Miracle on Ice. Herb Brooks, Bill Baker, Neal Broten, Dave Christian, Steve Christoff, John Harrington, Steve Janaszak, Mark Johnson, Mark Pavelich, Mike Ramsey, William Buzz Schneider, Eric Strobel, and Phil Verchota were amateur hockey players from Minnesota who represented the US at the 1980 Olympics. The Soviet Union, which had previously dominated the Olympic hockey competition, boasted a full roster of professional players. Unsurprisingly, the Soviets beat the US team by 10 to 3 in an exhibition two weeks earlier. But during the big game, the crowd counted seconds off the clock as the US team won. Total pandemonium ensued. In the locker room, the US team spontaneously broke into a chorus of “God Bless America.”