Matty Blast

Trivia: Just after time expires, Coach Brooks extends his hand to shake hands with Assistant Coach Patrick. Patrick gives him a big bear-hug instead. Kurt Russel (Brooks) didn't know he was going to do that; the directors wanted a genuine reaction.

Matty Blast

Other mistake: 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.

Matty Blast

Trivia: At the Christmas party, backup goaltender Steve Janaszak has a towel around his neck (he always wore one when in uniform & on the bench), even though everyone is in street clothes. This decision was made probably to distinguish him from Ralph Cox, who had a similar handlebar moustache.

Matty Blast

Trivia: When Al Michaels is giving his famous "no buildup, no superfluous adjectives" speech, we see the actual television footage from 1980, overdubbed word-for-word by the current-day Al Michaels.

Matty Blast

Trivia: The reason we see very little footage of the game against Czechoslovakia is that several fistfights broke out during filming (they were hockey players, after all).

Matty Blast

Trivia: Members of the 1980 US Olympic hockey team paid a visit during filming, and described the experience as if being in a "time warp." They were moved by the sight of all the jerseys and amazed at the resemblance the actors had to their 1980 selves. In fact, throughout filming the actors were instructed to call each other by their movie name (whether the camera was rolling or not), so (for example), one actor would say, "Hey O.C.." and both the real Jack O'Callahan and the actor playing him would respond simultaneously.

Matty Blast

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.

Matty Blast

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.

Matty Blast

Factual error: Jack O'Callahan was missing a couple of front teeth during the games. He had no missing teeth in the movie.

Matty Blast

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"?

Matty Blast

Continuity mistake: The fan who came out onto the ice and draped a flag around Jim Craig's shoulders (a cameo by the film's director, by the way) put it on upside-down. The camera cuts away, then cuts back, and it's suddenly right-side up.

Matty Blast

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.

Matty Blast

Trivia: To boost the team's confidence, Brooks often made fun of Soviet captain Boris Mikhailov, saying that he looked like comedian Stan Laurel.

Matty Blast

Trivia: When Jim Craig said to Coach Brooks, "Nobody understands your stupid sayings," he was referring to a notebook that the players kept, where they listed all of the unique things Brooks said. They called his sayings "Brooksisms." Some examples: "This isn't weaving for weaving's sake."; "You don't have enough talent to win on talent alone." and, "You're playing worse every day, and today you're playing like it's next month."

Matty Blast

Factual error: In the movie, Ken Dryden says something like, "In Madison Square Garden this team played very tentative hockey, very much in awe of the Soviet team. Tonight, they're playing like they're not in awe of anybody." He actually said that during team USA's 7-3 rout of Czechoslovakia.

Matty Blast

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.

Matty Blast

Factual error: Even though Jack O'Callahan was injured and couldn't play until the medal round, he still suited up for each game and skated during warm-ups. In the movie, he's wearing a suit and tie while on the bench.

Matty Blast

Trivia: How effective was the lesson coach Brooks taught the players by making them do all those sprints after the exhibition game against Norway? They had another game the next afternoon, and they obliterated their opponents 9-0, according to Rob McClanahan.

Matty Blast

Factual error: In the exhibition game against Norway, Jim Craig is shown in goal for the US. It was actually the backup goaltender, Steve Janaszak, who played in that game.

Matty Blast

Factual error: In the actual games, the referees had their names on the backs of their jerseys (none of the refs in the movie did).

Matty Blast