50 Fun Facts About Miracle (2004 Film)

Which actor, once a minor-league baseball infielder, plays head coach Herb Brooks in the film Miracle?

Kurt Russell drew the film's warmest reviews for the role. He was an all-star infielder in the Northwest League before a shoulder injury in 1973 ended his playing days.

Which country did the United States beat to clinch gold two days after the Miracle on Ice?

Finland led 2–1 after two periods before three American goals in the third settled it. Beating the Soviets was only a medal-round game, so the gold still had to be won.

Which broadcaster re-recorded his 1980 commentary for Miracle but kept the original audio of his closing call?

Al Michaels felt he could not recreate the moment, so the last 30 seconds of the Soviet game use the 1980 tape. He got the Olympic job as the only man on his network's crew who had called the sport before.

Which Hollywood star did the son of Herb Brooks later say was the first name in mind to lead Miracle?

Tom Hanks was the first name floated for the coach, Dan Brooks recalled years later. The director says he always wanted his eventual lead, an actor with an athletic background and a fiery love of sport.

Which New York village hosted the 1980 Winter Olympics, the setting for the climax of Miracle?

Lake Placid had already staged the Winter Games in 1932 and reused some of those venues in 1980. Its Olympic rink was renamed in honour of Herb Brooks in 2005.

Which US captain scored the winner against the Soviets, then quit hockey straight after the 1980 Olympics?

Mike Eruzione turned down professional offers, saying he had already reached the pinnacle. He was one of five players on the 1980 team whom no NHL club had drafted.

How did Herb Brooks die a few months before Miracle, the film about his 1980 team, reached cinemas?

A car accident on a Minnesota interstate killed him in August 2003, six days after his 66th birthday. He had advised the filmmakers on his drills and plays, and the picture is dedicated to his memory.

Which member of the 1980 US Olympic team is played in Miracle by his own son, Billy?

Buzz Schneider had already played at the 1976 Olympics. He scored five goals in the 1980 tournament, including the first American goal against the Soviets.

Which magazine ran its Miracle on Ice cover photo with no headline or caption at all in March 1980?

Sports Illustrated let the picture of the celebrating players speak alone, because the whole country knew the story. In 1999 it named the upset the greatest moment of the 20th century in its field.

Which studio released the 2004 Olympic hockey film Miracle?

Disney saw audiences polled by CinemaScore grade the film an A. It opened second at the US box office and went on to gross about $64 million against a $28 million budget.

After a 3–3 exhibition tie with which country does Herb Brooks order endless punishment sprints in Miracle?

Norway held the Americans to a draw in Oslo, and Brooks sent them straight back onto the ice. In the film he keeps the drill going even after the rink manager cuts the power.

At which famous arena do the Soviets rout the United States 10–3 just before the Olympics in Miracle?

Madison Square Garden staged the final warm-up game three days before the Olympic tournament began. The rematch that became the Miracle on Ice came just 13 days later.

Which goaltender stopped 36 of 39 Soviet shots for the United States in the Miracle on Ice?

Jim Craig celebrated with an American flag draped over his shoulders, and the flag itself later went on show in a museum. He joined the NHL shortly after the Olympics and won his first game there.

Which actor, soon to play a detective on CSI: NY, portrays the starting US goaltender in Miracle?

Eddie Cahill had never played in goal, so a former NHL netminder doubled for him in most of the game action. The part let him portray his own boyhood hero.

Against which country do the Americans rescue a 2–2 tie in their opening Olympic game in Miracle?

Sweden led until 27 seconds from the end, when the Americans scored with their goalie pulled for an extra skater. The point mattered later, because that result carried over into the medal round.

Which US player scores the last-minute goal that salvages a tie in the opening Olympic game in Miracle?

Bill Baker fired the equaliser with 27 seconds left on the clock. In the film, Brooks lights into his team at the first intermission and throws a table.

Which Soviet star, rated the best in the world at his position, was benched after one period of the Miracle on Ice?

