There’s a new documentary about the most famous sporting event in my lifetime, the USA hockey team winning gold at the 1980 Winter Olympics in Lake Placid. The doc, Miracle: The Boys of ‘80, is streaming now with a Netflix subscription, and I was hesitant to watch it. Not because I don’t love the story of the college kids who took on the mighty Soviets and won, but because I’ve heard the story too many times to count. I’ve seen the great sports movie starring Kurt Russell about the team multiple times (which is available with a Disney+ subscription), and I’ve watched and read countless accounts of the upset win.
Still, I couldn’t resist hitting play eventually, and I’m glad I did. It may be my favorite telling of the story yet.
The Boys of ‘80 Is A Complete Telling Of The Story
It would take a 10-part series to really get into every detail of the incredible story of the 1980 Olympic Hockey team. The team was together for six months before the games started, playing 61 warm-up games in that time, not to mention the legendarily grueling practices led by coach Herb Brooks. That included a 10-3 loss to the Soviet team at Madison Square Garden just days before the tournament began.
However, this new documentary on Netflix’s schedule tells the most complete story I’ve seen yet of the team. It includes interviews with the players from both the University of Minnesota and Boston University (Go Terriers), as well as broadcaster Al Michaels and the assistant coaches (Brooks died in 2003). It walks the audience through that 61-game tour as the team coalesces under the ruthless leadership of Brooks, and then through the Olympic Games. I found myself once again enthralled by the amazing story. I also learned some new things along the way.
I Didn’t Know As Much About Herb Brooks As I Thought I Did
I thought I knew Brooks’ story pretty well. I knew he’d been an Olympic player himself, and that he’d become a giant as coach at the University of Minnesota, where he’d won three National Championships. That he was a strict coach who worked his players very hard and who used his players’ anger towards him to bond them to each other. I knew he played for the US Olympic team a couple of times, in 1964 and 1968. What I didn’t know was that he was cut from the 1960 team and how much that affected his outlook on coaching, and specifically the Olympic team.
Brooks, according to the doc, was devastated by getting cut in 1960. It’s what motivated him to make the team in the following Olympics and became the driving force in his coaching style. While the players at the time resented Brooks for his harsh coaching style, as seen in the great hockey movie, Miracle, they always appreciated that he cared about them as players and men, which was another reflection of how hard his getting cut from the team was for the coach. He knew their pain, especially those who were cut.
For a story I know so well, it’s great to experience the story again with fresh eyes, and Netflix hit it out of the park with this sports documentary, just in time for the latest Olympic Games to kick off in Italy.
