Every USA Olympic hockey team, ranked by miracles on ice

20. Sarajevo Olympics, 1984

Following 1980’s miracle, all eyes were on Team USA at the 1984 Olympics. Could they do it?

Narrator: They could not.

Team USA followed up their 1980 gold medal the same way the Carolina Hurricanes followed up their 2006 Stanley Cup title. By missing the playoffs outright and becoming a laughing stock for a couple of seasons.

The 1984 Team USA Olympics squad finished seventh in the tournament. They opened the tournament with losses against Canada and Czechoslovakia, two of the better countries. However, when you open with two straight losses, it’s pretty tough to bounce back and climb out of that hole.

A tie against Norway, the country who finished last, all but killed their hopes. Team USA went on to beat Austria before tying Finland and beating Poland.

Team USA touted this as “being unbeaten” in their last four games. Technically, not incorrect. But when you lose the first two games and don’t outright defeat Finland, “being unbeaten in four games” doesn’t count for a whole lot.

Pat LaFontaine led the Americans in scoring with eight points in six games.

Goaltending once again did Team USA in. They entered the tournament with two number one goalies, which means they really had zero number one goalies. Bob Mason and Marc Behrend both played three games. Mason had a 3.33 goals-against-average while Behrend had a 3.67 goals-against-average. Mason was unbeaten in his three games as the starter.

Of note, Chris Chelios was part of this roster. He was also part of the failed 2006 and 1998 squads. I’m starting to think Chris Chelios was not good at Olympic hockey.