Vladislav Tretiak had let in two goals, the second with one second left in the period, and never returned. The switch stunned players on both benches.

Which backup goaltender took over the Soviet net for the last two periods of the Miracle on Ice?

Vladimir Myshkin kept a clean sheet in the second period, when he faced only two shots. He was beaten twice in the third, the last time by a shot that came through a screen.

Which Soviet coach called pulling his star goaltender in the Miracle on Ice the biggest mistake of his career?

Viktor Tikhonov made the change straight after a goal in the final second of the first period. He blamed his top players to their faces afterwards, then coached the gold medallists at the next three Winter Olympics.

Which US forward, son of a famed Wisconsin coach, scored twice against the Soviets in the Miracle on Ice?

Mark Johnson tied the game twice, the first time with a single second left in the opening period. He later coached Wisconsin's women to a long run of national titles.

Which former Montreal Canadiens goaltender gave colour commentary on the Miracle on Ice broadcast?

Ken Dryden had retired the year before with six Stanley Cups. On air he worried that the Americans were leaning too hard on their goalie, moments before the winning goal went in.

Which forward is the last player Herb Brooks cuts from the Olympic roster in the film Miracle?

Ralph Cox was let go because of the lingering effects of an ankle injury. Brooks knew the feeling, having been the last man dropped from the 1960 gold medal squad himself.

Herb Brooks was the last man cut from the US hockey team that won gold at which 1960 Winter Olympics venue?

Squaw Valley's Games began a week after he was dropped, and he watched the gold medal win at home with his father. He told the coach afterwards that the decision must have been right, because the team had won.

Which director of Miracle went on to make the fight drama Warrior and the thriller The Accountant?

Gavin O'Connor cast real players as the team, reasoning that it was easier to teach athletes to act than actors to skate. The cast still spent six weeks in camp relearning the game in older equipment.

Which former NHL goaltender doubled for the actor playing the US goalie in most game action in Miracle?

Bill Ranford stood in because the actor had never played the position before. The star still shot several key sequences from inside the crease himself.

In which Canadian province were the arenas of Miracle filmed, standing in for rinks across the United States?

British Columbia supplied every rink, with Vancouver's Pacific Coliseum staging the film's pre-Olympic exhibition loss to the Soviets. The Olympic game scenes were shot at the PNE Agrodome.

Which annual ceremony, decided by an online fan vote that year, named Miracle its Best Sports Movie in 2004?

The ESPY Awards, run by the cable network ESPN, gave the film their movie prize. The American Film Institute also nominated it for its list of the 100 most inspiring films.

Which actor, later FBI agent Stan Beeman in The Americans, plays the US assistant coach in Miracle?

Noah Emmerich plays the deputy who had once been a teammate of Brooks on the national side. Film fans may also know him from The Truman Show and Super 8.

Which actress, Oscar-nominated for Pieces of April, plays Patti, the wife of Herb Brooks, in Miracle?

Patricia Clarkson took the role straight after her acclaimed 2003 run of independent films. She has also won two Emmys for guest appearances on Six Feet Under.

Which US player's knee injury against the Soviets before the Olympics nearly rules him out in Miracle?

Jack O'Callahan was kept on the roster anyway. In the film he returns against the Soviets and throws the heavy check that leads to the first American goal.

Which forward does Herb Brooks accuse of quitting over a bruised thigh during an Olympic intermission in Miracle?

Rob McClanahan is so stung that he plays on through the injury, which lifts the whole bench. He had already skated for Brooks in college at Minnesota.

What honour did the reunited 1980 US hockey team share at the opening of the 2002 Winter Olympics?

Lighting the Olympic cauldron fell to the 1980 players, who gathered around the torch together in Salt Lake City. Herb Brooks coached the American men at those Games too, and took silver.

Which NHL team made Herb Brooks its head coach the year after his 1980 Olympic triumph?

The New York Rangers kept him for four seasons, and he became their first American-born coach to win 100 games. He was eventually replaced by his own Olympic assistant.

