The filmmakers were determined to be as accurate as humanly possible in recreating the actual plays, shots and scenarios that actually went down in the games. The following are some production notes regarding the film's production.
To create the 133 plays in the film, the filmmakers turned to ReelSports Solutions' Mark Ellis, who had previously worked with producers Ciardi and Gray on "The Rookie". But even with so many plays to get right, two stuck out as especially important: Bill Baker's goal during the Sweden game, and Mike Eruzione's goal during the Soviet game. "Those two kept me up at night," Ellis laughs. "if we didn't get those goals right, we might as well have packed it up and went home. We had to make it real; we had to make it feel for the audience like it felt when it happened 24 years ago."
When it came time to train the players, ReelSports Solutions organized a six week training camp to train the players. Even though most had hockey experience, all the players had to re-learn the game using 80s-era hockey sticks, gloves and pads. the equipment alone was a huge challenge for us", Ellis notes. "Everybody had to get used to that. Then we began to learn the plays."
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