[10] Hard-driving, no-nonsense coach Herb Brooks puts 68 of the best college hockey players through a series grueling workouts at Colorado Springs in the summer of 1979.

Along the way, Brooks and his assistant coach Craig Patrick must deal with the players' agents and lawyers, who are only interested in the professional hockey contracts that await their clients.

Among those clients is goaltender Jim Craig, who wants to pursue a pro career and worries that by joining the Olympics instead, he is placing his family in deeper financial straits.

But just as they are feeling great about their performance, they play the Minnesota North Stars and realize that their skills could still use improvement; furthermore, they recognize that beating the powerful Soviet Union team, who won the gold medal at the past four Olympic Games and features veteran professionals,[11][12] will be a tremendous challenge.

As the crowd at Olympic Center Ice Rink bursts into hysteria, Herb Brooks retreats to the locker room for some solitude, knowing they face Finland for the gold medal.

Ultimately though, the United States do defeat Finland for the gold medal and Mike Eruzione urges his team to join him on the platform during the playing of the national anthem.

The film concludes with actual footage of the U.S. hockey team members receiving their medals, along with descriptions narrated by ABC Sports broadcaster Al Michaels of their accomplishments after the 1980 Olympics.

Mike Ramsey, Neal Broten, Steve Janaszak, Eric Strobel, Bob Suter, and Phil Verchota were not featured in the film except in archival footage of the gold medal ceremony.

Karl Malden told Sports Illustrated[22] in December 1980 that he had never actually met Herb Brooks in preparation for his portrayal of him, but he studied him on videotape, especially his eyes.

Miracle director Gavin O'Connor said[32] that he remembers calling Herb Brooks to tell him that Karl Malden had been cast to play him and hearing a second or two of silence on the line before he replied, in a tone dripping with acid, ‘Isn’t he a bit old?’ On the other hand, Tom Jones of the Tampa Bay Times said[33] that while the movie was a bit hokey and included some strange choices (such as Steve Guttenberg as goalie Jim Craig), Karl Malden pulled off a credible performance as the grumpy Herb Brooks.

O'Connor added that outside of Mike Eruzione and Jim Craig, the rest of the team is just a collection of faces passing quickly before the cameras, identified only by the names on the backs of their uniforms.

Meanwhile, O'Connor argued that other characters such as Patti Brooks as the loyally supportive and enthusiastic wife and Jim Craig's father, Donald (a devoted fan carrying a religious medal for good luck), are little more than plot conveniences.

Entertainment Weekly gave Miracle on Ice a B-, saying[36] "Watching Andrew Stevens and Steve Guttenberg trying to make like hockey players is itself faintly chilling.

The story of the United States men's national hockey team's gold medal victory at the 1980 Winter Olympics was retold in Miracle, starring Kurt Russell as Herb Brooks.

For instance, in Miracle on Ice, more is told of goalie Jim Craig, and his relationship with his father that culminated in the dramatic moment of him draped in an American flag at the end of the gold medal game, looking for his dad in the stands.

There's also scenes in Miracle on Ice that touches upon the players' socio-economic backgrounds,[46] such as one where Craig tells his father that remaining an amateur is costly for their family.

We also learn in Miracle on Ice of Mike Eruzione's decision to never play professional hockey after being captain of the gold medal team.

Auge is depicted as urging Eruzione to reconsider retiring prior to the Olympics to take a position as an assistant coach on the national team.

In December 2007, Tony Granato, who served as head coach of Team USA at the 2018 Winter Olympics, was interviewed by ESPN's Steve Wulf.

But Granato quickly followed it up by saying "Actually, I'm partial to the earlier movie about the team, Miracle on Ice, with Karl Malden as Herb Brooks.

"[58] Prior to the start of the film, Al Michaels reads a disclaimer stating that for dramatic purposes, composite characters and time compression was used in some instances.

Therefore, the two scenes involving her character (where she's on a picnic with Eruzione in the Public Garden in Boston early on in the film, and when she must leave him and return home right before the climax) never happened in real life.