Do You Believe in Miracles? The Story of the 1980 U.S. Hockey Team

Great documentary

A great chronicle of those heady days in Lake Placid nearly 25 years ago. Everyone seemed to find something they liked in this improbable victory. For me it was the coaching job turned in by Herb Brooks. It may be the greatest coaching job in the history of sports. Here are excerpts from an AP article about the late Coach Brooks which says it all: Herb Brooks was behind the bench when the American Olympic Hockey team pulled off the greatest upset ever at Lake Placid NY in 1980, beating the mighty Soviets with a squad of mostly college players.That shocking victory, plus beating Finland for the gold medal, assured the team a place in immortality. The young U.S. team was given no chance against a veteran Soviet squad that had dominated international hockey for years and had routed the Americans 10-3 in an exhibition game at Madison Square Garden the week before the Olympics. On Feb. 22, 1980, the U.S. team scored with 10 minutes to play to take a 4-3 lead against the Soviets. As the final seconds ticked away, announcer Al Michaels exclaimed, "Do you believe in miracles? Yes!" It remains one of the most famous calls in history. Brooks' leadership helped turn a ragtag team into champions. He had hand picked each player. "You're looking for players whose name on the front of the sweater is more important than the one on the back," Brooks once said. "I look for these players to play hard, to play smart and to represent their country." Interviewed years later on why he headed to the locker room shortly after the Miracle on Ice, he said he wanted to leave the ice to his players, who deserved it. Players kept a notebook of "Brooksisms," sayings the coach used for motivation, such as: "You're playing worse and worse every day and right now you're playing like it's next month." But, before playing the Soviets, Brooks told his players: "You're meant to be here. This moment is yours. You're meant to be here at this time." "He was ahead of his time," team member Ken Morrow said. "All of his teams overachieved because Herbie understood how to get the best out of each player and make him part of a team. And like everyone who played for him, I became a better person because I played for Herb Brooks." Born in St. Paul, Brooks played hockey at the University of Minnesota, where he later coached from 1972 to 1979, winning three national titles. He was inducted into the U.S. Hockey Hall of Fame in 1990. When Brooks decided to coach the 2002 U.S. Olympic Hockey Team at Salt Lake City, he was asked why he would return after writing the most improbable story in hockey. "Maybe I'm sort of like the players -- there's still a lot of little boy in me," Brooks said. "And maybe I'm a little smarter now than I was before for all the stupid things I've done." Brooks was the last player cut on the 1960 U.S. gold medal team, and unfairly so, the victim of favoritism by his coach. But he persevered, and played on the United States Olympic Hockey Team in 1964 and 1968. And when he coached the 1980 Olympic Team, he did not repeat the mistake made by his 1960 coach. It was difficult and painful, but he did the right thing selecting the players for his 1980 team. And as they say, the rest is history. Or was it really a miracle? That is left for each reader to decide for themselves. In an interview at his White Bear Lake home not long before his untimely death, Brooks described to the Minneapolis Star Tribune about watching one of his favorite movies, "Willie Wonka and the Chocolate Factory." "You know, Willie Wonka said it best: We are the makers of dreams, the dreamers of dreams," Brooks said. "We should be dreaming. We grew up as kids having dreams, but now we're too sophisticated as adults, as a nation. We stopped dreaming. We should always have dreams. I'm a dreamer." This DVD deserves to be in every sports fans' library. With it I recommend the book, One Goal: A Chronicle of the 1980 Olympic Hockey Team, if you can find a copy of this sought after collectible.

I really liked the movie "Miracle" but the whole time I watched it I couldn't get past the fact that it was made by Disney out of my head. Everytime something seemingly amazing happened I kept thinking, "why did they have to Hollywood this up, why did they have to add Disney magic?". I thought the story was good enough to stand on it's own without addind unnecessary drama. Well guess what...they didn't add anything. All that stuff actually happened. A goal really was scored in the last moments of a game to get them to the medal round, the coach really did make them skate in the dark after tieing inferior competition, the captain of the team really did almost get cut, Brooks really did disappear into the tunnel immediately after they won, etc. etc. IT'S ALL TRUE!! Reality out did Disney, now how often can you say that? I won't go on about this being the greatest sporting moment in American history and one of the biggest upsets in sports history period because that is already a well known fact. What I will say is this DVD does an excellent job of putting the game in true context. The cold war, the gas problems, hostages, America having a "crisis of confidence". It also does a great job of conveying just how powerful of a team was Russia. It includes interviews with a few Russian players along with some footage of their domination (to put it lightly!). Just watching Vladislav Tretiak doing his stand up-get down drills gave me chills. That team was scary! All in all this DVD does a near perfect job of wrapping everything up into an easily digestable documentary that shows you just how truly amazing of an event was the Miracle on Ice. I recommend this DVD to anyone.

I never tried to stay in school when I was sick . We had a big field trip planned to go down hill skiing . I got sick and was sent home . I remember watching this team play . Don't get me wrong this is a great show and I really enjoyed it . But watching it happen at the time had you more on the edge of your seat as an 11 year old . You would have to watch all the games to really understand . What I remember most against the USSR was when the US took the lead. all the players protecting the goal . I think some of them spent more time horizontal then upright in the last ten minutes of that game . This is a great recap of that team .

disclosure - i am a hockey fan ( but this storyline is so powerful and HBO does such a darn good job with this - it is my favorite sports documentary ever created. You will never get as powerful story line from a pro sports team and quoting Al Michaels from the video, "the confluence of events was so extraordinary, it could never happen again" pretty much says it all. You get Live Schreiber narrating, with a little bit of heart string pulling, a good bit of humor and a huge dose of rooting for the underdogs who are also the "good guys" - well done

Yes, I cried reliving the event, the top sporting moment of my time. However, I found the nationalist angle a bit overdone in that individual player skills went unmentioned. For example, the beast defender Ken Morrow, who the following year won a championship with the New York Islanders, isn't shown muscling Soviet forwards Instead, we hear from the U.S press secretary held hostage in Tehran. That members of the Soviet team won 3 cups with Detroit goes unmentioned. The gift penalty preceding the U.S.'s 2nd goal goes unmentioned. At the time, my group said, "Good call", knowing our guys needed a little boost. It was fair. What I remember: the Soviets partied mightily when in New York, with pictures of them at Studio 54 in NY Post. They were also rumored to have sex-romped their way through Lake Placid. They had no legs by middle of final period. I asked a neighbors uncle, a Hall of Fame Montreal Canadian, how our guys could win. I don't remember his words, but he knew the talent and didn't think it far-fetched.

Excellent product. Waited a long time for this one.

I was just a young girl when this game took place, and didn't fully appreciate the political climate until much later in life, however, I DO recall the tension between the USA and Russia vividly. I remember Al Michaels' excitement in asking us if we believe in miracles. It was glorious then, and gives me goosebumps every time I hear it now. This documentary takes you behind the scenes of that fateful game, and offers you some great insight on that team. If you are familiar with the movie, "Miracle", then a lot of this won't come as a surprise. That said, I particularly enjoyed hearing the Russians point of view of this event too. A word of caution for parents: while 99% of this documentary is appropriate for kids, there are two F-bombs, and a G-damn in this. This is a "must watch" for all hockey fans!

I watched this the day it arrived. I was not disappointed. The DVD has no extras but the documentary is really good and worth getting. It's very exciting. I also appreciate the political parts that have been included. It's well rounded.