Copyright 2018 NPR. To see more, visit ARI SHAPIRO, HOST: The men's hockey tournament at the Olympics didn't start well for the Americans. The U.S. lost to Slovenia in overtime. National Hockey League players are skipping the Olympics for the first time since 1994. The league didn't want to participate. That means the best players aren't there. NPR's Tom Goldman looks at what it means. TOM GOLDMAN, BYLINE: Ever since last April when the NHL decided no 2018 Olympics, there's been this notion the Pyeongchang tournament would return hockey to that coveted Olympic ideal of amateurism. In the U.S., we've been dusting off that most emotional of hockey memories when in 1980, a band of amateur Davids slew the Soviets, the ultimate hockey Goliath. (SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING) UNIDENTIFIED ANNOUNCER: Do you believe in miracles - yes. (CHEERING) GOLDMAN: U.S. men's head coach Tony Granato played along this week, invoking the hallowed names of two of the Miracle on Ice heroes as a way to
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