Miracle Directed by: Gavin O’Connor Written by: Eric Guggenheim Presented by: Jacob Johnson
Transcript
Slide 1
Miracle Directed by: Gavin OConnor Written by: Eric Guggenheim
Presented by: Jacob Johnson
Slide 2
Official Preview Miracle Trailer
Slide 3
Back Ground Information Miracle is based on the true story of
how the U.S.A Olympic hockey team beat the Soviet Union in the 1980
winter Olympic Games in Lake Placid, New York At the time the
Soviet Union was the best ranked hockey team in the world U.S.A
team was said to be one of the major underdogs throughout the
entire tournament Sports Illustrated selected the USA teams victory
over the Soviet Union as the Number 1 sports moment of the 20 th
century
Slide 4
Soviet Union Lead by Coach Viktor Tikhonov, Captain Boris
Mikhailov, and Goaltender Vladislav Tretiak Average age 25-28 years
old The Soviet Union had an outstanding hockey team as well as
record Prior to 1980 winter games Soviets had won gold in every
winter Olympics from 1956 throughout 1976 except for the 1960 games
when USA last won gold Also had won gold in 9 international
tournaments throughout this period Soviets were highly experienced
and some players had been playing together for up to a decade The
Soviet goaltender was said to be the best goalie in the world at
the time
Slide 5
USA The U.S. team was lead by Coach Herb Brooks, Captain Mike
Eruzione, and Goaltender Jim Craig Average age on the team was
21-23 years old Many of the players had never played together
before Those that had played together either played on the same
team or on a rival team in college Many players had problems
getting past old bitter rivalries Many players also had alliances
with past team mates and were unwilling to put a side differences
for the greater good of the team Needless to say, this team fought
through lots of adversity to get to where they needed to be in
order to win
Slide 6
Coach Herb Brooks Former player for multiple U.S. National
hockey teams Played Division I College hockey for the University of
Minnesota Golden Gophers during the mid to late 1950s Played for
1960 National team that won Gold, however was cut 2 weeks before
winter games started, last player to be cut that year After winter
games ended Brooks is said to have approached his former coach Jack
Riley and was quoted saying Well, you must have made the right
decision, you won From 1960-1970 Brooks holds a record for playing
on a total of eight U.S. National and Olympic teams, including two
that went to the Olympics in 1964 and 1968
Slide 7
Tough Practice
Slide 8
Picking the Right Players Coach Brooks had a theory of picking
players with the RIGHT amount of skill and talent Did not want a
team full of all-stars he wanted players that would play as part of
the team design he had created He had coached many of the players
he picked for this team in prior years while at the University of
Minnesota Also witnessed many other future players during active
competition while coaching at Minnesota At this time professional
hockey players were not allowed to participate in international
tournaments such as the Olympics Tryouts
Slide 9
U.S.A in Trouble from the Start USA team was not playing the
way Coach Brooks wanted them to play, not good enough to win Lost
many games at the start of the training process Players lacked
discipline needed to succeed, especially for Olympic play Coach
Brooks made sure players knew how good they needed to be, and how
good they actually could be He was very stern and demanded respect
and a 100% effort from all of his players on and off the ice Back
to the Line... Again
Slide 10
Sitting Down Jim Craig Coach Brooks asked different
responsibilities and roles from different players He had his
players take psychological tests in order to see how hard he could
physically and mentally push them When his players did not play up
to expectations he was not afraid to tell them so, and he was not
afraid to take action to fix it Sitting down Jimmy Craig
Slide 11
Team USA Gains Momentum Coach Brooks pushed his players
vigorously throughout entire training process Coaching staff
thought players would start to hate and disregard Coach Brooks
direction in response to harsh tactics and treatment Did not put up
with quitters or negative thinking Once players started to believe
in their selves and team strategies they started to win Bruise on
the Leg is a hell of a long way from the Heart Bruise on the Leg is
a hell of a long way from the Heart
Slide 12
Coach Brooks Team Leader Coach Brooks was a very motivating
speaker and leader Players trusted everything Coach Brooks had
taught them, even if his methods were challenging and/or confusing
at first Looked at the team and cared for the team as a family unit
Many people close to Coach Brooks felt that he wanted to win gold
more so than his players Always pushed for excellence on and off
the ice Very charismatic leader Pre-game Speech
Slide 13
Leadership Styles Coach Brooks Portrays Transactional- In the
sense that he offers players a combination of rewards and
punishments in order to achieve team goals a)Distinguished Chain of
Command- lead by coach Brooks b)Players subject to disciplinary
action when they did not play up to expectations and praised when
they excelled Transformational- Brooks was able to change players
mindset and persuade them to focus more on team goals and
achievements rather than on them selves Charismatic- Coach Brooks
was able to get his players to follow and abide by everything he
was doing and saying throughout the entire process of making it to
the Olympics a)Despite being practically hated by all of his
players at times b)Coach Brooks did a good job at making everyone
on the team feel as though they were part of a family, and that
every piece was very important to the solidarity of the unit
Explanatory- Coach Brooks had a hard time with this style of
leadership. It took people a long time to figure out and understand
why he was doing the things he was in regards to picking the team
and coaching the team a)Players did not understand certain aspects
of his game strategies when they were first explained b)USA Hockey
organization did not understand why he had picked the team he
did
Slide 14
Was Coach Brooks a Good Leader? Leading to a Good Place Leading
to a Bad Place Getting Many Followers Coach Herb Brooks Not Getting
Followers Coach Brooks was a good leader that acquired followers
and lead them to a good place Leading his players to become gold
medal winners (leading followers [not many] to a good place)
Leading our country to a gold medal victory over a country we (USA)
were in conflict with (leading many followers to a good place)
Slide 15
Overall Outcome Coach Brooks lead a team of young men, most of
whom had never played together, to win an Olympic gold medal
Despite being major underdogs and fighting through major obstacles
along the way, USA beat the best team in the world, Soviets, in the
medal round 4-3 to advance Next defeated Finland in final game to
win gold and complete the Miracle on Ice Came from behind in every
game of the tournament they played and won, proving to be a worthy
opponent Soviet Union team devastated by loss Many of the veterans
on the team were forced to retire Coach was not blamed at all for
loss of game by general public Loss caused downfall of greatest
Russian international team of all time to date