CKA Forums :: 2019-2020 NHL thread (HNIC and beyond)

On February 22, the 40th anniversary of their landmark victory over the Soviet Union, members of the 1980 US Olympic hockey team appeared at a Trump rally in Las Vegas sporting red “Make America Great Again” hats. As USA Today noted, “that didn’t sit well with Trump opponents, who criticized a team that once unified a nation.” One of the critics was Marcos Bretón of the Sacramento Bee.

After the “momentous” American victory on February 22, 1980, Bretón writes, “My inspiration was the ‘Miracle on Ice’ team.” Forty years later, “when I saw the image of the team as old white men wearing red hats next to Trump, the spell was finally broken.” Like all human beings, hockey players have no control over their age and skin shade, but Marcos holds it against them.

“The ‘Miracle on Ice’ guys were perfect for adulation because they were all white, fresh faced and eager to embrace the flag without question,” writes Bretón, who also has a beef with the victory. If the teams had played again, he writes, the Soviets would have “wiped the ice” with the Americans. So the momentous victory was something of a fluke. On Monday night, ESPN provided a different perspective.

As the “Of Miracles and Men” documentary showed, the Soviet squad did nothing but play hockey and train. They were a mature, professional team, best in the world on the international scene, with world-class players such as Valeri Kharlamov and Slava Fetisov. The Americans, on the other hand, were all collegians with an average age of 21, youngest team in the tournament.

Nobody expected the American team to win a medal, and in the run-up to the games, as the New York Daily News headlined it, “Russian hockey team annihilates Team USA 10-3 in Madison Square Garden in Madison Square Garden exhibition before start of 1980 Olympics in Lake Placid.” At the time, that seemed to sum up the fortunes of the entire nation.

The Soviets were on the march in Afghanistan and Central America. Iran was still holding American hostages and humiliating the United States. On the home front, the disastrous Carter administration introduced the “misery index” of unemployment and inflation.

In the Olympic tournament, the USA faced a strong Czech team with the three Stastny brothers and Miroslav Dvorak. As play-by-play man Al Michaels recalled in You Can’t Make This Up, in this game fans first chanted “USA! USA!” The Americans prevailed 7-3, but the might Soviets lay ahead.

The ESPN documentary replayed commentary from the Soviet announcer, who said the Americans were “skating faster than our players,” and dominating play. The Soviets had their chances but goalie Jim Craig shut the door. Soviet coach Viktor Tihkonov pulled goalie Vladislav Tretiak for Vladimir Mishkin, Mike Eruzione wristed in the winning goal, and as the clock ran out Al Michaels said “Do you believe in miracles? Yes!”

The USA went on to defeat powerful Finland, with the great Jari Kurri, to win the gold medal, coming back from a two-goal deficit in the third period to win 4-2. The Americans simply wanted it more and outplayed more experienced opponents. It was as though a junior college team had smacked down the Pittsburgh Steelers in the Super Bowl.

The victory tops the Sports Illustrated list of the 100 greatest moments in sports history, and even Sacramento Bee columnist Marcos Bretón says the victory inspired him. That is, until 40 years later when the 1980 gold medalists showed up at Trump rally with red MAGA hats. They were props for a president “who is popular with white nationalists and who denigrates people of color constantly,” so their great victory had to be cancelled.

“It wasn’t a miracle at all” Bretón explained. “It was a lucky win that spawned a myth that died when the red hats came out and the truth was revealed.”

So when Buzz Schneider blasted a 50-foot slapshot past Tretiak, that was only a fluke goal. Likewise, it was pure happenstance when Mark Johnson picked up a loose puck and scored in the final seconds of the first period to tie the game at two. It was only accidental that Jim Craig stopped all Soviet shots but one in the second period. Mike Eruzione’s bullet shot that put the Americans ahead 4-3 was only a matter of luck, and coach Herb Brooks had not prepared the team to play the game of their lives.

For their part, the Soviets knew the Americans beat them fair and square. The American players and fans alike might wonder about this guy who writes off the game as a “lucky win” by a bunch of white guys from Minnesota and Boston, places the columnist explains, “I had never been to.”

