By Lori Ewing
MILAN, Feb 20 (Reuters) - The U.S. men's hockey team is one win from ending a decades-long Olympic gold-medal drought, 46 years after they delivered one of the most iconic moments in sports history at the 1980 Winter Games.
The Americans throttled Slovakia 6-2 in the Milano Cortina Olympic semi-finals on Friday to book their berth in the gold-medal game where they will clash with familiar foes Canada.
They have a chance to summon echoes of the "Miracle on Ice," when a group of amateur
and collegiate players stunned the Soviet Union juggernaut 4–3 and became instant national heroes en route to the 1980 gold.
"The rivalry with Canada is obviously a long battle and a long history," said forward Brock Nelson, whose grandfather was on the 1960 gold medal-winning U.S. team and his uncle was on the famed 1980 championship roster.
"(These are) two countries that want to come out on top, have the bragging rights that they're the best country in the world," Nelson said.
Reaching the final has already guaranteed the Americans their first Olympic ice hockey medal since Vancouver 2010, a run that ended in heartbreak, when Canada snatched gold 3–2 in overtime.
Now, with gold finally within reach again, the U.S. has a shot at turning long-simmering frustration into history.
Columbus Blue Jackets defenceman Zach Werenski said he watched the Netflix documentary "Miracle on Ice: The Boys of '80" released earlier this year before travelling to Milan.
"It definitely motivated me a little bit more," Werenski said. "And it's something not a lot of American hockey players have ever done. I think 36 players have ever won a gold medal for the U.S. in the Olympics, so we're aware of what's at stake.
"We're going to embrace it, we're going to enjoy it, and this is why you play the game."
With NHL stars finally back in the Olympic fold for the first time since 2014, the pressure on this U.S. team is immense, and so is the opportunity.
Team USA's last win over Canada in a men's gold-medal final dates all the way back to Squaw Valley in 1960.
Dylan Larkin, captain of the Detroit Red Wings and one of the five goal-scorers in the semi-final, said he had been dreaming about playing for Olympic gold for the past year.
"Not even going to go into how much I've thought about it as a kid, but that was just a dream up until the Four Nations, it turned into serious thoughts," Larkin said of last year's tournament won by Canada.
Ottawa Senators captain Brady Tkachuk said a gold medal would not just be a victory for this team, it would be a seismic moment for American hockey.
"There's 1980, there's the '96 World Cup — those moments grew the game so much and shaped our entire generation," he said.
"Now we have a chance to do the same, to push the sport forward and make it even better for the next generation."
(Reporting by Lori Ewing, additional reporting by Giulio Piovaccari in Milan; Editing by Bill Berkrot)
