In June of '79 I graduated high school. For the later half of the '78-'79 hockey season and the first part of the '79-'80 season I witnessed the juggernaut steamroller that was stamped "CCCP", punctuated with a hammer and sickle. I watched as it tore through the NHL that year. It didn't matter whether your team was the great Montreal Canadians, Boston Bruins or the Detroit Redwings. No one was great against the Soviet team. Exhibition game after exhibition game the Soviet team showed they were the be all, end all.
And we sent a bunch of damn college kids "where angels fear to tread . . ."
I have not seen the the remake with Kurt Russell. And I don't know that I want to get into arguments about casting, use of ABC game footage (remember though, I heard "Do you believe in miracles?" live); I will watch this movie whenever it comes around on television.
Call it nostalgia, or whatever, but I enjoy this movie each time I see it. I still get teary-eyed. It captures a moment - a quick fleeting moment. But oh - what a moment.
Watch this one for what it is and enjoy it. "Miracle on Ice" was done to celebrate a moment and the people of that moment. And for those who remember, that includes you and me.
