The Miracle on Ice

Purpose, focus, culture, spirit, network, knowledge, leadership

At the 1980 Winter Olympics, the USSR had the best ice hockey team in the world. They had won the gold medal every year since 1964 and had the highest scorers, the strongest defense, and the most reliable goaltender. But they didn’t win. They were defeated in a medal-round game by a US team made up of amateur and collegiate players who then went on to win the gold medal. Could Plasticity be behind “The Miracle on Ice,” one of most renowned sporting upsets of all time?

The USSR was considered a vastly superior team to the US: it had beaten the US 27 times and lost only 7 games. In the previous year, they had crushed the NHL All Stars 6–0 in a challenge game; and ...

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