Herb Brooks

Herb Brooks
Coach Herb Brooks during the 1980 Winter Olympics.
Born	Herbert Paul Brooks, Jr. August 5, 1937(1937-08-05) Saint Paul, MN, USA
Died	August 11, 2003(2003-08-11) (aged 66) near Forest Lake, MN, USA
Occupation	Former ice hockey coach
Spouse	Patti Brooks (1965-2003), His Death
Children	Danny (son) Kelly (daughter)

Medal record
Men's ice hockey
Competitor for USA
World Championships
Bronze	1962 United States

Herbert Paul Brooks, Jr. (August 5, 1937 – August 11, 2003) was an American ice hockey player and coach. He notably coached the United States' men's hockey team to a 4-3 upset of the heavily favored Soviet Union in the 1980 Winter Olympics in Lake Placid, New York on February 22, 1980. The victory was later dubbed the “Miracle on Ice” after ABC Sports television announcer Al Michaels' emotional call during the closing seconds of the game. The team defeated Finland two days later to win the gold medal.

Herb Brooks played collegiately at the University of Minnesota. He was the final player cut from the Olympic squad which would ultimately win the gold medal over Czechoslovakia at the 1960 Winter Olympics in Squaw Valley, California. However, he played on the 1964 and 1968 Olympic squads. He never played professionally. After retiring as a player, he became a coach, notably leading the Minnesota Golden Gophers to NCAA titles in 1974, 1976, and 1979. Soon after Minnesota won their third college championship, he was hired to coach the Olympic team. He named several of his Minnesota players to the team, but also named players from their rival, Boston University, to the team and kept two players from the previous squad. The remainder of the team was comprised of players from other schools. To compete with the Soviet Union team specifically, Herb Brooks developed a hybrid of the methodical American/Canadian style and the faster European style, which emphasized creativity and teamwork, a difficult thing given the sometimes intense rivalry between the University of Minnesota and Boston University. He also stressed peak conditioning, believing that one of the reasons the Soviet team had dominated international competition was that many of their opponents were exhausted by the third period.

Sports Illustrated named the team Sportsman of the Year. and in 1999, the victory over the Soviet Union was named the 20th century's greatest sports moment.

After the Olympics, Herb Brooks was hired as the head coach of the National Hockey League's New York Rangers from 1981 until 1985. He went on to coach the Minnesota North Stars (1987-1988), the New Jersey Devils (1992-1993), and was then named the Pittsburgh Penguins Director of Player Development from 1993 until 1997 and Penguins head coach in 1999-2000. He also coached the French hockey team at the 1998 Winter Olympics in Nagano, Japan and again coached the United States men's hockey team at the 2002 games in Salt Lake City, Utah. They won a silver medal.

On August 11, 2003, Herb Brooks died in a single-car crash near Forest Lake, Minnesota. He was the Pittsburgh Penguins' director of player personnel and head scout at the time of his death.

Brooks was portrayed by Karl Malden in the 1981 television film Miracle on Ice and by Kurt Russell in the 2004 feature film Miracle. Brooks was an adviser on the latter. He died soon after principal photography was completed and Miracle is dedicated to him. Before the closing credits, the film shows Brooks in the iconic shot of him looking up at the scoreboard after team captain Mike Eruzione scored what was ultimately the game-winning goal against the Soviet Union with exactly ten minutes remaining in the game. “He never saw it. He lived it”, reads the commemoration. He also appeared in an episode of HBO's Sports of the 20th Century program.

In 2003, the entire 1980 Olympic hockey team was inducted into the U.S. Hockey Hall of Fame. The Olympic Center in Lake Placid, New York, the arena where the Miracle on Ice occurred, was renamed Herb Brooks Arena in 2005. On November 13, 2006, Brooks was inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame in Toronto, Canada as a Builder.

Biography

Early life

Herb Brooks was born in Saint Paul, Minnesota, to Herbert Brooks, Sr. and Pauline Brooks, Brooks. He attended Johnson High School, where his team won the 1955 state hockey championship.

The 1958–59 Gopher Hockey Team, including Lou Nanne, Larry Smith, and Herb Brooks (#9) who is seated bottom row left.