Marcos Bretón is co-author of Away Games: The Life and Times of a Latin Baseball Player, and Sosa: An Autobiography. At the Sacramento Bee, flagship of the bankrupt McClatchy newspaper chain, Marcos tackles many subjects, but most of his columns are about Marcos Bretón his own self. True to form, his “Miracle on Ice” put-down features more than 30 personal pronouns, heavy on “I” and “me.”

Local readers have come to know Marcos Bretón as a predictable retailer of politically correct boilerplate. If those 1980 American hockey players were to regard Marcos Bretón as an outright bigot it would sure be hard to blame them.

Author:	Strutz [ Sun Feb 02, 2020 5:39 pm ]
Post subject:	Re: 2019-2020 NHL thread (HNIC and beyond)
xerxes xerxes: Same. The boys doing fairly well on this road trip. And here’s hoping Edmonton and Calgary meet in the playoffs. There would be some depleted benches by the end of that series. Oh I hope they do!

Author:	Strutz [ Thu Feb 13, 2020 7:31 pm ]
Post subject:	Re: 2019-2020 NHL thread (HNIC and beyond)
That was quite the ceremony last night with the Canucks retiring the Sedin's numbers 22 and 33. Neat to see so many past players take part in the ceremony.

Author:	N_Fiddledog [ Thu Feb 13, 2020 9:14 pm ]
Post subject:	Re: 2019-2020 NHL thread (HNIC and beyond)
Yeah, that was quite the thing. Something I was wondering about... Do they live here now? It's pleasing if they do.

Author:	xerxes [ Thu Feb 20, 2020 6:07 pm ]
Post subject:	Re: 2019-2020 NHL thread (HNIC and beyond)
Brad Marcahnd has been getting some well deserved karma as of late and most everyone approves.

Author:	Martin15 [ Sun Feb 23, 2020 7:07 am ]
Post subject:	Re: 2019-2020 NHL thread (HNIC and beyond)
David Ayers, living the dream......... Zamboni driver for the Toronto Marlies is the emergency back up goalie, has to go in for Carolina Hurricanes. Steve Dangle is .... apoplectic, that's the right word....

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2019-2020 NHL thread (HNIC and beyond) http://www.canadaka.net/forums/hockey-f39/2019-2020-nhl-thread-hnic-and-beyond-t123376-120.html	Page 9 of 13

Author:	Strutz [ Sun Feb 23, 2020 12:10 pm ]
Post subject:	Re: 2019-2020 NHL thread (HNIC and beyond)
$1: Twenty-four hours ago, David Ayres was simply enjoying his life as a Zamboni driver. But now his name is known across the hockey world, and he’s been offered honorary citizenship in one state. “It was wild, it was pretty fun,” the Whitby, Ont. native told reporters after Saturday night’s game, which may well become the basis for a future Hollywood film. During an NHL game, the home team is required to have an emergency goalie in the building in case either team loses their goalies during the game for whatever reason. And on this night in Toronto, it was Ayres. $1: In a follow-up tweet, the team wrote that “Dave will be getting royalties, but we are also working with him to identify a kidney foundation that will receive a portion of the proceeds.” The choice of charity has a special meaning for the backup goalie: around 15 years ago, Ayres had a kidney transplant and, at the time, he thought he’d never play hockey again. https://www.ctvnews.ca/canada/it-was-wi ... -1.4823930 How awesome for him!

Author:	xerxes [ Sun Feb 23, 2020 4:08 pm ]
Post subject:	Re: 2019-2020 NHL thread (HNIC and beyond)
It's rare when it happens but it's kinda neat when the emergency goalie has to step in. It happened a few seasons back in Chicago too. Though I don't know why another player from the team doesn't sub in for the goalie. Obviously it's a different sport, but in soccer when a keeper can't play on and a team has used up their subs, another player steps in. Either way, a great story. Except for the Leafs who couldn't beat a 42 year old zamboni driver to save their playoff chances.

Author:	Thanos [ Sun Feb 23, 2020 4:19 pm ]
Post subject:	Re: 2019-2020 NHL thread (HNIC and beyond)
It's one of those stories that makes hockey that much more fun, even more so just because it happened to the Leafs. The only way it could have been better would be if a Zamboni drive helped beat the Oilers. Wonder if the fans in TO have burned Ayres house down yet in retaliation for his treason to the city.

