Trivia for
Miracle (2004)

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• During filming at a residence of the University of British Columbia in Vancouver, rowdy residents disturbed filming by hanging USSR flags in the residence windows, reporting the shoot to the fire marshal, yelling distracting taunts at the actors, and even stealing Kurt Russell's chair.
  
  
• Stand-in goalie for the character of Jim Craig was former Edmonton Oilers' goalie Bill Ranford.
  
  
• Herb Brooks was a former U.S. Olympic player in 1964 and 1968.
  
  

• Over 4,000 men auditioned for only 20 roles on the US Olympic Ice Hockey Team in the movie.
  
  
• Herb Brooks died in a car accident during principal photography of this film. A dedication is made for him before the ending credits.
  
  
• Over 280 miles of film were shot, more than any other Disney movie.
  
  
• Buzz Schneider is being portrayed by his son, Billy Schneider.
  
  
• The referee for the semifinal game is played by Ryan Walter, an ex-NHLer and Vancouver native who finished his career as a Vancouver Canuck and was a technical consultant for the movie. He "choreographed" all the hockey scenes to be realistic and the goals to be exactly as they really were. He has also said that he had to down-grade his skating in order to better impersonate the Finnish referee Carl-Gustav Kaisla.
  
  
• The World Trade center is shown in 1980, a digital recreation of the Twin Towers was used, being the first time they have been created (instead of just filmed) for a movie since the terrorist attacks on the USA of 11 September 2001.
  
  
• Michael Mantenuto got into a fight with another player who picked on him and other guys on the ice during tryouts. He apologized to director Gavin O'Connor afterwards, to which Gavin responded, "No, that was good." Michael ended up winning the part of Jack O'Callahan, the defenseman dubbed "the first one to drop his gloves".
  
  
• Director Cameo: [Gavin O'Connor] the fan who drapes the flag on Jim Craig's shoulders at the end.
  
  
• The scene where Herb Brooks makes the team skate back and forth on the ice all night, after their 3-3 tie with Norway, was actually done by the real actors over a span of three days - 12 hours a day. The director wanted the moment to be as realistic as possible.
  
  
• The day that Herb has the players skate back and forth over the ice (after the tie with Norway) is known as "Herbie's Day" by the cast.
  
  
• Although Al Michaels and Ken Dryden recreated the bulk of their commentary for the film, the closing seconds of the game against the USSR use the actual original ABC Sports commentary from 1980.
  
  
• While Al Michaels joined the film to recreate commentary for the games, Gavin O'Connor decided to use the last 10 seconds of Michaels' original "Do you believe in miracles?" call in the film because he felt he couldn't ask him to recreate the emotion he experienced at that moment. Thus they cleaned up the recording to make the transition to the authentic call as seamlessly as possible.
  
  
• The national anthem heard at Madison Square Garden is performed by Lauren Hart, who began singing the anthem on a regular basis at Philadelphia Flyers home games in 1997. Hart is also the daughter of late NHL Hall of Fame announcer Gene Hart, who broadcast for the Flyers from 1967-1995.
  
  
• The young men chosen to portray the members of Team USA were chosen primarily for their hockey skills due to the intensive nature of the filming; acting ability was secondary. In fact, for most of them, this was their first major film.
  
  
• To avoid confusion, during filming Kurt Russell referred to the actors/hockey players cast as Team USA exclusively by their corresponding characters' names or nicknames, not their real names. For the most part, the Team USA actors maintained this policy among themselves also.
  
  
• In real life, the "Herbies" after the Norway game did not end with Mike Eruzione saying he played for the United States of America. They instead ended with Mark Johnson's frustration of having to do the Herbies, he smashed his stick against the glass.
  
  
• The notes for the first film of the Soviets that Coach Brooks is shown watching says, "19 February 1976 Moscow".
  
  
• At the national team hockey tryouts, one of the main characters, Jack O'Callahan greets another player Jim Craig, by saying, "What's up, you sieve!" In ice hockey slang, a sieve is a goal tender who allows too many shots to go through into his/her net. Jim Craig was the goalie for the American team.
  
  
• The shots of the NHL-Soviet game on Herb's TV where Mikhailov is seen scoring is real footage.
  
  
• Scene where Herb talks to Jim Craig about his commitment to the team was filmed on a friday night at the dorms of the University of British Columbia. Rowdy students placed Canadian flags in windows and cranked the music. Kurt Russell's cast chair was stolen.
  
  

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