Actually, it's not fair. The question 'curse or blessing?' almost doesn't arise. But that's how it is with extraordinary events. They are discussed, mentioned, replayed, exploited until, yes, until when? Until they are no longer exceptional? Until there was at least a second such event? Can miracles actually repeat themselves?
Sports fans of (almost) all ages have probably known from the first sentence what we are referring to here. And if you don't know yet, then we will of course enlighten you. It is about the miracle. The one and only "Miracle on Ice". That is the story in which 20 unknown ice hockey players from various US colleges won the gold medal at the 1980 Olympic Games in Lake Placid (New York, USA) against the then-overpowering Soviet team.
Since then, whenever the Olympic ice hockey tournament comes around, it is remembered and talked about and of course every US ice hockey player who is considered for the Olympic squad must know the story and at least five player names plus the legendary coach Herb Brooks. That's our guess...
These history lessons have not helped much to date. The USA has not been able to celebrate another Olympic victory in men's ice hockey since Lake Placid. They came close to winning the gold medal twice, in 2002 in Salt Lake City and 2010 in Vancouver. They lost twice to their northern neighbor Canada. Overall, the United States ice hockey team is still in third place in the all-time Olympic men's ice hockey medal table. They have two gold medals, eight silver medals and one bronze medal to their name.
So what do you do if the NHL players can't be there? That's right, the USA is evoking the spirit of 1980 and we'll probably hear that phrase well and truly by the end of the tournament. But those responsible around ex-NHL goalie legend John Vanbiesbrouck (general manager) and ex-New York Rangers head coach David Quinn (head trainer) made a virtue out of necessity.
Fifteen of the 25 nominated players are currently playing in the NCAA college league. Thirteen of them were drafted by NHL teams. Three of them in the first round: Brendan Brisson in 2020 from the Vegas Golden Knights, Jake Sanderson in 2020 from the Ottawa Senators and Matthew Beniers in 2021 at second from the Seattle Kraken.
The players from the universities are joined by five legionnaires from the Continental Hockey League (KHL), three from North American minor leagues, two players from the Swedish top league and one from the PENNY DEL. David Warsofsky from Ingolstadt represents the Schanzer Panthers in China. The player with the most NHL experience on the team is center forward Nick Shore. The 29-year-old played over 300 times in the best league in the world, mainly for the Los Angeles Kings.
It sounds like it's a good, maybe even very good, mix of young, hungry gamblers and experienced leaders. Whether the USA will be successful in the end will certainly depend on how they deal with this story of a miracle, the ice hockey miracle par excellence. Maybe they can find a twist to retell this story, then it would definitely be a curse instead of a blessing.
Olympic record since 1990
Germany vs. USA
0:5 (20.02.2002/XNUMX/XNUMX, quarterfinals, Salt Lake City)
4:3 (26.02.1994/7/XNUMX, game for XNUMXth place, Lillehammer)
0:2 (February 11.02.1992, XNUMX, preliminary round, Albertville)