As the chants of 'USA, USA' echoed through the corridors of Herb Brooks Arena, Al Michaels delivered the most historic sports call from a small press box amid the rafters of the rink.
'Eleven seconds, you've got ten seconds, the countdown going on right now!' Michaels said. 'Morrow, up to Silk. Five seconds left in the game. Do you believe in miracles? YES!'
The 1980 U.S. Olympic ice hockey team accomplished the unthinkable. Twenty collegiate players knocked off the Soviet Union, a team that had dominated the hockey world and won the previous four gold medals. The U.S. team went on to defeat Finland in the gold medal game and capture just the second gold medal in USA hockey history.
Since Lake Placid however, USA hockey has suffered from a 'Miracle on Ice' hangover.
The U.S. recorded two seventh-place finishes at the 1984 and 1988 games, as well as fourth and eighth-place finishes in ‘92 and ‘94, respectively. Since professional athletes were approved to play in the Olympics in 1998, the US has mustered a sixth and eighth-place finish.
The only other gold medal the Americans have won was in the 'room trashing event' at the '98 games in Nagano, when members of the team caused nearly $10,000 worth of damage after trashing their rooms in the athletes' village.
I'm hoping the Americans get their safety deposit back this year, because they won't be winning any medals in Vancouver.
I'll be honest: I don't expect the Americans to place in Canada. It's not because I'm opposed to patriotism or lack national pride. I would like nothing better than to see the red, white and blue bring home gold.
Simply put, however, the United States doesn't have enough experience on their roster to compete with the rest of the world. The average age is just 26.6 years old, and only three players – Chris Drury, Jamie Langenbrunner and Brian Rafalski – have previous Olympic experience.
The team has been completely gutted since Salt Lake City in 2002. Up-and-coming stars in David Backes, Dustin Brown, Jack Johnson and Joe Pavelski have since replaced longtime Olympic veterans like Chris Chelios, Scott Gomez, Mike Modano and Keith Tkachuk.
I'm not against the team Brian Burke built. The U.S. will be faster and much more talented with a young roster. But the Americans' don't have a single forward that has ever scored a goal in the Olympics, and that's a concern.
The U.S. will rely heavily on Buffalo native Patrick Kane, as well as Ryan Kessler, Phil Kessel, Ryan Malone, Zach Parise, Bobby Ryan and Paul Stastny to put the puck in the net. All of them have quickly become proven goal scorers in the NHL, but I'm not sold that will translate to world competition in their first year of international action.
Team America's true inexperience, however, will show along the blue line. Six of the seven defenseman headed to Vancouver will be making their first Olympic appearances. Things have already started off poorly after news broke that their top-two defensemen, Mike Komisarek and Paul Martin, would not compete due to injury. Rafalski will provide veteran leadership, but the rest of the lineup is too young and raw to contain the world's best.
This doesn't bode well for Ryan Miller.
The Buffalo Sabres' goaltender will be making his first Olympic showing after being snubbed from the team four years ago. Miller has played the best hockey of his career this season and is the single reason why Buffalo has been successful this year. His .937 save percentage leads the NHL and he is third in the league with a 2.15 goals against average.
The Americans will go as far as Miller takes them. No other Olympian has greater pressure to perform than Miller, and I fully expect him to be the star in Vancouver. He will likely steal a game or two for the U.S., but against the likes of Canada, Russia and Sweden, Miller will only be able to hold out for so long before breaking.
We'll see what the U.S. is made of when it opens up group play against the Swiss on Tuesday. The U.S. will come out hungry and motivated to prove naysayers – including myself – wrong. Despite Burke's expectations to win gold, most don't expected the next generation of Americans to get to the medal rounds.
Then again, the same was said about the 1980 Americans. Could another miracle on ice be on the horizon?
E-mail: joe.paterno@ubspectrum.com
