VANCOUVER â€" Thirty years after a rogue crew of scruffy college boys plundered the Soviet sports machine, established the U-S-A! chant as a classic piece of Americana and ensured Mike Eruzione would never have to pick up another dinner tab in his life, what hockey in the United States really needs is not another miracle, but a new story to tell.

"It is what it was," said 25-year-old U.S. hockey player Ryan Suter, exhaling in mild exasperation at mere mention of the Miracle on Ice. "But now we're moving on."

It's about time.

While the greatest upset in the history of American sports was sweet, we've seen the movie (twice). Enough already. So let's dance the last dance and stop talking about red, white and blue hockey glory in the past tense. What happened in 1980 is no more relevant today than Donna Summer.

The hockey world is now ruled by Sidney Crosby of Canada and Alex Ovechkin of Russia.

What would it take for the United States to get back in the conversation? Do the Americans have any real shot of winning a gold medal at the Winter Olympics?

"It wouldn't take a miracle," 24-year- old Avalanche star Paul Stastny told me Monday on the eve of Team USA's opening game in what might be the last Olympic hockey tournament featuring NHL players.

"No one expected much from the team in 1980, and you hope you can rewrite a chapter in American hockey. But I don't think the odds are against us as much as those guys 30 years ago."

If you really have an insatiable appetite for stories of gruff coach Herb Brooks, scrappy goalie Jim Craig and the hockey players who made broadcaster Al Michaels immortal, then you obviously didn't grow up at the same Thanksgiving table as Suter, who plays for Nashville in the NHL when not skating for God and country. Did Karl Malden or Kurt Russell give a more stirring Hollywood portrayal of Brooks on film? Please.

"It gets old," Suter admitted.

The same father who carved the turkey was Bob Suter, one of the players who made the 1980 miracle in Lake Placid happen. Schoolteachers constantly nagged young Ryan to bring the gold medal to show-and-tell.

And what happened when Dad would inquire at day's end to be handed back one of the most precious souvenirs of 20th century American sports? The son of a hockey hero would often have to admit: "Ah, I left it in my locker at school." The medal was resting comfortably next to a big, pink eraser and dirty gym clothes, no doubt.

In Vancouver, where the addiction for hockey just might be stronger than the typical Denver resident's craving for all things Broncos and football-sized burritos combined, schools at all levels in the education system have been closed for the duration for the Olympics, presumably so students from age 6 to 22 could study more important matters, such as memorizing every detail in the life story of the fifth defenseman for Team Canada.

"I think we are an underdog. When you look at all the superstars on other Olympic teams, we are the underdogs," Suter said. "A lot of people might not expect to win. But we want to win, and we expect to win gold."

In search of a little karma, starting U.S. goalie Ryan Miller painted the same shamrocks on his mask that were made famous nearly a generation ago by Craig when he beat the Russians.

If you're asking me to predict the order of finish for this Olympic tournament, I will be brave (or foolish) enough to go with an upset: 1) Sweden, 2) Canada and 3) Russia.

Sorry, but returning home with a medal of any color would qualify as a major achievement for the Americans, no matter how the players insist they won't require luck to shock the world.

"But miracles all help," Team USA defenseman Brian Rafalski said, chuckling. "I'm not going to reject miracles if you want to hand 'em out."

Mark Kiszla: 303-954-1053 or mkiszla@denverpost.com