ABC SUNDAY NIGHT MOVIE: MIRACLE ON ICE (TV)
Summary
One in this series of movie presentations. This drama is about the U.S. hockey team's gold medal performance at the 1980 Olympic Winter Games at Lake Placid, New York. Coach Herb Brooks is anxious about the tryouts, which will showcase sixty-eight of the best amateur hockey players in the U.S. Brooks needs to trim that list down to twenty players, who will represent their country at the Olympics. As the players arrive at the training facility, they meet a hard-driving, no-nonsense Brooks and begin to realize what he expects of a team. Meanwhile, Brooks and his assistant coach must deal with the players' agents and lawyers, who are only interested in the professional hockey contracts that await their clients. After the grueling workouts, the team list is finally posted, and a few of the rejected players are bitter and vow revenge on Brooks. The goalkeeper, Jim Craig, wants to pursue a pro career and worries that by joining the Olympics instead, he is placing his family in deeper financial straits. Brooks understands the players' financial difficulties and tries to find a corporate sponsor to cover the team's finances. The hockey team begins its trek to Lake Placid with some exhibition games in Europe, and they return home with a respectable record. Just as they are feeling great about their performance, they play a professional hockey team and realize that their skills could still use improvement; furthermore, they recognize that beating the powerful Soviet Union team will be a tremendous challenge. To the team's surprise, Brooks is not upset about their lackluster performance because they showed the discipline necessary to compete as a team.
The team unanimously decides to make Mike Eruzione the captain of the team; consequently, Coach Brooks knows exactly where to focus his anger about the team. While the team is gathered for a small party, Brooks announces the final cuts from the team and Eruzione now learns what being a captain is all about. For their last exhibition game before the Olympics, they play against the Soviet Union at Madison Square Garden. Brooks realizes that this game will prove whether his team is ready compete for the gold medal. The Soviets annihilate them, but Eruzione refuses to let the team's spirit slide as they head into their opening game against the favored Swedish team. The U.S. is down two goals to one with less then a minute remaining in the game when Brooks tries a risky strategy. The plan succeeds and the U.S. ties the game and moves on in the preliminary round. Their next game against the Czechoslovakian team brings a victory, which boosts their point total as they head into the final preliminary game against Norway. The team's subsequent victory against Norway raises the possibility that the U.S. team will make a run for a medal, especially after they beat West Germany. In another showdown with the Soviet Union, the score is tied at the end of the first period and the U.S. trails by one goal and the end of the second. In the last few minutes of the game, the Soviet Union stages one last attack, but the U.S. is victorious. The crowd bursts into hysteria but Brooks retreats to the locker room for some solitude, knowing they face Finland for the gold medal. Ultimately, the team beats Finland and the U.S. wins the gold medal for the first time in twenty years. As the national anthem plays during the medal ceremony, Eruzione urges his team to join him on the platform. The program concludes with actual footage of the U.S. hockey team members receiving their medals, along with descriptions of their accomplishments after the Olympics. Commercials deleted.
Details
- NETWORK: ABC
- DATE: March 1, 1981 Sunday 8:00 PM
- RUNNING TIME: 2:24:23
- COLOR/B&W: Color
- CATALOG ID: T84:0307
- GENRE: Drama, historical
- SUBJECT HEADING: Drama, historical; Sports; Olympics
- SERIES RUN: ABC - TV series, 1962-
- COMMERCIALS: N/A
CREDITS
- Frank von Zerneck … Producer
- Robert Greenwald … Producer
- David Garcia … Associate Producer
- Jim Hay … Associate Producer
- Steven Hillard Stern … Director
- Lionel Chetwynd … Writer
- Fred Karlin … Music by
- Karl Malden … Cast, Herb Brooks
- Andrew Stevens … Cast, Mike Eruzione
- Steve Guttenberg … Cast, Jim Craig
- Jerry Houser … Cast, Auge
- Allan Miller … Cast, Kaminski
- Robert F. Lyons … Cast, Murray
- Robert Peirce … Cast, Craig Patrick
- Michael Cavanaugh … Cast, George
- Lucinda Dooling … Cast, Donna
- Jessica Walter … Cast, Pat Brooks
- Eugene Roche … Cast, Mr. Craig
- Thomas Babson … Cast, Steve Thompson
- Jack Blessing … Cast, Mark Pavelich
- Michael Cummings … Cast, Mark Johnson
- Richard Dano … Cast, Dave Silk
- Thomas F. Duffy … Cast, Dave Christian
- Scott Feraco … Cast, Ken Morrow
- Peter Horton … Cast, Jack O'Callahan
- John Lansing … Cast, Ed Paradis
- Brian Mozur … Cast, Ralph Cox
- Bill Schriner … Cast, John Harrington
- Steve Schulefand … Cast, Jack Hughes
- Jonathan Segal … Cast, Buzz Schneider
- Ken Stovitz … Cast, Rob McClanahan
- David Wallace … Cast, Bill Baker
- Douglas Werner … Cast, John Grazier
- Paul J. Micale … Cast, Mr. Eruzione
- Barry Michlin … Cast, The Doctor
- Eldon Quick … Cast, Bank Officer
- Nora Gaye … Cast, Thompson's Girl
- Frank Birney … Cast, Mr. Sears
- Joe S. Cardi … Cast, Watchman
- Bob Basso … Cast, Barkeeper
- Lillian Muller … Cast, Stewardess
- Ted Zeigler … Cast, Drunk in Bar
- Clint Young … Cast, Man in Bar
- John Lupton … Cast, Paul Anderson
- Jesse Logan … Cast, Anna
- Tom Kindle … Cast, Referee
- James Brown … Cast, Reporter #1
- Steve Bond … Cast, Reporter #1
- Al Michaels … Cast, Himself
- Ken Dryden … Cast, Himself