The biggest and most iconic moment from the incredibly memorable run by the United States men's hockey team was clearly when they defeated the seemingly unbeatable, prohibitive favorites, the Soviet men's hockey team.
Yet, it is interesting to note that the American team had not clinched a gold medal after that game. It maybe feels like it should have been the case, given the magnitude of that win. But that was for the American team to have a chance to clinch the gold medal when they played Finland. And while the United States had beaten the Soviet team, which was widely considered the best in the world, Finland was a very good team as well. They still had a tough game to win.
Win they did. They managed to defeat Finland to fulfill the tremendous promise of the previous match, and win the gold medal, once and for all.
Interestingly, it should be noted that this was not a given. After all, the effort that they had put in to defeat the Soviets must have been exhausting, and they did not have much in the way of recovering time until that match against Finland. Plus, the Finns were a solid team in their own right.
However, the American side played very well once again, and were able to keep the high from the win over the USSR just days earlier in finally clinching the gold medal.
It happened exactly four decades ago on this day.
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