When the U.S. lost 1-0 to Canada in the semi-finals of men’s Olympic hockey on Friday it meant 34 years have past since Americans won gold medals in that competition.
The aura of the 1980 “Miracle on Ice” gold medal winning team is enhanced even more now. A group of amateur players led by coach Herb Brooks defeated the mighty Soviet Union, a hockey empire some observers considered invincible.
Brooks, the former Gophers national championship coach who died in 2003, would be frustrated the U.S. hasn’t been able to win the Olympics since 1980. He was an American patriot whose hockey genius and personality made him uniquely qualified to push a team of college players to perhaps the greatest sports triumph of the 20th century, defeating the Soviets in a stunning semi-final game and going on to win gold medals 34 years ago today against Finland.
The Soviets used professional players and U.S. Olympic team trainer Gary Smith put the magnitude of the American upset this way: “It was like Eden Prairie High School beating the Vikings in football.”
Brooks’ coaching style was to identify an “enemy” and the Soviets were a perfect fit for his psychology. “Even though it was a hockey game, it just seemed like it was more of the United States of America’s way of life versus the Russian way of life,” Smith said. “He would refer to the Russians as those ‘Commie,’ and I don’t think I can use the (next) word.”
Not even the substitution of professional players from the NHL to replace amateurs has been able to produce another Olympic championship for the U.S. The 2014 Americans couldn’t even earn a third place bronze finish, stumbling in an embarrassing 5-0 loss to Finland on Saturday.
Lou Nanne, who captained the 1968 U.S. Olympic team, said the two most talented clubs in American men’s Olympic hockey history are the 1998 and 2014 teams. Nanne also said the Americans could just as easily be coming home from Sochi as Olympic champions.
“We’re good. We could play tomorrow and we could beat them (Canada),” Nanne told Sports Headliners.
The U.S. was ineffective offensively, having difficulty controlling the puck, in the semi-final loss to Canada. But Nanne gave credit to Canada, a great team that won the gold medal with a 3-0 win over Sweden yesterday.
“No doubt those are the two best teams (the U.S. and Canada),” he said.
The loss to Finland? “We weren’t ready to play,” Nanne said. “It looked like we were still thinking about Canada.”
Host Russia had serious ambitions about winning men’s hockey in Sochi. Instead the Russians didn’t even win a medal with losses including a 3-2 defeat against the Americans. Those results would have pleased Brooks and gave Nanne satisfaction too. “You always want to beat them (the Russians),” Nanne said.
Nanne decided not to attend the Olympics in Sochi because of concerns about terrorism and safety.
Worth Noting
After the 1980 “Miracle on Ice” in Lake Placid, New York, Brooks was probably the most in demand speaker in the country. Later that year I asked him to speak at a banquet for a nonprofit organization. He agreed but refused to be paid.
The Gophers basketball team, 6-9 in the Big Ten and 17-11 overall, is desperate for a win against a top 25 opponent to enhance the fading possibility of being invited to the NCAA Tournament next month. Border rival Iowa, ranked No. 15 nationally last week, will be at Williams Arena tomorrow night for a “circle it” game.
The Gophers, losers in six of their last eight conference games, might be due for a surprise performance. The Gophers lost 94-73 at Iowa in January and Minnesota couldn’t stop fouling a bigger and deeper Hawkeyes team. Iowa made 27 of 37 free throw attempts in that game.
Iowa, 8-5 in the Big Ten and 19-7 overall, is a long shot but still has a chance at winning a share of the conference title. The Hawkeyes’ five league losses are by a combined 26 points.
Former Gophers football player Lewis Garrison, now a Big Ten basketball referee, officiated Saturday’s Iowa-Wisconsin game in Iowa City.
A February 17 Los Angeles Times article lauded the San Diego State basketball program that has been turning heads for years on the West Coast. The Aztecs were ranked No. 6 and 7 nationally last week by two polls. The program is led by head coach Steve Fisher and his top assistant, Brian Dutcher, a University of Minnesota alum and the son of former Gophers coach Jim Dutcher.
“Dutcher, 54, is one of the best college basketball minds never to have held a head coaching position,” wrote James Barragan of the Times. “It doesn’t bother him, though, because he knows one day this program will be his.
“He jokes that he has the longest title in college basketball: associate head coach/head coach in waiting.
“Dutcher was officially tapped as Fisher’s replacement in 2011 when the head coach requested as part of his own contract extension that the school identify Dutcher as his successor.”
The St. Thomas men’s basketball team has won a ninth consecutive MIAC title with a 18-2 league record. Coach John Tauer lost five seniors from last year’s Division III Final Four team including four starters but the Tommies regrouped to not only win the conference but earn a 21-4 overall record.
The Tommies’ first conference playoff game is at home on Friday night against an opponent to be determined, possibly St. John’s, a team that defeated St. Thomas last Saturday night and has won 10 of its last 12 games. The Tommies have a first round bye and will play either the Johnnies, Gustavus or Bethel.
Friday’s Ted Williams column generated e-mail responses from readers including from a friend who said his autographed Williams ball was valued at $1,300.00 by a memorabilia store in Boston in 2011.
Another friend told a story about Williams when he managed the Senators. Baseball pretty much started and ended with hitting for Williams, even as a manager. The story is that two of his coaches had a disagreement about how to work rundown plays in the infield. They asked the skipper for advice and he responded something like this: “Screw it. Let’s hit!”
The first of 16 Fox Sports North Twins spring training games from Hammond Stadium in Fort Myers will be this Saturday (noon Minneapolis time) against the Red Sox.
Former Gophers wide receiver Derrick Engel is preparing for the NFL Draft and working with ex-Vikings strength and conditioning coach Mark Ellis. Engel, recovering from ACL surgery, is working out at the University of Minnesota. He has hired Minneapolis-based agents James Selmer and Shawn Stuckey to represent him.
Concordia-St. Paul defensive end Zach Moore is scheduled to work out today with other defensive ends and linebackers at the NFL Combine in Indianapolis. Moore is one of only nine Division II players invited to the combine where college players are evaluated for their draft worthiness. He is believed to be the only player from Concordia ever invited to the combine and is ranked as the No. 2 small college prospect for the upcoming NFL Draft by Peter Schrager of Fox Sports.
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