6 Unexpected Secrets from Netflix's “Miracle: The Boys of '80” (Including Who Started Chanting 'USA'!)

NEED TO KNOW

• Miracle: The Boys of '80 premiered on Jan. 30 on Netflix
• The documentary focuses on the USA men's hockey team's surprising win against the Soviet Union at the 1980 Winter Olympics
• Miracle: The Boys of '80 features new interviews with Team USA players, and never-before-seen footage

Miracle: The Boys of '80 tells the story of the heated rivalry between the U.S.A. and Soviet Union men's hockey teams in the 1980 Winter Olympics — a matchup that would go down as one of the most famous victories in sports history.

The new Netflix documentary, from directors Max Gershberg and Jacob Rogal, takes viewers back in time, when America faced off against the Soviet Union in a hockey semifinal game. Against all odds, the underdog U.S. team went on to win the game, a moment that united the country, and would become known as the "Miracle on Ice."

Miracle: The Boys of '80 features clips from the historic match, as well as interviews with the players and never-before-seen 16-millimeter film footage.

"Really gritty, beautiful. A different vantage point of the 1980 Games and of the hockey tournament," Gershberg told the Sports Business Journal about the footage. "And the players — no one has seen that vantage point. And so, showing them even moments on the ice from those angles and that film, they loved it."

While the documentary focuses on the famous sports showdown, it also reveals lesser-known details, including the group's dynamic with one another and their coach.

Here are six bombshells from Miracle: The Boys of '80.

There was tension between teammates

The U.S. men's hockey team was made up of student-athletes from different colleges, including the University of Minnesota and Boston University. Although they were meant to act as a team, their school pride inevitably created tension.

"To us, the Boston guys, there was clearly a dislike for the kids who played for the University of Minnesota, played under Herb," team captain Mike Eruzione said in Miracle: The Boys of '80, referring to Herb Brooks, coach of the U.S. men's hockey team.

Player Dave Silk recalled, "The Minnesota guys thought they were so rough and all this. They called the Boston guys 'cake eaters.' They thought we were preppies."

Goalie Steve Janaszak met his wife in the Olympic Village

Goalie Steve Janaszak was part of the U.S. team, but didn't play during the "Miracle on Ice" game. Still, he considers himself the luckiest of his teammates, because he met his future wife at the Olympics.

One night while staying in the Olympic Village, the team went to the entertainment complex to watch a screening of Saturday Night Fever. At the gathering, an interpreter for the International Olympic Committee walked in. "She was cute," Janaszak recalled.

"[To] know her a little bit better ... I would bring her ice cream, sodas and stuff pretty much every day while we were in and out of there. That interpreter, 15 months later became my wife," he said in the documentary.

"I proposed, and we were married in May of 1981. She is the greatest thing that ever happened to me in my life," Janaszak continued. "Even though I didn't play, [I'm] the luckiest guy of those 20 guys, no doubt, hands down."

Brooks was a tough coach, even after the win against the Soviet Union

Team USA's win against the Soviet Union was thrilling and surprising, but they still had to play Finland for the gold medal — a fact that Brooks wasn't going to let his players forget.

After the "Miracle on Ice," the coach had his team hit the rink again to prepare for their next face-off.

"And he proceeded to put us through one of the hardest skates we had all year. He skated our asses off," Eruzione recalled in the documentary. "And we were like, 'Why is he so pissed off? We just beat the Soviets.' I guess looking back at it, [it] was to make us aware that we had another game to play."

In the doc, Janaszak said, "There was a level of intensity that Herb had that just went beyond anything that I've seen out of anybody since."

"I’m 68 years old, and I still wake up in the middle of the night in a sweat,” he revealed in the doc, remembering Brooks' tough coaching, according to The Minnesota Star Tribune.

Dave Christian’s mom led the memorable “USA” chant

By the time Team USA skated out onto the ice for the game against the Soviet Union, the crowd was roaring, chanting "USA!" — a call that was encouraged by the mother of defenseman Dave Christian.

"Dave Christian's mom, she had spunk. She was like, 'We gotta ramp this crowd up,' and she started chanting, 'USA!' " recalled Kelly Paradise, Brooks' daughter, in the documentary.

The chant caught on, helping to boost the morale and spirits of Team USA as they went up against the Soviet Union.

Their "proudest moment" wasn't beating the Soviet Union

The win against the Soviet Union was a highlight of the 1980 Winter Olympics, but it wasn't the team's "proudest moment."

That, according to defenseman Ken Morrow, was during their game against Finland, in which they clinched the gold medal.

"That was our proudest moment as a team, during that whole two-week period," Morrow recalled in Miracle: The Boys of '80. "Our proudest moment was that third period. Everything was on the line, and we played our best hockey."

Eruzione gave a secret shout-out during the medal ceremony

Eruzione gave a special shout-out to his family during the Olympic medal ceremony.

While receiving his gold medal, he saw his Uncle Tony in the crowd, the person who helped fund his hockey camp days as a kid. Eruzione then raised a fist to his uncle in celebration.

"He drove up with my brother and my cousin, and they snuck into the building," Eruozione said about the medal ceremony moment. "It was just so special to share it with all the people in the stands."

Read the original article on People