Brooks continued his hockey career with the University of Minnesota Gophers from 1955-1959. Brooks was a member of the 1960 Olympic team, only to become the last cut the week before the Games started. Three weeks later, Brooks sat at home with his father and watched the team he almost made win gold. Afterwards, Brooks "went up to the coach [Jack Riley] and said, 'Well, you must have made the right decision—you won.'"; this humbling moment served as motivation for an already self-driven person.

From 1960-1970, Brooks set a record by playing on a total of eight US National and Olympic teams, including the 1964 and 1968 Olympic squads. Later, he coached the University of Minnesota Gophers hockey team to three NCAA championships (1974, 1976, and 1979). Brooks was approached by Michigan Tech after head coach John MacInnes died in 1983 but turned their offer down. Brooks finished his collegiate coaching with a record of 175 wins, 101 losses and 20 ties. In 1980, he became the first coach of the United States to lead his hand-picked team to victory against the USSR in 20 years. The "miracle" team mostly consisted of University of Minnesota players and their rival Boston University players.

Later career

After his Olympic gold medal win, Brooks moved to Switzerland for a year to coach HC Davos in the National League A. From 1981-85, he coached in the National Hockey League for the New York Rangers, where he became the first American-born coach in Rangers' team history to win 100 games. He also coached the Minnesota North Stars (from 1987–88), New Jersey Devils (1992–93), and Pittsburgh Penguins (1999–2000). He was a long-time scout for the Penguins from the mid-1990s, and held the role of Director of Player Personnel from 2002 to the day of his death.

He also coached France in the 1998 Winter Olympics.

He again coached the U.S. hockey team at the 2002 Winter Olympic Games, leading them all the way to the tournament finals. This included a 3-2 win over Russia in the semi-finals, 22 years to the day after their famous "Miracle on Ice" game. Team USA lost to Canada by score of 5-2 in the final match to take the silver medal.

He was inducted into the United States Hockey Hall of Fame in 1990, International Hockey Hall of Fame in 1999, and the Hockey Hall of Fame (posthumously) in 2006.

Death and legacy

At the age of 66, Brooks died in a single car accident on the afternoon of August 11, 2003, near Forest Lake, Minnesota, on Interstate 35. It is believed that he fell asleep behind the wheel before the accident after driving all night, and neither drugs nor alcohol was responsible. Brooks was not wearing his seatbelt at the time of the crash, and according to the Minnesota State Patrol it is likely he would have survived the crash if he had been.

Disney released a film about the 1980 Olympic team in 2004 called Miracle featuring Kurt Russell playing the part of Brooks (Karl Malden had previously played Brooks in a 1981 television film called Miracle on Ice). Brooks served as a consultant during principal photography, which was completed shortly before his death. At the end of the movie there is a dedication to Brooks. It states, "He never saw it. He lived it."

Upon the 25th anniversary of the Miracle on Ice, the Olympic ice arena in Lake Placid, New York, where the United States won the gold medal, was renamed Herb Brooks Arena. A statue of Brooks depicting his reaction to the victory in the "Miracle" game was erected in Saint Paul, Minnesota, in 2003.

An award was created in Brooks' name, the Herb Brooks Award, which is awarded at the conclusion of the Minnesota State High School League's state hockey tournament to "the most qualified hockey player in the state tournament who strongly represents the values, characteristics, and traits that defined Herb Brooks."

In Blaine, Minnesota, there is a training center called Herb Brooks Training Center.

The road that surrounds the National Hockey Center in St. Cloud, Minnesota is called Herb Brooks Way.

In 2006, Brooks was posthumously inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame in the Builders' category. The inscription reads: "A man of passion and dedication, Herb Brooks inspired a generation of Americans to pursue any and all dreams."

Personal

Brooks was married to his wife Patti in 1965, and they had two children, Danny and Kelly.

Brooksisms

Brooks' original expressions were known by his players as "Brooksisms." According to Olympians John Harrington, Dave Silk, and Mike Eruzione, these are a few.

