When college coach Herb Brooks is hired to helm the 1980 U.S. men's Olympic hockey team, he brings a unique and brash style to the ice. After assembling a team of hot-headed college all-stars, who are humiliated in an early match, Brooks unites his squad against a common foe: the heavily-favored Soviet team.

"Is this trip really necessary?" asks a road sign. "Sure, it's necessary," replies Woody Woodpecker. "I'm a necessary evil." Patriotic gestures are evidently not Woody's strong suit. When he goes to the gas station for a refill, he doesn't even know what a ration book is. The attendant thinks Woody is a wise guy and takes a large mallet and knocks him and his car into a junkyard several miles away. What luck! The old cars still have a bit of gas in them. Woody takes a rubber hose and siphons the gasoline from some of them. Unluckily, one of the cars he picks is brand new. And it's a cop car. Woody is soon at odds with a bulldog police officer.