Miracle on Ice shows how much Olympics on TV have changed
When the Summer Olympics begin in Tokyo in July, viewers will be able to watch every event either live or on demand. That wasn’t the case in 1980 when the United States stunned the Soviet Union during the Lake Placid Games.
The Americans’ stunning 4-3 victory in the Miracle on Ice game — which was played 40 years ago today — was shown on tape delay because the game started at 5 p.m. (2 p.m. Pacific). Today that would be unthinkable.
“If you go back to what happened, cable TV is in its infancy, no internet, no national newspaper, no social media, none of what we have today,” said Al Michaels, who called the game. “So you could truly keep a lot of people in the dark as to what the result was.”
For many years, there were few Olympic events that aired live because coverage was mostly confined to prime time. During the Lake Placid Games, the only daytime coverage was on weekends and for the Feb. 13 opening ceremony. When the U.S. advanced to the medal round, ABC had discussions with the Russian Hockey Federation about trying to move the game to 8 p.m. Eastern, but no agreement was reached. Not only was it the height of the Cold War, but the U.S. had announced earlier that it was boycotting the Summer Games in Moscow after the Soviet Union invaded Afghanistan.
Michaels said ABC president Roone Arledge did consider showing the game live at 5 p.m. before opting against it.
“The feeling was 5 p.m. in those years, nobody is home, it’s 2 p.m. on the West Coast. At the end of the day, they wanted to go prime time,” he said. “Now, could you pull this off now? Not a chance in 18 million years.”
In 1980, ABC aired only 51 hours over 13 days. Most of it was in prime time and on tape. For Tokyo, NBC will provide over 7,000 hours across eight networks and online. BRUINS TRADE BACKES TO DUCKS >> David Backes no longer has to worry whether he’ll get another shot at playing in the NHL.
The 35-year-old forward was freed from what Backes referred to as “purgatory” on Friday, when the Boston Bruins traded him to the Anaheim Ducks. In freeing up most of Backes’ significant salary-cap hit, Boston also gave up a firstround draft pick and defensive prospect Axel Andersson to acquire forward Ondrej Kase.
The deal was completed three days before the NHL’s trade deadline and marked the end of a monthlong stretch of uncertainty for Backes, which began with him declining to report to AHL Providence after being waived by the Bruins.
“It’s been a roller coaster of, ‘Am I just going to be dying a slow death here or is this something where I’m going to get another opportunity,’ ” Backes said. “I was praying, actually praying, to get an opportunity where I could reassert myself and show that I still belong in the NHL.”
EAKIN TRADED TO HOMETOWN JETS >> Cody Eakin is going home to Winnipeg. The Jets acquired the Winnipeg-born center from the Vegas Golden Knights for a conditional fourth-round pick in 2021. Eakin is eligible to become an unrestricted free agent this summer.
BLUE JACKETS LOSE BJORKSTRAND >> Injuries to key players keep coming for the Columbus Blue Jackets, who now have lost top goalscorer Oliver Bjorkstrand for the rest of the regular season. The 24-year-old forward fractured an ankle in Thursday’s loss to the Flyers. Bjorkstrand slid hard into the back boards at the end of regulation and limped off the ice. He did not play in overtime.
BLUES ROUT STARS >> David Perron scored his teamleading 24th goal, and St. Louis chased Dallas goalie Ben Bishop early while extending its Western Conference lead with a dominant 5-1 victory over the Stars in Dallas. Blues goalie Jake Allen ended a personal threegame losing streak.