At the start of the 1980 Winter Olympics, which took place in the ironically-named hamlet of Lake Placid, the Cold War still smoldered in the minds of the American citizens.
We also had to face the fact that the U.S.S.R. hockey team had won the Olympic gold medal in five of the previous six Olympics. This event had become a proxy war, with the two superpowers going head to head on the Olympic hockey rink. Blood would be shed, bone-crushing cross body checks would be thrown, and goals would be scored to punctuate each winning offensive skirmish. To the victors would go the spoils; of valor, heroism, and honor to the combatants and the bounty of flag-draped national pride for the represented country. The U.S hockey team awed the world with victory over the Soviets in 1980. Nine years later the Berlin Wall was felled, symbolizing the impending collapse of the Soviet Union.
Fast forward to the 2014 Winter Olympics in Sochi, Russia, a city located on the shores of the Black Sea. Again the Russians and the Americans were thrust into the role of combatants on the Olympic hockey rink. Sixteen of the 25 Russian teammates were NHL stars, headed by superman Alexander Ovechkin.
Russian President Vladimir Putin was in attendance to watch one of the most talented Russian teams ever to skate in the Olympic forum. As the game played out, the NBC cameras zoomed in on Putin, displaying his usual poker-faced expression, devoid of emotion.
The Russian team had scored the seemingly winning goal, but it was overturned by an obscure Olympic hockey technical ruling. The United States won the game. The camera zoomed in on Putin for the world to witness his reaction. I recall Putin’s demeanor — he was steaming, but not a hot type of steam. It was the icey cold steam emanating from a partially frozen Siberian river, a steam that if it touches you, freezes in a layer over the skin.
On Feb. 19, 2014, the Russian hockey team was knocked out of the Sochi Winter Olympics and a mere four days later the Crimean Peninsula was invaded surreptitiously by unmarked Russian troops. At first Putin denied that his troops were in the Crimea, but later admitted to the fact on April 14 when the Russian military announced a national holiday for its special forces that had invaded Ukraine which enabled Russia to annex the Crimean Peninsula, including the region’s highly valued Black Sea naval ports.
Due to the timing of the Ukrainian invasion by Russia I wondered if Putin had been triggered by the embarrassing hockey match losses at his home venue in Sochi, which is located a couple of hundred miles down the coast of the Black Sea from the Crimea.
Again our American athletes are going to “war” in the enemy territory of China, a staunch ally of Russia. I doubt that “Vlad the Instigator” will make an appearance at the Chinese Olympics, to avoid potential embarrassment, as in Sochi. Of course, the two superpowers, hockey and worldwise, may not even have the chance to meet in China, depending on the pairings and/or possible early losses by one or both teams.
In Europe, Russia has already amassed troops on the Ukrainian border. Is this mere saber rattling by the petulant Russian president? Will the outcome of the Olympic sports battles act as a trigger to influence his military decisions?
I hope that my logic is off and that the 2014 invasion paired with the Russian hockey loss was mere coincidence.
Regardless, I still say, “Go USA!”
David Kittredge is a regular Lifestyles contributor to the Eagle Times. You can send comments to him via the editor at [email protected].
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