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The only player/actor of the team who was a more genuine actor was Eddie Cahill, who played Jim Craig, and while he wasn't a hockey player, he had played goalie in lacrosse and was able to adequately transition to portraying a hockey goalie accurately, though a stunt double was still used for many of the more actual game-play footage.
Kurt Russell took a pay cut, so the 800-1000 extras used as the fans at the hockey game could enjoy a full hot meal instead of a brown-bag lunch.
While Al Michaels joined the film to recreate commentary for the games, Gavin O'Connor decided to use the last ten 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 seamless as possible.
More than 4,000 men auditioned for only twenty roles on the U.S. 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.
The shots of the NHL-Soviet game on Herb's television, where Mikhailov is seen scoring, is real footage.
Patti Brooks: Herb Brooks' wife Patti is in the movie as an extra in the stands during the U.S. vs. USSR game. You can see her positioned up and to the left of the actor who portrayed Jim Craig's dad in the movie, during many of his scenes during the U.S. vs. USSR game. She also appears in a couple of scenes with Walter Bush, the director of the 1980 U.S. Olympic Hockey Comittee.
Gavin O'Connor: appears as the man who drapes the American flag on Jim Craig after the US team wins the gold medal.
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