I dont know, that 1972 win by Czechoslovakia over USSR in the World Championships was pretty massive, the USSR had won the previous 9.The greatest tournament win by any team in history is the Miracle on Ice. It is bigger than 1972.
What BobRouse said. It's easily the 1980 U.S. win at the Olympics.
Hasek winning the Olympics.
The greatest tournament win by any team in history is the Miracle on Ice. It is bigger than 1972.
Moreover, you can close the book. It's never going to get bigger than 1980. You aren't going to see a shocking result like 1980 ever again, chiefly because of the unique circumstances. There will never be Russian pros serving under amateur status with the Red Army again. These tourneys will either involve amateurs or pros across the board, but not a mixed bag.
The Canadians' best NHL players, for example, will never be defeated in Olympic play by college players from the States — not because such a result is impossible, but because such a matchup is inconceivable. Every team is going to bring its very best, or else its best amateurs.
The 1980 victory is absolutely a bigger deal than 1972. Canadians will dispute that, of course, but they eked out a victory in a series that they were supposed to win. The stage was bigger in 1972, yet the 1980 result produced a huge shockwave in North America. Where 1972 marked some of the best hockey that anyone had seen, and introduced Soviet hockey to the world, the result in 1980 produced millions of hockey fans where there had been none, in the world's wealthiest country. That victory is the direct forerunner to the 30-team NHL.
Of course, nothing comes close after 1980 and 1972 (regardless of the order in which you choose to rank the two).
Biggest Russian/Soviet wins:
- 1954 World Championships: The Soviet Union participated in the hockey tournament for the first time and won the gold medal straight away.
- 1964 Olympics: The first olympic gold medal for the Soviet Union
- 1973 World Championships: The Soviet Union was crushingly dominant on their home ice in Moscow. Trojka Petrova (Kharlamov-Petrov-Mikhailov) scored an unthinkable 86 points in the tournament.
- 1978 World Championships: The Soviet Union ended a short period of Czechoslovakian dominance in world hockey. Czechs had won the 1976 and 1977 World Championships, and they had an extremely strong team in the late 1970s. The Soviets led by Trojka Petrova and the young Fetisov on defense beat the Czechs in Prague and ended the Czech winning streak.
- 1979 Challenge Cup: The Soviets revenged the 1972 loss to Canada by defeating the NHL All Stars convincingly in New York. The final game ended with a crushing 6-0 victory for the Soviets. The NHL All Stars never matched the speed and stamina of the athletically more gifted Soviets.
- 1979 World Championships: Another crushingly dominant victory on home ice for the Soviets. The Soviet national team of 1979 is still the best hockey team ever assembled.
- 1984 Olympics: Viktor Tikhonov got his olympic gold medal after the fiasco in Lake Placid. So did the KLM line with Fetisov and Kasatonov on defense.
- 1992 olympics: The Soviet Union had just broken up, but the Russians won the gold medal against Eric Lindros and Canada.
- 2008 world championships: Russia ended a 15 year drought. A Russian team had previoisly won the gold in 1993.
I don't believe anything comes close to the Miracle on Ice back in 1980.
I'd add the 1981 Canada Cup win. Only time the Soviets beat a Gretzky led team for a tournament championship.
I don't agree. The USSR had an almost unlimited amount of preparation time which in my opinion made them appear a lot better than they actually were. Prep time is a HUGE factor in these short tournaments where most teams are assembled only days or weeks before the tournament starts. Once the prep time advantage was gone the Russian / Soviet / Czech competitiveness was greatly reduced.
The 1981 final was judged by a Swede Dag Olsson, but the future Canada Cup finals and semifinals in 1984 and 1987 were judged by Canadian referees even when Canada was playing. The decision was made by Alan Eagleson, a convicted criminal and the organizer of this tournament.
It is widely recognized that the refereeing in the 1984 semifinal and 1987 finals was hugely biased and unfair in favor of Canada, and thus the reputation of this tournament was tarnished. In any other sport it would be unthinkable to have a referee from a country that is participating in the game. Shame.
The defeat came as a big shock to Canada which also affected the future Canada Cups. The 1981 final was judged by a Swede Dag Olsson, but the future Canada Cup finals and semifinals in 1984 and 1987 were judged by Canadian referees even when Canada was playing.
What was wrong with Dag Olsson in 1981? Was he amateurish and in what way?However the reason for the change in officiating was that the European refs, at that point in time, were amateur.
Bull. The rules were not the same for the two teams. Canada could break the rules and not called for penalties, where each Soviet infraction was called. And too many bogus penalties for the Soviets too.The only bias in officiating in 1984 and 1987 was that every touch and hit did not result in a penalty. That probably favored the more physical teams.
Sigh. Paul Stewart reffed many of those games and he was an American.
Bull. The rules were not the same for the two teams. Canada could break the rules and not called for penalties, where each Soviet infraction was called. And too many bogus penalties for the Soviets too.
Believe me, the reffing in 1984 and 1987 tournaments was the biggest reason why the Soviets did not officially win them.
I think the statute of limitations for whining about reffing is no more than a decade.
Obvious proof. An edited Youtube video.
I think we can all rest easy tonight, justice has been done.
Edited? Nice conspiracy theory there.