The forgotten miracle: when USA hockey actually beat Canada at full strength.
Orchestrating an Upset is relatively recent history, but it is one of the United State’s rare international wins in best-on-best play and it hasn’t gotten nearly the same treatment the Miracle has. How did they assemble a team to beat Canada, who had previously won 4/5 Canada Cup tournaments? The documentary itself is a fun look back at a tournament that had a ton of drama despite not getting much in the way of publicity, especially in the United States. The movie covers Team USA’s creation and all of the international background going into the World Cup. The US was 0-7 against Canada in previous Canada Cup tournaments and hadn’t beaten their northern rivals in 20 years. A first shift brawl in a round robin game against Canada foreshadowed how the Americans would play for the rest of the tournament.
Direction
Gary Batman knows when to let the archival footage breathe.
Sound
Hetfield's narration growls like it's 1996 and grunge never died.
Director
Gary Batman
Trivia, insights & behind the scenes
The 1996 World Cup marked the last time NHLers played best-on-best for a non-Olympic trophy until 2004.
Louis Lamoriello's interview reveals how he built the roster specifically to counter Canada's skill with American grit—a philosophy that defined US hockey for a decade.
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