Michelle Trachtenberg had never skated before. She learned professional skating for this movie in 10 months.
Both mother and daughter relationship actresses share the same birthday but were born in separate years apart from each other. August 21st; Kim Cattrall was born in 1956 and Hayden Panettiere was born in 1989. October 11th; Joan Cusack was born in 1962 and Michelle Trachtenberg was born in 1985.
Although not a huge hit at the cinema the DVD/Blu-ray of this film sells extremely well at ice rinks all around the world. It has also become a perennial favorite of Christmas TV due to its winter based themes.
The name "Tina Harwood" is a reference to Tonya Harding. In the movie, Tina tried to cheat her way to the top by injuring another skater, in the same way Tonya was accused of being involved in the attack on Nancy Kerrigan, a skating competitor.
The "pond" that Casey skates on is actually a custom ice rink (built by Custom Ice inc.)