Miracle (2004) - 9 questions

Question: Did Herb Brooks really push the team as hard as depicted in the film?

Answer: Oh definitely. His strategy was to make the team hate him....together. They united under that, and it clicked at the right time.

Question: What would have been the tiebreaker in the medal round, if two teams ended up with the same amount of points?

Answer: Sudden-death overtime, in which the game ends when the first team scores.

Question: What exactly is the difference between the former US hockey style and the 'hybrid Soviet/Canadian' style that Brooks implements? What is different about how they actually play the game. All Brooks ever says in the film itself is some vague stuff about flow, creativity, and keeping options open. The special features expand on this a bit: circling within positions and being ready to come out of your position if an opportunity presents itself. Is this it, or was there more to it?

Answer: You've pretty much got it. The big difference is that with the traditional North American style of play (at that time), everyone had stayed in the section of the ice indicated by their position. For example, if you were a left winger, you stayed on the left side and moved straight up and down the length of the ice as play progressed, staying in your own little zone. The Soviets, however, were given the freedom to move around the whole playing area, constantly weaving, circling in and out of their positions, and anticipating where their teammates were going to be as they made their passes (as Kurt Russell explains during the film footage he was playing for the team). This freedom of movement meant that each player would have more passing options when in possession of the puck. This system therefore also required that the members of the team become very cohesive and know each other on a deep personal level on and off the ice so that each player, knowing the styles, habits and strengths of each teammate, could anticipate where each teammate would be and make the pass accordingly. At the meeting at the beginning of the movie, Russel explains that "team chemistry" is the most important prerequisite for learing this new "hybrid" style of play. And we see examples of it later in the movie when players are calling out their teammates' nicknames before passing the puck (e.g., "I'm with ya Buzzy!" or "Rizzo! Rizzo!").

Question: Where could one obtain recordings of USA's 1980 Olympic hockey games in their entirety?

Answer: You probably wont ever be able to get all the games in their entirety. The biggest obstacle with recorded events and games from the Olympics is the high price of licensing them so its near impossible to obtain entire matches on DVD or VHS and in many cases catching replays of the full game in the future. Many sports channels on cable tv will be your best bet including the US channel ESPN Classic. If you were looking for something to buy the closest you will probably get is a DVD or VHS called "Do You Believe in Miracles? The Story of the 1980 U.S. Hockey Team (2001)".

Question: Why is this film going straight to video and DVD in Australia?. If it got poor reviews I would understand. But it got good reviews as did Kurt Russell for his performance. I just don't understand.

Answer: The film's international appeal would be very limited to those who knew the story or knew of the event, and this story is really only known well in the US and not in countries like Australia. On the review section, it's not the distributors main priority. Unless they see potential overseas it's costly to try and promote it in Australian cinemas and is likely to see a better audience in video and DVD than theatres.

Question: Does anyone else's DVD freeze for a second, right after Brooks says, "I wanna see that kid in the net who wouldn't take the test"?

Answer: I don't recall any intentional "freezes" when I saw this in theaters. I don't have the DVD but I'm assuming your talking about a layer change, if this scene is about halfway through the movie. It's a common thing on many DVDs when, on a dual-layered disc, the laser begins to read the other layer.

Question: I'm curious to know how people in Russia, the Ukraine, and other parts of the former Soviet Union feel about this movie. Do they detest it, love it, like it... do they think any part of it is an exaggeration? Where could I go to see their opinions on Miracle?

Answer: My name is Anastasiya and I am from Moscow, Russia. I am married to an American and we visited his family in New York, America and saw the movie Miracle in the theatre. My opinion on the movie was very good. I thought it was a good movie and although their views on the Soviets weren't very good at parts, I think that was how it really went and I think it was true to the real story. Overall, I liked the movie, and it was not hurtful in any way to me at all, as a Russian. Sincerely, Anastasiya Yakovlev-Burke

Question: Three guys made up the offensive line that was affectionately nicknamed the "Coneheads" after the classic Saturday Night Live skits from the late 70s. What specifically caused them to earn this nickname? What's the connection between those three guys and the Coneheads from Saturday Night Live? The assistant coach starts to give an explanation, but doesn't elaborate enough to offer a clear answer.

Answer: The "Coneheads" (John Harrington, Mark Pavelich and Buzz Schneider) all were from the same area in Minnesota. Naturally, they gravitated together and would often be found working on plays around orange pylon cones at the end of the rink - hence the "Coneheads" nickname.

Question: Why didn't Finland's hockey team medal in the 1980 games if they played the U.S. for the gold?

Answer: It appears that the medal round was just a continuation of the round robin tournament. When the US deafeated Finland, it cliched the best record in the tournament. The Soviet Union had the second best record, and Sweden the third best.