On Saturday in Sochi, Russia, T.J. Oshie cemented his place in Olympic history with confidence and a smile. The St. Louis Blues player was called six times to represent the Americans during a nail–biting shootout against the Russian team. When he stuck the winning goal in the back of the net, Oshie became an instant American hero. It would, therefore, be a missed opportunity not to compare Saturday’s game to the 2004 film, “Miracle.”
Arguably one of the greatest sports films of all time, “Miracle” chronicles the U.S. men’s hockey team’s unlikely path to a gold medal in the 1980 Lake Placid Olympic games. In the film, American coach Herb Brooks puts together a team of college hockey players who he believes have the ability to challenge the dominant Soviet team. After months of hard training and setbacks, the Americans rise to the occasion to defeat a seemingly unbeatable Soviet team in the semifinal of the tournament in what has been dubbed by pop culture as the “miracle on ice.” The group of college hockey players would go on to win the gold medal, a feat none of them could have imagined when they first came together. While T.J. Oshie’s incredible shootout performance might not have been as improbable an event as the 1980 “miracle on ice,” it will certainly go down as the greatest U.S. Olympic hockey moment since. The current U.S. team has a ways to go before it can claim another gold medal for Team USA, but if history is on their side, after their victory on Saturday things should be all downhill from here.
