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The long Icy road to the gold medal for Ice hockey during the 1980’s Olympic Hockey Competition was not one for the weak or feeble. A group of young college athletes from different, some rival, schools went through trial and tribulation and came together and take on seemingly unbeatable circumstances, much like a protagonist would in a classic grail quest. Throughout the Journey, the team of young students took on the immense pressure of representing the United States during the cold war.
The united States 1980’s Olympic Hockey Team encompassed many haracterlstlcs ofa classic grall quest. Much like Indiana Jones and the Holy Grail, Miracle is about a journey to claim, arguably the greatest title in professional ice hockey, the gold medal. This, however, is not the easiest task one could accomplish. Like a classic grail quest, the team of hockey players must pass through different obstacles to reach their ultimate goal. The main and most basic obstacles to beat are the opposing teams.
The teams faced were full of professionals who were usually older and much more experienced. Teams Ilke Sweden and especially the Soviet union were largely estimated to crush the states. The united States, the underdog, bested Czechoslovakia seven to three, Norway five to one, Romania seven to two and tied powerhouse Sweden in an upset. The team had climbed up the foothills, leaped over the preliminary hurdles and had made it to the most important and biggest obstacle to come; playing The Soviet Union.
The USSR had been undefeated for 42 games and had gotten the gold medal every four years since 1964. “Unless the Ice melts, or unless the United States team or another team performs a miracle, as did the American squad In 1960, the Russians are expected to easily win the Olympic gold medal for the sixth time in the last seven ournaments” (Long). The United States was blatantly the underdog, however, in a crazy and climactic contest, they beat the big boss and won four to three. The team went on to beat blow Sweden out of the water and win the gold medal.
Besides basically playing hockey and beating opponents, the team had to undergo constant pressure and preparation. How Indiana Jones’s father spent a long period of time researching the grail, the hockey players spent basically their entire lives preparing for this tournament. “You all were born to be hockey players, each and every one of you, born to be here tonight. ” More specifically for the tournament, the layers were trained and put through a very rigorous preparation. The coaching by Herb Brooks was firstly tough and demanded full dedication. He expected nothing less.
In a preliminary game, the coach noticed the players were focused on the girls In the crowd rather than the game and through on the movie’s most memorable scenes, made the players skate suicides to the point of vomiting, after the game. His mentality was to make sure that you are able to play 100%, 100% of the time. His coaching style is described by his quote “You can’t be common, the common man goes nowhere; you have to be uncommon. ” Early on, he also proposed a new, unique tyle of play, designed to shut down the opposing offence. Learning the new type of mind games. He often provoked the players.
He tested their dedication by giving out an absurdly long written assignment. Herb would “get them going” by making the players mad at him so they would take their anger out on the ice. Herb Brooks style of coaching was pressing, rough and a challenge to the players but served as the proper preparation for their quest. Outside of the hockey rink, there was an even larger burden with a heavy consequence. During this time, the United States were fully enveloped with the Soviet Union in the cold war. The world took this rivalry and turned the hockey match between the two into a political fiasco.
Fans were sending the players letters telling them to beat the Russians senseless. One fan in the movie, at the USSR game at Lake Placid, brought a giant banner that read “get the puck out of America. ” The soviets wanted to make a statement that they can outdo the Americans on our own soil. The showdown was inevitably a critical point in the cold war. The consequence of losing the game to the USSR would have boosted Russia’s already inflated and growing ego and with the cold war being a mostly mental contest, this would have been seriously etrimental.
If the game was won, America would crush the USSR’s confidence show the world that we could stand up to the toughest challenge and win. We would show the soviets that we can beat them at their own game. The game became more than just a hockey game and the outcome had a severe consequence, either positive or negative. The protagonist wielding a fatal flaw serves as another grail quest characteristic Miracle on Ice has to offer. Herb Brooks had an unconventional way of putting together a team. Rather than selecting top players from club teams, Herb threw a giant training camp open to all college level players.
He executively chose players mysteriously methodical, against the pleas of his assistant coach and the board members. Some of the players he chose belonged to violently rival college teams. Early on, hatred erupted and two of the players fought during a practice. The fatal flaw of old rivalry between teammates is one that the team must deal with and grow around. Like Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade, this movie had a few different grail quests happening simultaneously. Besides the teams obvious goal to beat the USSR at their own game and win the gold medal, coach Herb Brooks had more on his mind hen Just winning.
In 1960, Herb Brooks tried out and made team for the United States Olympic Hockey Team only to be cut right before leaving for the tournament. He trained with the team and dedicated himself to the team only to sit around and watch his team win the gold without him. Herb Brooks never got his gold medal playing so he was going to try his best to win his gold medal coaching. Rather than looking at the gold medal as the grail, he looked towards redemption and success of a second chance as his grail. Jimmy Craig, the goalie, ventured after a different grail.
It was always Craig’s other’s biggest dream to watch his son play ice hockey in the Olympics. Unfortunately, before he tried out for the team, his mother had passed on. Craig decided to play anyways and do it to make his mother’s dream come to life. His father went to all of the games and told Jimmy that “he would have made his mother so The United States Olympic Hockey Team’s mission for world championship was one that resembled many different aspects of a classic grail quest. The team had to pass through many advances and tough out many challenges. The protagonist dealt with a fatal flaw; intramural rivalries.
The team also had to deal with egregious consequences of their performance. The direction of the cold war inevitably depended on the game between Soviet Russia and The United States. Much like Indiana Jones, there were multiple variations of grail quests between characters. The coach looked towards success of a second chance and the goalie looked to honor his mother’s biggest dream. The story of the Miracle on Ice incorporated many classic grail quest characteristics and illustrated The United States Olympic Ice Hockey Team set out for their own grail quest; the gold medal.