1980 USA Hockey vs. 2014 USA Hockey -- Olympics

doesn't

eta: not even close

This team is doing well?

And not even close

American team was amateurs that beat russian squad that defeated nhl all-srars

1980 and it ain't close.

Would still go America frick yeah if we win gold though.

Talent wise sure 2014 team is better.

But nothing in United States sports history compares to 1980 Team USA.

No comparison to made whatsoever.

Maybe its best to look at the 1980 USA Gold Medal winning Hockey team as the enabler for the current team's excellence. That 1980 win was huge, cathartic even, for not just the sport of hockey, but for the entire country. The economy was bad, Iran held Americans hostage, there was an energy crisis, and a deep political divide. We Americans were united by that win over Russia because we saw in that team the finest qualities of an American: no matter how the odds are stacked against you, you defeat your adversaries because you outsmart them, outwork them, and out will them. That's what Americans do. That team personified how we like to see ourselves.

The success of the 2014 USA team is possible because of the 1980 team. Every American kid wanted to be one of those guys that just beat the Russians. The current team is full of NHL pros with much more skill than the college kids that played for us in 1980, and if we win Gold, Americans will enjoy the win and celebrate it and talk about it every Olympiad. But no other single event in US hockey will ever equal the importance of beating The USSR in 1980.
TL;DR: 1980 USA Hockey Gold medal team's win over USSR will be remembered as the greatest in USA hockey history.