By Danny Cohen ’15, Staff Writer

The winter Olympics have arrived, which means that sports fans worldwide will be able to witness a plethora of both exciting and unique sporting events.  One of the most prestigious and intense events is Olympic Hockey, which has a strong reputation in America,  dating back to the memorable 1980 Semifinal game between the USA and the USSR, which is now know as “Miracle on Ice.”  Set in the testy political climate of the Cold War, the game pitted the Americans as heavy underdogs against the Soviets, since American professionals from the National Hockey League (NHL) were not allowed to compete at the Olympic level.  As a result, team USA was comprised of collegiate players with an average age of 21.7 years.  The Soviet squad, on the other hand, had an average age of 25.9.  “The Soviet team had been together for many years, and they knew each other’s playing styles,” said hockey fan Mike Gibbons ’15, citing reasons for the Soviet advantage.

When the 1980 games rolled around, the Soviet Union had won the last four Olympic gold medals and had only lost one game in the past twenty years, earning their reputation as the best team in the world.  The Soviets not only defeated team USA 10-3 in an exhibition game, but they even defeated the NHL All-Stars by a score of 6-0.  In the Olympic semifinals, however, the USA pulled off an astonishing victory, winning 4-3.  Broadcaster Al Michaels, with an audience of 32.8 million people listening and the clock winding down, uttered the famous line, “Do you believe in miracles? Yes!”  Gibbons, who has seen Disney’s movie Miracle, which told the story of the 1980 United States Olympic hockey team, said the game was “the best sporting event in history,” and Sports Illustrated named the game the “Best Sports Moment of the Twentieth Century.”

Since 1980, however, Olympic hockey has gone through immense changes.  In 1993, when Gary Betmann took over as NHL commissioner, he decided that he would stop the NHL season every four years to allow the players to compete in the Olympics beginning in 1998.  He felt that Olympic hockey would promote the sport’s worldwide popularity.  Whether or not the NHL should stop its season for the Olympics is a constantly debated topic.  Some think that stopping the NHL season for three weeks is ludicrous and damages the integrity of the league.  However, many others love to watch NHL players compete for their nations.  “I really enjoy watching the NHL players compete for their country and as an NHL fan I don’t mind the league’s recess.  I also think that the players love playing for their country.  In my opinion, the Olympics are the most important hockey competition,” said Zach Persing ’15.

Despite this change, the United States has not won a gold medal for hockey since 1980.  They have, however, played in some exciting games, and have even come close to taking home the gold, winning silver medals in both 2002 and 2010, finishing second to Canada both times.  The majority of  Newark Academy’s students were too young to watch the 2002 Winter Olympics, but many may remember the classic 2010 Gold Medal game.  Televised on NBC and played in Vancouver, the game drew 27.6 million viewers in the United States,  recording the highest non-football ratings of the year. It’s interesting to note that this game rated much higher  than the clinching game of the Stanley Cup Finals that year, which had an audience of a mere 3.107 million viewers.  The game’s excitement lived up to its hype: American Zach Parise scored with 25 seconds left to tie the game at 2-2, but Canadian superstar Sidney Cosby fought back to score the game winner in sudden-death overtime.

There is a natural question that arises from this information: Why does Olympic hockey rate so high in the USA, compared even to Stanley Cup Finals games?  In terms of attendance, the NHL does very well, with 23 out of 30 teams filling 92.0 percent or more of their stadium capacity on average. Still, most people will only tune in on television if their team is playing, even during the Finals. By contrast, many American hockey fans and even casual sports fans will tune in to see these big Olympic games (such as in 1980 and 2010) because of the national pride that people feel about the USA hockey team.

In Canada, many people take Olympic hockey even more seriously.  When the 2010 Gold Medal game was played, about half of the Canadian population watched the entire game, and 80% of Canadians watched at least part of the game. “There’s a special allure to national teams in countries that have very defined national sports,” said Cody Reid-Dodick, a Canadian Newark Academy Class of 2013 alumnus. With the United States’ attention split among several major sports, many Americans don’t feel the same passion that Canada does towards its national team. “Everyone has a shared obsession with one sport,” Cody continued. “The Olympic team represents that unity and patriotism like nothing else.”

Olympic hockey has become so important worldwide, even relative to other Olympic sports, because it is the largest team event. It is also the most well-known sport and has many of the most well-known athletes competing in Winter Olympic Sports.  There are only fifteen Winter Olympics events, compared to 41 Summer Olympics sports, and the majority of other Winter Olympic events are either individual or very small team competitions, with hockey taking the place of the marquee event even for many average sports fans. Hopefully, Team USA will intrigue us with more exciting performances this year, competing for its first gold medal in 34 years!