1980 Winter Olympics

The men's ice hockey tournament at the 1980 Winter Olympics in Lake Placid, U.S.A., was the 14th Olympic Championship. Twelve teams competed in the tournament, which was held from February 12 to 24. The United States won its second gold medal, including a win over the heavily favored Soviet Union that became known as the "Miracle on Ice". Games were held at the Olympic Arena and the Olympic Fieldhouse.

Background
The Olympics came at a difficult time for Soviet–U.S. relations, as they were deep in the Cold War. Only months before the games began, the USSR had invaded Afghanistan, and there was speculation that the Soviet Union might not be allowed to compete in these Olympics. The Soviet Union did compete in the Lake Placid games, but the United States and 65 other nations boycotted the 1980 Summer Olympics in Moscow later that year.

The Soviets had won every Winter Olympics ice hockey tournament since 1960, were well-seasoned "amateurs" who were employed by industrial firms or military organizations for the sole purpose of playing hockey on their organization's team. In contrast, the Americans were a collection of amateur college students, most from the rival schools of University of Minnesota and Boston University. The U.S. team did however, feature several highly promising players who went on to successful careers in the National Hockey League in the 1980s.

Three days before the Olympics, Coach Herb Brooks scheduled an exhibition game at Madison Square Garden in New York City against the Soviet team. The Americans lost 10–3, and defenseman Jack O'Callahan pulled a ligament in his knee, though he returned for the medal round of the Olympic tournament. Coach Brooks gave only a few interviews after the game, but blamed his early conservative strategy as a factor.

Despite these setbacks, Brooks managed to unify his players, training them for a year (the core of the team had been assembled since the 1979 World Ice Hockey Championships in Moscow), and lead them to victory.

The IIHF ceased running a championship in Olympic years. Nations that did not participate in the Lake Placid Olympics were invited to compete in the inaugural Thayer Tutt Trophy in Ljubljana, Yugoslavia.

Going into the games, the teams were ranked and divided into two groups. The ranking was: Soviet Union (1), Czechoslovakia (2), Sweden (3), Canada (4), Finland (5), West Germany (6), United States (7), Poland (8), Netherlands (9), Romania (10), Norway (11), Japan (12). East Germany was originally ranked tenth but declined to participate, with Japan filling their spot.

Highlights
The USA vs USSR game, called the "Miracle on Ice" in the United States, is the best-remembered game of the tournament and the best-remembered international hockey game in the United States. It was the USA's penultimate game of the tournament's round-robin medal round. The USA's final game, against Finland, was the game which actually won the gold medal for the United States. Finland finished 4th in the overall standings. Another upset which is not always noticed, is when Poland defeated the much better team of Finland 5-4 during the Preliminary round.



Blue Division
Top two teams (shaded ones) advanced to the medal round.


 * February 12
 * Czechoslovakia 11-0 Norway
 * Romania 6-4 West Germany
 * Sweden 2-2 USA
 * February 14
 * Romania 0-8 Sweden
 * Norway 4-10 West Germany
 * USA 7-3 Czechoslovakia
 * February 16
 * USA 5-1 Norway
 * Romania 2-7 Czechoslovakia
 * Sweden 5-2 West Germany
 * February 18
 * Norway 1-7 Sweden
 * West Germany 3-11 Czechoslovakia
 * USA 7-2 Romania
 * February 20
 * Norway 3-3 Romania
 * Czechoslovakia 2-4 Sweden
 * West Germany 2-4 USA

Red Division
Top two teams (shaded ones) advanced to the medal round.


 * February 12:
 * Netherlands 1-10 Canada
 * Poland 5-4 Finland
 * Japan 0-16 USSR
 * February 14:
 * Netherlands 4-17 USSR
 * Poland 1-5 Canada
 * Japan 3-6 Finland
 * February 16
 * Japan 3-3 Netherlands
 * USSR 8-1 Poland
 * Canada 3-4 Finland
 * February 18
 * Canada 6-0 Japan
 * Netherlands 5-3 Poland
 * Finland 2-4 USSR
 * February 20
 * Poland 5-1 Japan
 * USSR 6-4 Canada
 * Finland 10-3 Netherlands

Medal Round
The top two teams from each group play the top two teams from the other group once. Points from previous games against their own group carry over, excluding teams who failed to make the medal round. First place team wins gold, second silver and third bronze.


 * February 22
 * USA 4-3 USSR
 * Finland 3-3 Sweden
 * February 24:
 * Sweden 2-9 USSR
 * USA 4-2 Finland

Carried over group matches:
 * February 12 Sweden 2-2 USA
 * February 18 Finland 2-4 USSR

5th place game
 * February 22 Czechoslovakia 6-1 Canada

Final ranking

 * 1) 🇺🇸 United States
 * 2)  Soviet Union
 * 3) 🇸🇪 Sweden
 * 4) 🇫🇮 Finland
 * 5) 🇨🇿 Czechoslovakia
 * 6) 🇨🇦 Canada
 * 7) 🇵🇱 Poland
 * 8)  Netherlands
 * 9)  Romania
 * 10)  West Germany
 * 11) 🇳🇴 Norway
 * 12) 🇯🇵 Japan