Author:	Canadian_Mind [ Sun Feb 23, 2020 8:55 pm ]
Post subject:	Re: 2019-2020 NHL thread (HNIC and beyond)
xerxes xerxes: It's rare when it happens but it's kinda neat when the emergency goalie has to step in. It happened a few seasons back in Chicago too. Though I don't know why another player from the team doesn't sub in for the goalie. Obviously it's a different sport, but in soccer when a keeper can't play on and a team has used up their subs, another player steps in. Either way, a great story. Except for the Leafs who couldn't beat a 42 year old zamboni driver to save their playoff chances. Number of minor reasons. First is gear fitment. Goalies wear a lot more shit, the sizes of which aren’t easy to make fit between multiple ones players. Chances are good one full spare set will only fit one or two players. Which gets into reason #2. If your designated player(s) are out of the game for whatever reason (injury, misconduct, etc), you are still fucked. Reason 2.5 is, any designated player stepping in would also take away from the total players you have. Yes you lose skaters to the reason mentioned above, but stepping in as another backup goalie is a needless one when there are better options. Being a Goalie is a vastly different skillset. You need different natural abilities to he a good goalie, and the things you need to know are vastly different. A goalie from the minors will be better at it than an NHL skater. All this together, it is more practical to have a designated dude at every game.

Author:	Martin15 [ Fri Feb 28, 2020 1:55 pm ]
Post subject:	Re: 2019-2020 NHL thread (HNIC and beyond)
10 years, feels like.... yesterday. Here, you can watch it.. again.. and again.. and again..

Author:	N_Fiddledog [ Fri Feb 28, 2020 9:48 pm ]
Post subject:	Re: 2019-2020 NHL thread (HNIC and beyond)
Miracle on Ice Meets Cancel Culture $1: On February 22, the 40th anniversary of their landmark victory over the Soviet Union, members of the 1980 US Olympic hockey team appeared at a Trump rally in Las Vegas sporting red “Make America Great Again” hats. As USA Today noted, “that didn’t sit well with Trump opponents, who criticized a team that once unified a nation.” One of the critics was Marcos Bretón of the Sacramento Bee. After the “momentous” American victory on February 22, 1980, Bretón writes, “My inspiration was the ‘Miracle on Ice’ team.” Forty years later, “when I saw the image of the team as old white men wearing red hats next to Trump, the spell was finally broken.” Like all human beings, hockey players have no control over their age and skin shade, but Marcos holds it against them. “The ‘Miracle on Ice’ guys were perfect for adulation because they were all white, fresh faced and eager to embrace the flag without question,” writes Bretón, who also has a beef with the victory. If the teams had played again, he writes, the Soviets would have “wiped the ice” with the Americans. So the momentous victory was something of a fluke. On Monday night, ESPN provided a different perspective. As the “Of Miracles and Men” documentary showed, the Soviet squad did nothing but play hockey and train. They were a mature, professional team, best in the world on the international scene, with world-class players such as Valeri Kharlamov and Slava Fetisov. The Americans, on the other hand, were all collegians with an average age of 21, youngest team in the tournament. Nobody expected the American team to win a medal, and in the run-up to the games, as the New York Daily News headlined it, “Russian hockey team annihilates Team USA 10-3 in Madison Square Garden in Madison Square Garden exhibition before start of 1980 Olympics in Lake Placid.” At the time, that seemed to sum up the fortunes of the entire nation. The Soviets were on the march in Afghanistan and Central America. Iran was still holding American hostages and humiliating the United States. On the home front, the disastrous Carter administration introduced the “misery index” of unemployment and inflation. In the Olympic tournament, the USA faced a strong Czech team with the three Stastny brothers and Miroslav Dvorak. As play-by-play man Al Michaels recalled in You Can’t Make This Up, in this game fans first chanted “USA! USA!” The Americans prevailed 7-3, but the might Soviets lay ahead. The ESPN documentary replayed commentary from the Soviet announcer, who said the Americans were “skating faster than our players,” and dominating play. The Soviets had their chances but goalie Jim Craig shut the door. Soviet coach Viktor Tihkonov pulled goalie Vladislav Tretiak for Vladimir Mishkin, Mike Eruzione wristed in the winning goal, and as the clock ran out Al Michaels said “Do you believe in miracles? Yes!” The USA went on to defeat powerful Finland, with the great Jari Kurri, to win the gold medal, coming back from a two-goal deficit in the third period to win 4-2. The Americans simply wanted it more and outplayed more experienced opponents. It was as though a junior college team had smacked down the Pittsburgh Steelers in the Super Bowl. The victory tops the Sports Illustrated list of the 100 greatest moments in sports history, and even Sacramento Bee columnist Marcos Bretón says the victory inspired him. That is, until 40 years later when the 1980 gold medalists showed up at Trump rally with red MAGA hats. They were props for a president “who is popular with white nationalists and who denigrates people of color constantly,” so their great victory had to be cancelled. “It wasn’t a miracle at all” Bretón explained. “It was a lucky win that spawned a myth that died when the red hats came out and the truth was revealed.” So when Buzz Schneider blasted a 50-foot slapshot past Tretiak, that was only a fluke goal. Likewise, it was pure happenstance when Mark Johnson picked up a loose puck and scored in the final seconds of the first period to tie the game at two. It was only accidental that Jim Craig stopped all Soviet shots but one in the second period. Mike Eruzione’s bullet shot that put the Americans ahead 4-3 was only a matter of luck, and coach Herb Brooks had not prepared the team to play the game of their lives. For their part, the Soviets knew the Americans beat them fair and square. The American players and fans alike might wonder about this guy who writes off the game as a “lucky win” by a bunch of white guys from Minnesota and Boston, places the columnist explains, “I had never been to.” Marcos Bretón is co-author of Away Games: The Life and Times of a Latin Baseball Player, and Sosa: An Autobiography. At the Sacramento Bee, flagship of the bankrupt McClatchy newspaper chain, Marcos tackles many subjects, but most of his columns are about Marcos Bretón his own self. True to form, his “Miracle on Ice” put-down features more than 30 personal pronouns, heavy on “I” and “me.” Local readers have come to know Marcos Bretón as a predictable retailer of politically correct boilerplate. If those 1980 American hockey players were to regard Marcos Bretón as an outright bigot it would sure be hard to blame them. https://www.frontpagemag.com/fpm/2020/0 ... llingsley/