• "You're playing worse and worse every day and right now you're playing like it's next month."
• "You can't be common, the common man goes nowhere; you have to be uncommon."
• "Boys, I'm asking you to go to the well again."
• "You look like you have a five pound fart on your head."
• "You guys are getting bent over and they're not using Vaseline."
• "You look like a monkey tryin' to hump a football!"
• "You're looking for players whose name on the front of the sweater is more important than the one on the back. I look for these players to play hard, to play smart and to represent their country.”
• "Great moments are born from great opportunities."
• "You know, Willie Wonka said it best: we are the music makers, and we are the dreamers of dreams."
• "This team isn't talented enough to win on talent alone."
• "If you lose this game you'll take it to your grave...your fucking grave."
• "You were born to be a player. You were meant to be here. This moment is yours."
• "Write your own book instead of reading someone else's book about success."
• "Boys, in the front of the net its a bloody nose alley."
• "Don't dump the puck in. That went out with short pants."
• "Throw the puck back and weave, weave, weave. But don't just weave for the sake of weaving."
• "Lets be idealistic, but lets also be practical."
• "You guys don't want to work during the game?"
• "The legs feed the wolf."

Coaching statistics

NHL

Note: GC = Games coached, W = Wins, L = Losses, T = Ties, OL = Overtime loss, Pts = Points, Pct = Winning percentage

Season	Team	League	GC	W	L	T	OL	Pts	Standings	Pct
1981–82	New York Rangers	NHL	80	39	27	14	—	92	2nd in Patrick	0.575 (Lost Second Round)
1982–83	New York Rangers	NHL	80	35	35	10	—	80	4th in Patrick	0.500 (Lost Second Round)
1983–84	New York Rangers	NHL	80	42	29	9	—	93	4th in Patrick	0.581 (Lost First Round)
1984–85	New York Rangers	NHL	45	15	22	8	—	38	5th in Patrick	0.422 (fired)
1987–88	Minnesota North Stars	NHL	80	19	48	13	—	51	5th in Norris	0.319 (missed playoffs)
1992–93	New Jersey Devils	NHL	84	40	37	7	—	87	4th in Patrick	0.518 (Lost First Round)
1999–2000	Pittsburgh Penguins	NHL	58	29	24	5	0	63	3rd in Atlantic	0.543 (Lost Second Round)
	NHL career totals		507	219	222	66	0	504		0.497

Other leagues

Note: GC = Games coached, W = Wins, L = Losses, T = Ties, OL = Overtime loss, Pts = Points, Pct = Winning percentage

Season	Team	League	GC	W	L	T	OL	Pts	Pct
1972–73	Minnesota Golden Gophers	NCAA	34	15	16	3	—	33	0.485
1973–74	Minnesota Golden Gophers	NCAA	34	17	12	5	—	39	0.574
1974–75	Minnesota Golden Gophers	NCAA	42	31	10	1	—	63	0.750
1975-76	Minnesota Golden Gophers	NCAA	38	23	14	1	—	47	0.618
1976–77	Minnesota Golden Gophers	NCAA	42	17	22	3	—	37	0.440
1977–78	Minnesota Golden Gophers	NCAA	38	22	14	2	—	46	0.605
1978–79	Minnesota Golden Gophers	NCAA	44	32	11	1	—	65	0.739
1980	USA Olympic Men's Team	IIHF	Gold Medal
1980–81	HC Davos	Swiss-A	28	11	16	1	—	23	0.411
1986–87	St. Cloud State Huskies	NCAA	36	25	10	1	—	51	0.708
1991–92	Utica Devils	AHL	80	34	40	6	—	74	0.463
1998	France Olympic Men's Team	IIHF	11th-place finish
2002	USA Olympic Men's Team	IIHF	Silver Medal
	NCAA career totals		308	182	109	17	—	381	0.619

See also

• List of members of the United States Hockey Hall of Fame

External links

• Herb Brooks's biography at Legends of Hockey
• Biography – The Herb Brooks Foundation
• Miracle (2004) Movie Origins
• Coach known best for 1980 hockey gold – ESPN Classic
• Herb Brooks killed in car accident – Sports Illustrated
• Herb Brooks' U.S. Olympic Team bio
• Herb Brooks at Find a Grave
• Gopher Hockey History Player Info
• The Herb Brooks Foundation
• wcha.com

Sporting positions
Preceded by Fred Shero	Head coach of the New York Rangers 1981–85	Succeeded by Craig Patrick
Preceded by Glen Sonmor	Head coach of the Minnesota North Stars 1987–88	Succeeded by Pierre Page
Preceded by Tom McVie	Head coach of the New Jersey Devils 1992–93	Succeeded by Jacques Lemaire
Preceded by Kevin Constantine	Head coach of the Pittsburgh Penguins 1999–2000	Succeeded by Ivan Hlinka