Ice hockey is one of the world’s most popular sports. It’s a fast-paced game played on ice and is governed by the International Ice Hockey Federation (IIHF), which has 59 full member nations and 22 associate members. The IIHF oversees both men’s and women’s Olympic ice hockey.
In the early days of Olympic ice hockey, it was Canada and then Czechoslovakia that dominated the tournament. But in the 1960s, the United States began to rise as a force to be reckoned with and won three of the next seven gold medals. The United States also won the 1980 Olympics, which was known as the “Miracle on Ice,” beating the Soviets and becoming the dominant international team.
At the 1948 St. Moritz Games, a controversy erupted because the American Hockey Association sent two teams to the tournament instead of one. The AHA was an association of professional players who were not members of the Amateur Athletic Union, which was the governing body for amateur ice hockey in the United States.
But the Americans swept their first two games against Sweden and Czechoslovakia, and were in good shape to make the medal rounds. But in a Valentine’s Day game against the Soviets, the U.S. team trailed 2-1 in the second period and appeared to be headed for a loss.
Then, with just a few seconds left in the period, Dave Christian, son of Bill Christian of the 1960 gold medal winners, fired a long slap shot toward Soviet goalie Vladimir Tretiak. Tretiak, one of the greatest goalies in Olympic history, sloppily kicked the puck out, and a streaking Johnson swooped down on it, slamming it past him for the winning goal.