In 1999, Sports Illustrated named their top sports moments of the entire 20th century. Coming in first place was the “Miracle on Ice”, an Olympic ice hockey game from the 1980 Winter Games in Lake Placid, New York. The match is so remembered because of how favored the Soviet Union was. They were so favored, in fact, that they were expected to beat the Americans worse than the 10-3 crushing in an exhibition match before the games. Dating back to the 1960 Winter Games – the last time the Soviets did not win gold – the “Red Army” team had won twenty-seven Olympic games, lost once, and tied once and had outscored opponents 175-44. Many spectators realized these statistics did not matter as soon as the opening face-off occurred. Everyone knew something was different. After Vladislav Tretiak allowed two goals in the first period Viktor Tikhonov, the head coach of the USSR team pulled the starting goaltender. During the second period, the new goalie, Vladimir Myshkin had many saves and did not allow any goals. Going into the third period, the United States…show more content… In the foreground is Vladislav Tretiak, the starting goalie who was pulled and then put back in the game near the end. He is in his red Soviet Union jersey, which has the letters CCCP stitched on, and his red pants with a white stripe. In the background is the whole American team celebrating near the glass wall on the boundaries of the rink. The United States players are in their white jerseys with a blue shoulder yoke and their red pants that have white stripes with blue stars. These colors are important in showing the stark contrast of the two teams. This game took place in upstate New York so it is also assumed that the majority of the spectators were fans of the USA and cheering alongside the team after the game. Many of these fans can be seen behind the glass and behind the
