Factual error: Equipment: mostly inaccurate. Locker room scenes show many shoulder pads from late 1980's/early 1990's (floating shoulder caps). Pants are modern, off the shelf CCM's. Goalie chest protectors are from later in the 1980's (at least). They should be the earlier type, such as a Cooper SB 95 and chest protector combination. Pre-Olympic gloves are modern (laughable) shiny vinyl, and the Olympic tournament gloves are simply current CCM pro gloves - right off the shelf, with a re-sewn cuff to make them look older. Also note that the finger wart colors are opposite the 1980 gloves - they should be top white, bottom red. As noted before, the helmets are modern. Opposing team gloves inaccurate/many spray painted early 1990's Cooper solid back roll gloves. In a scene from the Sweden game, there is player with gloves who's cuff-roll says "Koho," but the glove have CCM stripes. And Sweden's 1980 Jofa helmets were royal blue (standard Jofa colors), not navy blue.

Other: The slow-motion face-off to start the third period is a neat effect, except for one problem: watch Mikhailov's stick - he hardly moves it. No hockey player can win a face-off without trying.

Factual error: The movie makes it clear that Jack O'Callahan's first game since his injury was the game against the Soviet Union. In actuality, he had some playing time in the preliminary game against West Germany.

Factual error: There indeed was a moment in the game (vs. USSR) where Jim Craig was shaken up, but contrary to what's shown in the movie, the hit did not happen as the Soviets scored a goal. Furthermore, if a goalie is that flagrantly knocked down and out so that a teammate can get a shot off, it should be a two-minute penalty for "goaltender interference" and the goal disallowed.

Continuity: During the game against the Soviet Union, the US team ties up the score at 3-3. As Al Michaels comments on the tied score the crowd is panned and the scoreboard reads 4-3, which actually happens a few minutes later in the game. The digits are hard to read, but if you look closely enough, the mistake is detectable.

Factual error: Boris Mikhailov plays as a center in the movie, while in reality he was actually a right wing. Vladimir Petrov was the center.

Continuity: At the skating pond, Herb's head is turned toward his wife as he says, "why can't we just leave it at that?" Right as he finishes that sentence, the camera cuts to a different angle and his head is instantaneously facing forward.

Continuity: During the series of sprints that the coach makes the players do after the game against Norway, the number of players on the ice changes. This is especially evident during the first one they do in the dark (only about 16 or 17 skaters are shown instead of the original 21).

Factual error: The exhibition game at Madison Square Garden took place at 2:00pm, not at night as the outside shot of the arena depicts.

Factual error: Immediately after the victory against the Soviets, coach Herb Brooks did indeed leave the bench and go back through the tunnel. However, it wasn't to find a secluded place to rejoice. He simply had to go to the restroom.

Other: What are the odds that a small arena in Norway would use the exact same scoreboard as the arena in Lake Placid?

Factual error: In the movie, the players on the bench rushed onto the ice to celebrate the victory about 4-5 seconds after the final horn sounded. In the actual game, everyone had left the bench with 1-1.5 seconds still left to play in the game.

Continuity: Herb's wife brings him a cup of hot chocolate at the outdoor skating rink. When she first gets there, both cups are steaming heavily. Just seconds later, neither cup shows even the slightest amount of steam coming out.

Factual error: At the start of the 2nd period, Al Michaels announces that the "Cone head" line is on the ice. In the actual game, it was the first line (Johnson/Silk/McClanahan) that started the 2nd period.

Continuity: After Team USA beat Czechoslovakia, there's a scene on the streets of Lake Placid where Herb Brooks and his advisor are discussing why there is so much media covering the hockey team. Brooks makes the statement, "They've (USA) won two games." Actually at that point, they had won only one game, against the Czechs. They tied their first game vs. Sweden.

Deliberate "mistake": Herb is driving and listening to a speech by President Carter on the car radio. The radio that is shown is a GM Delco radio, but Herb was driving a Dodge.

Factual error: In the movie, just before Mike Eruzione scored the game-winning goal, one of his teammates shouted "Rizzo," and passed the puck to him. That was not the case in the actual game. The puck inadvertently bounced over to where he was; no one intentionally passed it to him.

Factual error: In the movie, after Mark Johnson scores the last-second goal in the first period against the Soviet Union, the ref indicates that the goal counts and time has expired. Both teams therefore go back to the dressing rooms. In the actual game, the ref ordered the timekeeper to put one second back on the clock, and called the players (most of whom had already gone back to the dressing rooms) back out to the ice for a face-off, to make the end of the period official.

Factual error: The time clock digits on the scoreboard were not made up of individual round lights, as shown in the movie. They were made of illuminated bars, similar to the LED displays on alarm clocks.

Continuity: After the coach's first argument with his wife, he returns to the bedroom to apologize. She's laying on her right hip and has to twist at the waist to see him standing in the doorway. He speaks, and the top of her head is in the shot the entire time. When the camera cuts back to her, she's now laying on her left hip, facing him square on. She couldn't have rolled over without causing her head to move or dip out of frame.