Author:	Thanos [ Fri Feb 28, 2020 9:59 pm ]
Post subject:	Re: 2019-2020 NHL thread (HNIC and beyond)
Zamboni-driver David Ayres' game-winning goalie stick goes into the Hockey Hall of Fame: https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/toronto/ ... -1.5479982 Adding insult to the injury of Ayres helping the 'Canes beat the Leafs by enshrining his stick is good. Too bad it didn't happen to the Oilers instead because then it would have been great.

Author:	Strutz [ Sun Mar 01, 2020 12:30 pm ]
Post subject:	Re: 2019-2020 NHL thread (HNIC and beyond)
$1: Emergency goalie protocol talk on tap for NHL GMs meeting after Ayres' game When a 42-year-old Zamboni driver entered as an emergency goaltender and won an NHL game, it became one of the best stories in sports. But David Ayres going from practising with the Toronto Maple Leafs to playing against them in the thick of a playoff race also generated debate about what should happen in those rare instances. So emergency goalie protocol will be a significant topic of conversation when general managers open their annual March meeting Monday in Boca Raton, Florida. "This was a perfect storm," Dallas Stars GM Jim Nill said. "You never think it's going to get to the point where you get two guys hurt, but it did happen. ... Is it something that happens once every 20 years? Is it a great story? That's what we'll have to discuss." More here: https://www.ctvnews.ca/sports/emergency ... -1.4833951

Author:	Strutz [ Wed Mar 11, 2020 5:19 pm ]
Post subject:	Re: 2019-2020 NHL thread (HNIC and beyond)
$1: Should fans be concerned about the NHL season being cancelled? The World Health Organization declared Wednesday that coronavirus has become a global pandemic, and with leagues around the world postponing or outright cancelling play and bans on mass gatherings cropping up in the United States, the NHL season is in jeopardy. https://thehockeynews.com/news/article/ ... -cancelled

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Author:	Martin15 [ Wed Mar 11, 2020 11:14 pm ]
Post subject:	Re: 2019-2020 NHL thread (HNIC and beyond)
Well, it will either be; canceled all playoff games in empty stadiums (way too long) or President Trophy winner will be awarded Cup in order to end the season in April...