The “Miracle On Ice” forever glows as the pinnacle of USA Hockey, but it also casts a long shadow over a generation of American Olympians born after 1980.

Thirty-four years since St. Paul’s Herb Brooks coached a band of shaggy-haired college kids to an historic upset of the mighty Soviet Union and gold medal triumph, the 2014 legion of NHL professionals travels to Russia as the deepest, most talented and diverse Team USA ever assembled.

Their mission is to finish what clubs like the 2002 and 2010 silver medalists came tantalizingly close to accomplishing, raising the U.S. flag as Olympic champions again and creating a new legacy for the 21st Century.

“I would never take away from what they did; they did such a great thing for hockey in the U.S.,” said Team USA captain Zach Parise of the Minnesota Wild. “But I’m hoping now it’s going to be time for us to not keep referring back to 1980. We were close to doing that in 2010. Let’s make 2014 our 1980. It’d be a good time to do that.”

No longer is the United States an underdog, or even an upstart; the Americans are among the elite medal contenders in Sochi.

The A-list is headed by defending champion Canada, which also won gold in 2002. Russia, relishing its first Olympic home ice advantage, is gunning for its first gold medal in 22 years. Underestimate the Finns at one’s peril. Finland is the only country to medal three times in the four Olympics NHL players have competed.

Sweden, which won gold in 2006, remains dangerous, as is the Czech Republic, which won it all in 1998.

“Will the Russians be able to handle the pressure? Because that was critically important for Canada in 2010 when they defended home ice and won the gold medal,” said NBC hockey analyst Pierre McGuire. “It’s not an easy thing to do, especially in an amped-up hockey environment like you’re going to see in Sochi.

“But I’d like to think that basically you’re going to see Canada, Russia, the United States, Sweden and Finland be very, very competitive for those three medals: gold, silver and bronze. But, again, it’s going to be amazingly intense.”

The Europeans have a distinct advantage having been raised playing on the larger 200-by-100-foot ice surface, which these Olympics will use. That 15 feet of extra room caters to Europeans’ penchant for cycling and creating scoring chances over the rugged NHL forechecking style favored by Canadians and Americans.

It’s no secret that Canada’s gold medal triumphs occurred on 200-by-85-foot NHL rinks in Salt Lake City and Vancouver, while the Czechs and Swedes won on the larger surfaces of Nagano, Japan, and Torino, Italy.

What’s more, the United States has not won an Olympic medal outside North America since 1972 at Sapporo, Japan.

“I’m sure it’ll take some getting used to,” said Wild defenseman Ryan Suter, who will serve as alternate captain to Parise in Sochi. “It’s basically the same game; you’ve just got about 10 feet on each side to defend. For defensemen, you don’t go running around as much. You protect the net and stay closer to the middle of the ice.

“I think we have a lot of defensemen that can skate and make a lot of plays. Our forwards are good skaters. Our goalies have played on big ice before.”

Team USA general manager David Poile (Nashville) and head coach Dan Bylsma (Pittsburgh) built their roster as a hybrid of past teams, trying to augment its attacking, abrasive makeup with more creative offensive players and strong-skating defensemen who can cover more ice.

“We proved we have a good team concept in bringing back 13 players from Vancouver, which should bode well,” Poile said. “We wanted smart players who understand the North American physicality of the game, but I really don’t think it’s that important in Europe. We needed bigger, faster scoring forwards and players with greater hockey sense, because speed is going to be paramount.”

Bylsma has not named a starting goaltender among 2010 Olympic MVP Ryan Miller of Buffalo, Detroit’s Jimmy Howard and Jonathan Quick, the 2012 Stanley Cup winner for Los Angeles whose more consistent play makes him the presumptive No. 1 choice.

There are eight players with Minnesota ties on a roster representing seven states and 17 NHL teams. Parise and Suter, both 2010 Olympians, will be counted on to produce and provide strong leadership.

“I think Ryan’s coming-out party was in Vancouver, when he and Brian Rafalski were our best defense pair,” Poile said. “We here in Nashville knew all along what kind of player Ryan was, but his career really took off from that point.

“He’s going to be counted on to anchor or defense, play big minutes, maybe with multiple partners, to make big contributions — which is nothing new with him.”

Parise tied for the U.S. lead in scoring in Vancouver. His goal with 24 seconds remaining in the gold medal game forced overtime against Canada, which eventually won on Sidney Crosby’s clincher early in the extra session.

The high-energy, tension-filled match is considered perhaps the greatest game ever played, which leaves Parise with conflicting emotions.

“Of course we came up short. There’s no dodging that,” he said. “But I guess the experience of that game, winning a silver medal, when you look back on it you realize how special it was. At the same time, you’re bred (to believe) it’s first place or nothing. That’s kind of our mentality. It’s still disappointing, but I think we accomplished a lot.”

Suter and Parise have plenty of big-game international experience, as do longtime U.S. teammates Phil Kessel, David Backes, Dustin Brown, Ryan Callahan and Patrick Kane.

Justin Faulk, 21, of South St. Paul, is the youngest player. Miller and defenseman Brooks Orpik are the oldest at 33. Both were born in 1980, but months after Team USA’s coup in Lake Placid.

They all know the story, which was immortalized by the 2004 movie “Miracle” and countless sports documentaries and books. Suter has heard plenty of first-hand tales. His father, Bob, played on the 1980 team while his uncle, Gary, skated for the 2002 team that won silver in Salt Lake City.

He agrees it is time to make some new family memories.

“It would have been pretty cool to win it last time, but we’ve got another chance to go over there and win a gold medal and shut up all the people talking about my dad,” Suter said, chuckling. “It’s the biggest thing, the greatest team ever. It’ll never happen again how it happened for them — college kids going against pros. For us to win a gold medal would be a huge thing.”

Follow Brian Murphy on twitter.com/murphPPress.