Red Army Hockey

As a New York Rangers fan since the late 1960s, I saw them play the Soviet Union's Central Red Army team at Madison Square Garden on December 27, 1979.

The Red Army outplayed and outscored the Rangers 5-2.  The bigger news that day was off the ice. The Soviet Union had invaded Afghanistan, and Afghan president, Hafizullah Amin, was overthrown and murdered.

Less than two months later, the Central Red Army team were miraculously defeated by an amateur team of U.S. college players at the 1980 Winter Olympics in Lake Placid, New York, after which ABC Sports broadcaster Al Michaels famously cried "Do you believe in miracles?" The U.S. team's Gold Medal finish came to be known as the Miracle on Ice. 

Ronald Reagan was elected President the following November and within 10 years the Berlin Wall came down and the Soviet Union collapsed.