Stanley Cup Playoffs Bring Back Memories of the "Miracle"

NHL executives could not have asked for a better 2009 Stanley Cup playoff run.  They got their dream team matchups and their dream player matchups. 

There was the Pittsburgh Penguins-Washington Capitals series that became the Sidney Crosby-Alex Ovechkin-Evgeni Malkin slugfest. 

The Stanley Cup Finals featured a compelling rematch, a dream second pairing of a veteran, dynasty Red Wings squad against the upstart young-gun Penguins, whom they had taken to the woodshed the year before for a lesson in championship hockey.

Nearly all of the superstars played like superstars, while plenty of less known players took their turns in the spotlight.

The playoffs featured all three of the finalists to win the Hart Trophy, honoring the regular seasons's best player, in the Russian trio of Alex Ovechkin, Evgeni Malkin, and Pavel Datsyuk.

Evgeni Malkin would go on to become the first Russian player to win the Conn Smythe award as the MVP of the playoffs, while becoming the first player since Mario Lemieux to be the point leader in both the regular season and during the playoffs. 

Another Russian player who deserves special mention is Sergei Gonchar, who came back from nearly having his knee taken off by a vicious Ovechkin hit to be a major factor for the Penguins on their surprisingly strong defensive corps.

Watching these three superstars, and a host of other superb Russian players, I had a few flashbacks to 1980.  I kept wondering, how did a bunch of U.S. college kids beat these guys?

The miracle of that day got even bigger in my eyes, if that was possible, as watching the magic of these guys increased my appreciation for the magnitude of what was accomplished on that day in 1980.

Obviously, the U.S. squad never played against Ovechkin, Malkin, and Datsyuk, which is probably a good thing for them.  But, they played against the Malkins and Ovechkins of their day. 

The skill and ability of Russian hockey players is obviously not a new revelation.  Two of my favorite non-Penguin hockey players while growing up were snipers Pavel Bure and Alexander Mogilny, two of the early heralds of what Russian players could do in the NHL. 

But, 2009 represents something of a pinnacle, a high watermark moment when three of the most dominating players in the game are Russian superstars.

And that is why it this year's Stanley Cup playoffs that turned my mind back, perhaps for the last time, to 1980.

That Olympic win was one of the greatest achievements in the history of sports.  It was a true miracle, something that appeared almost impossible.

Nowadays, we throw around the word "miracle" to describe just about any sports achievement. 

But, a miracle implies that the achievement was considered impossible, even beyond comprehension.  

Very few sports moments truly qualify for such a powerful word. 

But, the 1980 Olympics win was a rare exception. 

It shouldn't have happened.  Nobody outside of that U.S. locker room truly believed it could happen.

The Soviet Union was loaded with all-world players.  They were amateurs in name only.

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