Herb Brooks

Herb Brooks was an American ice hockey player and coach whose name is tied to one of the most famous games in Olympic history. Born Herbert Paul Brooks on August 5, 1937, in Saint Paul, Minnesota, he grew up in a hockey setting and attended Johnson High School, where his team won the 1955 state ice hockey championship. He then played for the University of Minnesota Gophers from 1955 to 1959, beginning a long association with Minnesota hockey that would shape much of his career.

Brooks was a driven player, but one of the defining moments of his life came through disappointment. He was a member of the 1960 Olympic team until he became the last cut the week before the Games. Three weeks later, he watched at home with his father as the U.S. team won gold in Squaw Valley. Afterward, he told coach Jack Riley, “Well, you must have made the right decision—you won.” The moment humbled him and gave him further motivation. From 1960 to 1970, Brooks played for the U.S. national team eight times, including the 1964 and 1968 Olympic teams.

After retiring as a player, Brooks first tried selling insurance, then entered coaching with help from Lou Nanne, who had played with him on the 1968 U.S. team. He began coaching freshmen at his alma mater, the Minnesota Golden Gophers, in 1970, coached the Minnesota Junior Stars from 1971 to 1972, and became head coach at Minnesota in 1972. There he led the Gophers to NCAA championship titles in 1974, 1976, and 1979. Nine players from the 1979 championship team would be recruited for the 1980 Olympic team, which Brooks had already been chosen to coach.

Brooks is best known for leading the U.S. Olympic team to gold at the 1980 Winter Olympics in Lake Placid. He hand-picked a roster that included several Minnesota players, along with players from rivals Boston University and the University of Wisconsin-Madison. To face the Soviet Union, which had dominated international competition, Brooks stressed peak conditioning. He worked with Jack Blatherwick on testing and practice plans, and with team doctor George Nagobads to keep shifts to no longer than 40 seconds. The team played a 63-game schedule before the Olympics. Two weeks before the Games, the U.S. lost to the Soviets 10-3. On February 22, however, Brooks’ team beat the heavily favored Soviet team 4-3 in the game that became known as the “Miracle on Ice.” Two days later, the U.S. beat Finland to clinch the gold medal.

After Lake Placid, Brooks coached HC Davos in Switzerland, then the New York Rangers from 1981 to 1985, becoming the first American-born coach in team history to win 100 games. He also coached multiple NHL teams, coached the French team at the 1998 Winter Olympics, and returned to lead the U.S. men’s team to a silver medal at the 2002 Winter Olympics in Salt Lake City. When he died in a car accident on August 11, 2003, he was director of player personnel for the Pittsburgh Penguins. Brooks was inducted into the United States Hockey Hall of Fame in 1990, the IIHF Hall of Fame in 1999, and the Hockey Hall of Fame in 2006. His words still carry weight because they came from hard experience, exacting preparation, and a belief captured in his line: “Great moments are born from great opportunity.”