES: USA: CRAIG......60:00, 36 SAVES, 3 GA
GOALIES: URS: TRETJAK...19:59, 6 SAVES, 2 GA
GOALIES: URS: MYSHKIN...40:01, 6 SAVES, 2 GA
REFEREE: KAISLA (FIN), LINESMEN: LAROCHELLE (CAN), TOEMEN (NED)
ATTENDANCE: 10,000

SCORING:

09:12 URS 9 KRUTOV..........ASSISTS: 7 KASATONOV
14:03 USA 25 SCHNEIDER......ASSISTS: 16 PAVELICH
17:34 URS 24 MAKAROV........ASSISTS: 23 A. GOLIKOV
19:59 USA 10 JOHNSON........ASSISTS: 23 CHRISTIAN, 8 SILK
22:18 URS 10 MALTSEV........ASSISTS: 9 KRUTOV *PowerPlay goal
48:39 USA 10 JOHNSON........ASSISTS: 8 SILK *PowerPlay goal
50:00 USA 21 ERUZIONE.......ASSISTS: 16 PAVELICH, 28 HARRINGTON

PENALTIES:

03:25 URS 13 MIKHAILOV.......2:00 -- HOOKING
20:58 USA 28 HARRINGTON.....2:00 -- HOLDING
29:50 USA 30 CRAIG..............2:00 -- DELAY GAME *served by Strobel
37:08 URS 11 LEBEDEV..........2:00 -- UNSPORT-CONDUCT
37:08 USA 3 MORROW.........2:00 -- CROSS-CHECK
46:47 URS 9 KRUTOV..........2:00 -- HI-STICK

NOTES:

19:59 URS GOALIE CHANGE: MYSHKIN REPLACES TRETJAK

 

[acr*]

Jeez, Slava Fetisov has been around forever, hasn't he?

 

[svetovy poharu]

Here is the official game summary from 1980 USA-FIN game:

DATE: 02.24.80 (Sunday)
OLYMPIC FIELDHOUSE - GAME 34
GAME TIME: START: 11.08, END: 13.29, LENGTH OF GAME: 2:21

TEAM A: USA DRESS: BLUE.................TEAM B: FIN DRESS: WHITE

# 1 G JANASZAK, Steve...................# 1 G KIVELA, Antero
# 30 G *CRAIG, James........................# 19 G *VALTONEN, Jorma
# 3 D *MORROW, Kenneth.................# 3 D *SUORANIEMI, Seppo
# 5 D *RAMSEY, Michael...................# 4 D SAARINEN, Olli
# 6 D BAKER, William (A).................# 6 D *HAAPALAINEN, Hannu
#17 D O'CALLAHAN, John..................# 9 D ELORANTA, Kari
#20 D SUTER, Bob..........................#10 D LITMA, Lasse
# 8 F *SILK, David...........................#12 F PELTONEN, Esa (A)
# 9 F BROTEN, Neal........................#13 F VILLA, Ismo
#10 F *JOHNSON, Mark.....................#15 F *LEINONEN, Mikko
#11 F CHRISTOFF, Steven................#16 F *KIIMALAINEN, Markku
#15 F WELLS, Mark..........................#17 F KURRI, Jari
#16 F PAVELICH, Mark......................#20 F KOSKILAHTI, Jukka
#19 F STROBEL, Eric........................#21 F KOSKINEN, Hannu
#21 F ERUZIONE, Michael.................#23 F HAKULINEN, Markku
#23 F CHRISTIAN, David...................#25 F *PORVARI, Jukka (C)
#24 F *McCLANAHAN, Robert.............#28 F MAKITALO, Jarmo
#25 F SCHNEIDER, William.................#29 F SUSI, Timo
#27 F VERCHOTA, Philip
#28 F HARRINGTON, John

*starters

SCORING: USA-FIN 4:2 (0:1, 1:1, 3:0)
SHOTS ON GOAL: USA-FIN 29:23 (14:7, 8:6, 7:10)
PENALTY MINUTES: USA-FIN 10:4 (0:2, 4:2, 6:0)
POWER-PLAY GOALS/ATTEMPTS: USA: 0-of-2 (1 SHGF), FIN: 1-of-5
GOALIES: USA: CRAIG.......60:00, 21 SAVES, 2 GA
GOALIES: FIN: VALTONEN..60:00, 25 SAVES, 4 GA
REFEREE: SUBRT (CZE), LINESMEN: HOLLETT (CAN), TOEMEN (NED)
ATTENDANCE: 10,000

SCORING:

09:20 FIN 25 PORVARI...........ASSISTS: 15 LEINONEN, 10 LITMA
24:39 USA 11 CHRISTOFF.......ASSISTS: UNASSISTED
26:30 FIN 15 LEINONEN.........ASSISTS: 6 HAAPALAINEN, 16 KIIMALAINEN *PPG
42:25 USA 27 VERCHOTA........ASSISTS: 23 CHRISTIAN
46:05 USA 24 McCLANAHAN.....ASSISTS: 10 JOHNSON, 23 CHRISTIAN
56:25 USA 10 JOHNSON...........ASSISTS: 11 CHRISTOFF *SHORTHANDED GOAL

PENALTIES:

04:54 FIN 21 KOSKINEN............2:00 -- HOOKING
22:37 USA 5 RAMSEY..............2:00 -- ROUGHING
26:00 USA 25 SCHNEIDER..........2:00 -- SLASHING
35:52 FIN 3 SUORANIEMI.........2:00 -- DELAY-GAME
46:48 USA 9 BROTEN...............2:00 -- HOOKING
48:54 USA 23 CHRISTIAN...........2:00 -- TRIPPING
55:45 USA 27 VERCHOTA...........2:00 -- ROUGHING

NOTES:

FIN SCRATCHES: # 8, D - LEVO, Tapio....#22, F - LEPPANEN, Reijo
USA SCRATCHES: NONE

 

[svetovy poharu]

acr, yes you are quite right...

Slava was 21 years old (just 2 months shy of his 22nd birthday) when he played in the 1980 Olympics. It was his first Olympics but he had already played in 2 World Championships and 3 World Juniors prior to these games. He went on to score 5 goals and 4 assists, plus racked up 10 penalty minutes in 7 games at the '80 games.

Started his junior career in 1975 with CSKA Moscow and finally retired in 1998 with Detroit. Long, impressive career.