Miracle Of Men's Hockey Research Paper

Do you believe in miracles? The 1980 Gold Medal in Men’s Hockey was a miracle. When this game was played, the Cold War was going on between the United States and the Soviet Union. People in the United States felt “Nervous, scared and anxious.” (Graves, P.) The 1980’s U.S. Men’s Hockey Team brought the United States together during a difficult time in the Cold War. Before the U.S. Men’s Team won the Gold Medal in Hockey, Americans’ spirits were low due to the Cold War. The Cold War wasn’t actually a real war. Instead, it was a struggle between the United States and its allies and the Soviet Union and its satellite states for supremacy. The Cold War was from 1947- 1991. (The Cold War) In the late 1970’s, the Soviets were installing communist governments in other countries. IN 1975, South Vietnam fell to the Soviet Union. In 1976, Angola fell to the Soviet. In 1979, the Soviet Union invaded Afghanistan. While the Soviet Union was taking over other countries, the U.S. was making friends. In 1979, the U.S. and China established diplomatic relations. (Taylor) “In response to the Soviet Union’s 1979 invasion of Afghanistan, President Carter ordered a U.S. boycott of the 1980 Summer games that were held in Moscow. The Soviets and their Warsaw Pact allies participated in the Winter Olympics in Lake Placid later that year but boycotted the 1984 Summer Olympics in Los Angeles.” This caused the U.S. to become even more mad at the Soviet Union. (Schwartz, 223) Even on bad terms, the U.S. and Soviets still went and participated in the 1980 Winter Olympics. In the end, the U.S. Men’s Hockey Team and the U.S.S.R Men’s Hockey Team went head to head for a spot in the gold medal game. To get to the gold medal game, the U.S. had to work very hard. The U.S. first defeated Sweden 2-2 and then beat Czechoslovakia 7-3. The U.S. continued to win by beating Norway 5-1, beating Romania 7-2, and beating West Germany 4-2. The game that decided if the U.S. got to go to the gold medal game was against their enemy the U.S.S.R. (1980 Men’s Olympic Hockey) For the U.S.S.R, getting to the game that decided whether or not they moved on to the gold medal game was a little bit easier. Their first game was a shutout against Japan, 16-0. The next game was a blowout against the Netherlands, 17-4. Their final game before the one against the U.S. was a little bit closer than previous games. The U.S.S.R beat Canada 6-4. The U.S.S.R was now set to play against the U.S. to see who moved on to the gold medal game. (1980 Men’s Olympic Hockey) “The game had all the hype imaginable, with political and social implications written all over it.” The whole game went back and forth. From the U.S. winning, to the U.S.S.R winning, to the game being tied. The game sure was a nail bitter. In the third period, the U.S. scored making it 4-3 …show more content…
and Soviet relationship still wasn’t good. The relationship between the U.S. and Soviet Union didn’t get better till 1991. (United States Relations with Russia: After the Cold War) On December 25, 1991, the Soviet Leader President Gerbachev brought the Soviet Union to an end. “The United States recognized the independence of all former Soviet Republics, and established diplomatic relations with Russia, Armenia, Belarus, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, and Ukraine. This made the U.S. people happy. (United States Relations with Russia: After the Cold War) Even though the Cold War is over, the U.S. and Russia still have problems with each other. Political leaders of both countries are fighting. With the election, the U.S. had trouble with Russia. Russian hackers somehow hacked the voting system. This has caused major problems between the two countries, even between people in the U.S. There has even been threats of nuclear missiles. Russia’s President Vladimir Putin threatened to shoot down any American plane that attacks the forces of Syria’s despot, Bashar al-Assad. (The Threat from