Herb Brooks

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Coach Herb Brooks calms his players' nerves during the 1980 Winter Olympics.

Herbert Paul "Herb" Brooks, Jr. (August 5, 1937 – August 11, 2003) was an American ice hockey coach, best known for coaching the U.S. hockey team to a gold medal at the 1980 Winter Olympics in an event known as the Miracle on Ice.

On November 13, 2006, Brooks was posthumously inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame.^[1]

1 Early life
2 Later career
3 Death and legacy
4 Personal
5 Coaching statistics
6 See also
7 External links
8 References

[edit] Early life

Born in St. Paul, Minnesota to Herbert Brooks Sr. and Pauline Brooks, he played on the Johnson High School hockey team that won the 1955 state hockey championship. Brooks also played baseball during the summer. Brooks later played hockey at the University of Minnesota and was a member of the 1964 and 1968 United States Olympic teams. He almost made the 1960 Olympic team, only to be cut the week before the Olympic games started. He then sat at home and watched the team he almost made win gold. Later, he coached the University of Minnesota Golden Gophers hockey team to three NCAA championships (1974, 1976, and 1979). He coached St. Cloud State University in the mid-1980s. In Minnesota, many consider Brooks the best hockey coach of all time. In 1980, he was the first to beat the Soviets in 12 years, which spanned three Olympics.

[edit] Later career

He was inducted into the United States Ice Hockey Hall of Fame in 1990.

Brooks later coached in the National Hockey League for the New York Rangers, where he became the fastest coach in Rangers' team history to win 100 games. He also coached the Minnesota North Stars, New Jersey Devils, and Pittsburgh Penguins. He was a long time head scout for the Pittsburgh Penguins from the mid 1990s until 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, this time winning a silver medal.

He was inducted into the International Hockey Hall of Fame in 1999, and the Hockey Hall of Fame, posthumously, in 2006.

[edit] Death and legacy

Brooks died in a one-car accident on the afternoon of August 11, 2003, near Forest Lake, Minnesota, on Interstate 35, only six days after he turned 66. It is believed that Brooks fell asleep behind the wheel before the accident after driving all night, and neither drugs nor alcohol were responsible.

Disney released a film about the 1980 Olympic team in 2004 called Miracle featuring Kurt Russell playing the part of Brooks. 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 at the end, "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 their 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 Herb Brooks name, the Herb Brooks Award, 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."^[2]

In Blaine, Minnesota, there a training center called Herb Brooks Training Center. It trains hockey players and figure skater skills like Brooks wanted to do.

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. "A man of passion and dedication, Herb Brooks inspired a generation of Americans to pursue any and all dreams."^[3]

[edit] Personal

Brooks was married to his wife Patti and had two kids, Danny and Kelly.

[edit] Coaching statistics

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	Olympic gold medal team
1980-81	HC Davos	Swiss-A	28	11	16	1	--	23	0.411
1981-82	New York Rangers	NHL	80	39	27	14	--	92	0.575
1982-83	New York Rangers	NHL	80	35	35	10	--	80	0.500
1983-84	New York Rangers	NHL	80	42	29	9	--	93	0.581
1984-85	New York Rangers	NHL	45	15	22	8	--	38	0.422
1986-87	St. Cloud State Huskies	NCAA	data unavailable
1987-88	Minnesota North Stars	NHL	80	19	48	13	--	51	0.319
1991-92	Utica Devils	AHL	80	34	40	6	--	74	0.463
1992-93	New Jersey Devils	NHL	84	40	37	7	--	87	0.518
1998	France Olympic men's team	IIHF	11th place finish
1999-00	Pittsburgh Penguins	NHL	58	29	24	5	0	63	0.543
2002	USA Olympic men's team	IIHF	Olympic silver medal team
	NCAA career totals		272	157	99	16	--	330	0.607
	NHL career totals		507	219	222	66	0	504	0.497