U.S. inspired by 'Miracle' heading into 4 Nations Face-Off final

BOSTON -- Kurt Russell, of all people, should be thanked for the United States being on the brink of adding another significant trophy to its mantle.

That's right, the legendary actor is one of the main influences in the journey most of the American players have made to the championship of the 4 Nations Face-Off against Canada at TD Garden on Thursday (8 p.m. ET; ESPN, ESPN+, Disney+, SN, TVAS).

How, you ask?

Twenty-one years ago, Russell took on the task of playing Herb Brooks, the legendary, hard-nosed, inspirational coach who led a rag-tag group of upstart hockey players to a gold medal in the 1980 Lake Placid Olympics, upsetting the supposedly unbeatable Soviet Union along the way.

That improbable 4-3 victory on Feb. 22, 1980, became known as the "Miracle on Ice," because of the call by broadcaster Al Michaels, who screamed: "Do you believe in miracles? Yes!" as the final seconds evaporated.

"Miracle," the movie, tells the story -- through the eyes of Brooks -- of how the college-aged Americans engineered an upset of the older, mostly professional Russian team before defeating Finland two days later for the gold medal.

"When you think about USA Hockey, you think of 'Miracle,' the movie," said Jake Guentzel, a forward on this American team.

Jim Craig, the goalie, and Mike Eruzione, the captain who scored the winning goal against the Soviets, became national icons in the process.

Eruzione, played by Patrick O'Brien Demsey in the movie, came to Montreal a few days before the 4 Nations Face-Off and was one of several speakers at the pretournament team dinner.

Many of the questions from the players were about the accuracy of the movie.

That's because not a single player on the roster was alive for the history-making moment 45 years ago.

"We had lots of questions, you know, just on the movie and what really happened or how stuff was dramatized in different ways," said Auston Matthews, the captain for Americans at the 4 Nations. "So, it was cool to get his perspective and hear his stories and his side of that. Obviously, it was a pretty ground-breaking moment for USA Hockey."

United States coach Mike Sullivan was 12 when the USA won gold in Lake Placid. Bill Guerin, the team's general manager, was 10.

Each was glued to the television for the game against the Soviets that was shown on tape delay in prime time.

It fueled their imagination and paved the way for their journey to the pinnacle of the sport.

"I guess it just shows our age, that the players in our dressing room are watching the movie and that is their remembrance of it, but that [game] had a huge impact on my generation for sure and inspired a generation of [American] players," Sullivan said.

That inspired generation went on to upset Canada at the 1996 World Cup, another seismic jolt of the international hockey ecosystem.

Guerin was a player on that 1996 team, as was Keith Tkachuk, father of Matthew Tkachuk and Brady Tkachuk, top-line forwards on the current team.

"'Miracle' was a miracle," Guerin said, speaking of the game not the movie. "The movie allows the story to be told again and again and that is a gift."

One that keeps bearing fruit.

Noah Hanifin is a defenseman for the United States here and a star with the Vegas Golden Knights.

He says his parents took him to see the movie when he was 5.

"I think that's what made me fall in love with the game," he said. "I was so excited to play in my game the next morning.

"For me as a kid, that's what made me want to play hockey."

Matt Boldy, a forward for the United States, was already playing travel hockey when he fell in love with the movie.

His parents drove him to practices and games and the minivan had a DVD player for the back seats. There was a rotation of three movies. "Miracle" was one. The other two? Boldy struggled to recall.

"Every time we were in the [minivan], we were watching that movie," he said, a smile spreading across his face. "It's one of those movies where you can quote the whole movie start to finish.

"The story is inspiring. It's an influential movie for young American players."

Brock Nelson, who at 33 is one of the gray beards on the American team, knows a bit more about the legend of 1980.

His uncle, Dave Christian, played for the 1980 team. His grandfather, Bill Christian played for the 1960 Olympic team, which won America's first Olympic gold in ice hockey.

As a boy, Brock remembers wearing his uncle's medal once. He regularly listened raptly to stories from his uncle about the Lake Placid tournament.

The movie brought those memories to life, made them tangible for Nelson, helped his uncle illustrate some of the finer points of his experience.

Dave Christian was played by Steve Kovalcik.

"His character looks pretty good representing him in the movie," Nelson said.

Now, could there be a sequel to be made?

If the United States finds a way to win Thursday at the 4 Nations, the victorious players will join the pantheon of lionized American hockey players.

"I think this group that we have in our room have an opportunity to do that and inspire the next generation of players and I think they recognize that," Sullivan said.