When the movie Miracle was released in 2004, Jansen Harkins remembers his family going to the video store to buy the physical copy.
They took it home, popped it in the player, and sat down in the living room to watch … waiting excitedly for the credits to roll, looking for one name in particular. As Aerosmith’s ‘Dream On’ played, it came up.
TODD HARKINS, listed under TEAM USSR.
Jansen’s dad, a former NHL player, played Valeri Kharlamov in the film, which tells the story of how the 1980 U.S. men’s Olympic team triumphed against the seemingly invincible Russians.
It’s a story that inspired Todd during his childhood in Cleveland. Initially envisioning a future in football, inspired by his father’s legacy at Ohio State under coach Woody Hayes, Todd’s plan soon shifted. Living next to Paul Shmyr, the captain of the World Hockey Association’s Cleveland Crusaders, the Harkins brothers observed Shmyr’s sons playing hockey in the street, sparking their own interest in the sport.
“We were like, what is that sport? We didn’t even know what it was. Then we convinced my dad to take us to play hockey,” Todd said. “I remember the very first time we went to the rink to skate, I put the skates on, and I walked right on the ice thinking I could just do it. Then I realized that I needed to learn how to skate. So, he put us in lessons, and the rest is pretty much history.”
At the age of 11, Todd witnessed the Miracle on Ice, a pivotal moment that prompted him to abandon other sports, including football. From then on, he dedicated himself to hockey, traveling the Midwest in pursuit of a quality team and challenging competition. His passion for the game eventually led him to three years of NCAA hockey for Miami of Ohio, where he met his future wife, Kirsten. At the time, Kirsten skated as part of the Disney on Ice chorus. “My mom’s probably the better skater,” Jansen said.
Todd’s draft took place after his freshman year, and at the time, he wore his hair in a mullet – just like Jansen does today. Todd’s agent told him he needed to get it cut and bought him his first suit ahead of Calgary taking him in the second round, 42nd overall.
He played eight seasons of professional hockey between the National Hockey League, American Hockey League, and International Hockey League before spending a few years in Europe. Todd retired in 2001 when his eldest son Nicklas was diagnosed with Mucopolysaccharidosis (MPS) Type 1, a rare genetic enzyme disorder.
“From what I can remember, Nick's always had his illness… It was always there, so it was always normal for us, right? Like, he was just our brother, we'd kind of pick on him,” Jansen said with a smile. “But there were some trips to the hospital with him, stuff you wouldn't normally have to do. It gives you a lot of perspective. I think, more so now as I'm older. I think it resonates a bit more.”
The family had settled in Kirsten’s hometown of Vancouver to raise the boys, and after Todd had moved back for good, she saw a newspaper advertisement about open tryouts for the movie Miracle set to film there in 2002. Kirsten left the clipping on his dinner plate, which Todd crumpled up and threw away, as his relationship with the sport of hockey wasn’t the best at the time.
“Then I went, you know what? That episode in time made so many young boys who played hockey want to play it even further and harder,” he said. “At that point, for me, it was like, no one thinks this kid from Ohio can play in the NHL, and I thought, I could do this. It gives me goosebumps thinking about it. So, I said, okay, I'm gonna go do this.”
Harkins went and stood in line for the first tryout, one of about 8,000 people there. “I kept saying to myself, well, the newspaper article said they want former players – all these guys aren't former players!” he said. “They’re actors who want to be hockey players, and I’m a hockey player who wants to be an actor.”
Upon reaching the front, Harkins smoothly navigated the process, thanks to his impressive credentials: 48 NHL games and two World Championships for Team USA. The remaining 800 people were organized into groups of 50. Donning their hockey gear, the initial drill involved skating one lap around the rink, with eliminations following. The subsequent drill required participants to repeat the process, this time backward. “I was like okay, well, I think I'm gonna get through here,” Harkins said.
That was on a Monday, and by Friday, 20 guys – a mix of former NHL, minor league and junior players – received a callback for a practice. Following the session, the group got slashed in half, and Todd’s group was directed to join another crew at a different rink.
“They blew the whistle and that group stood on one blue line, they told us to stay on this blue line. Then Gavin O'Connor, the director, comes out,” Harkins said. “They said Gavin, this is your Team USA, and this is your Team Russia. We looked at each other like, did we make it? I was just like, wow. I got cast as Valeri Kharlamov, even though I’m not 5-foot-8 and a left-hand shot. I'm 6-foot-3 and a right-hand shot, and not as skilled.”
Filming was originally supposed to be three months, but it lasted for six. Harkins worked shooting around his schedule as the director of hockey operations for the North Shore Winter Club, which was hard, “but we knew we were doing something special,” he said.
“We took pride in making the movie hockey scenes, and making sure that we were ready to go and played hard and pushed those young guys.”
Harkins has so many stories and anecdotes from his time making the movie, like how he recruited two-time Stanley Cup Champion and Conn Smythe-winning goaltender Bill Ranford to replace a Junior B player as the double for actor Eddie Cahill, who played Jim Craig… and then subsequently gave him a concussion during a scene where Kharlamov runs over the Team USA netminder.
It was so exciting for the family to see the end result, and to top it off, just a few months later, an enzyme replacement therapy used to treat patients with MPS called Aldurazyme got approved. Nick began taking it, and Jansen said his brother is doing well today, currently in his last year of law school.
Jansen initially shared a room with his younger brother Jonas, but later moved into the spare room as he got older. In that room, Todd’s jersey from the movie, along with the poster, adorned the walls. “Those were like, the centerpieces, so that's what I ended up inheriting. That was my childhood. It was like, my identity was Miracle,” Jansen said with a laugh
The movie became such a staple for hockey teams everywhere, particularly on long bus rides. If Jansen ever watched it with anyone, he would always be like, “hey, guess what? That’s my dad.”
Todd has significantly influenced Jansen, who takes immense pride in his dad’s journey, especially coming from a city that isn’t known for hockey. Interestingly, there’s a Cleveland connection on this year’s Highmark Dads’ Trip, as Alex Nedeljkovic’s father, Butch, also has roots in the arena, with Todd’s brother having coached Alex during his childhood.
Todd and Butch sat next to each other during the 12-round shootout on Wednesday in Montreal, watching their kids play heroes in the 12th and final round, with Jansen scoring the game-deciding goal after Alex came up with a big stop. “We were supporting each other through that whole process,” Todd said. “I waited for a lot longer. Every time, he was nervous, so I was his rock. Then he became my rock. So, it was good.”
It's hard for Todd to describe the emotions he’s felt being on this trip with Jansen, watching him play the sport they both love at its highest level, while also getting quality time with each other.
“I never thought with my boys that this is what they’d do. I just wanted them to love it so much like I did, and just to have that same experience that I had,” Todd said. “I get goosebumps thinking about how I’m experiencing this as a dad now. I just, I don't want it to end! (laughs)
“Because this is the best thing, being part of this. Just seeing how this organization treats our boys, how classy it is, and the professionalism that this club has right from the top to the bottom … I just get shivers thinking about it, because it's an amazing experience.”