Which country's Olympic hockey team did Herb Brooks coach at the 1998 Winter Games in Nagano?

France finished 11th under him, a long way from the heights of 1980. Four years later he was back behind the American bench, winning Olympic silver.

In which Minnesota city, now home to a statue of him, was Miracle coach Herb Brooks born?

Saint Paul put up a new downtown statue of him in 2017. He won a state high school title in 1955 before playing college hockey for Minnesota.

Which college's hockey rivalry with Minnesota sparks a fistfight at the first team practice in Miracle?

Boston University and Minnesota had met in a bitter national semifinal in 1976, and both sent players to the 1980 team. One of them says the film's punch-up was invented but the bad blood was real.

Which member of the 1980 US Olympic team won the Stanley Cup with the New York Islanders that same spring?

Ken Morrow became the first player to win Olympic gold and the Cup in one season. He stayed for all four of the Islanders' consecutive titles.

Which US network held the Miracle on Ice back for a prime-time tape delay instead of showing it live?

ABC had asked for a later start so the game could air live, but the request was refused. Its Olympic host told viewers the game was already over and promised not to spoil the result.

The Soviet invasion of which country, weeks before the 1980 Olympics, raised the Cold War stakes in Miracle?

Afghanistan was invaded in December 1979, and the White House was already weighing a boycott of the Moscow Summer Games when the two teams met. The boycott went ahead that summer.

Which US president phoned the American hockey players to congratulate them after they clinched gold in 1980?

Jimmy Carter called the team straight after the final game. He went on to keep American athletes away from that summer's Olympics in Moscow.

Which actor played Herb Brooks opposite Steve Guttenberg's goalie in the 1981 TV film Miracle on Ice?

Karl Malden led the television version, which reached screens barely a year after the Games. The real US captain worked on it as a technical consultant.

Which hockey-playing actor from Miracle later left Hollywood and served in the US Army Special Forces?

Michael Mantenuto had played college hockey at Maine before he was cast as one of the team's defensemen. He made only two more films, then enlisted and became a Green Beret sergeant.

Which earlier baseball film by the producers of Miracle starred Dennis Quaid as a late-blooming pitcher?

The Rookie told the true story of a man who reached the major leagues at 35. Its on-field choreography crew came back to stage the 133 separate hockey plays in the later film.

In which city does Herb Brooks hold the summer tryouts that open the story of the film Miracle?

Colorado Springs hosted the real trials in the summer of 1979. In the film, Brooks names his preliminary squad of 26 there without consulting the selectors.

What nickname was given to the top-scoring 1980 US forward line that included Mark Pavelich and John Harrington?

The Coneheads, also known as the Iron Rangers, were the highest-scoring unit on the gold medal team.

Which 1980 US Olympic player's father and uncle had won hockey gold for the United States in 1960?

Dave Christian grew up in Warroad, Minnesota, where his family made hockey sticks under their own name. His long slap shot produced the rebound for the buzzer-beating goal against the Soviets.

Which American speed skater won five golds at the 1980 Winter Olympics, the only US golds besides hockey?

Eric Heiden swept every men's race from 500 to 10,000 metres, setting a world record in the longest. No athlete had won five golds at a single Winter Games before.

Which nickname is carried by the Minnesota college hockey program that Herb Brooks coached before the 1980 Olympics?

The Golden Gophers won three national titles under him, in 1974, 1976 and 1979, before he left to take charge of the Olympic team.

What did Herb Brooks first try selling after retiring as a player, before a friend talked him into coaching?

Insurance was his first trade after hockey, until former teammate Lou Nanne helped recruit him to coach the freshmen at Minnesota. Within two years he was running the whole program.

Which NHL club employed Herb Brooks as its director of player personnel at the time of his death?

The Pittsburgh Penguins had also used him as a scout and, for part of one season, as head coach. Their general manager had been his assistant on the 1980 Olympic bench.