Herb Brooks was behind the bench when the Americans pulled off the greatest upsets ever by beating the dreadful Soviet Unions with a bunch of youngster, mostly college players. This is one of the best sporting events of the 20th century. Herb Brooks also has his story�
Brooks played hockey at the University of Minnesota, where he graduated in 1959, and tried out for the 1960 U.S Olympic team. He was the last player to get cut. But he came back strong and played for the Olympic team in 1964 and 1968. Herb Brooks was also a member of the 1961, 1962, 1965, 1967 and 1970 national teams. In 1972, he coached Minnesota to NCAA Division I Championships in 1974, 1976, 1979 and finally became coach of the United States National Team.
Herb Brooks was also known for his excellent organization and motivator. Entering the 1980 Olympics hockey tournament, Brooks told his team: �You�re meant to be here. This moment is yours. You�re meant to be here at this time.� With this phrase in the players mind, the U.S team beat the Soviet Union 4-3 and then went on to the finals against Finland and won the gold medal by a score of 4-2.
The National Hockey League offered Brooks many coaching positions but he always turned them down. He coached the Swiss team in 1980-81 and finally returned to the United States and coached the New York Rangers. At the end of the season, The Sporting News named him coach of the year. He was later fired in January of 1985. He moved on and coached once again at St. Cloud State University in 1986-1987 and was then named coach of the National Hockey League Minnesota North Stars. The team only won 19 games and was later replaced after the season. Brooks also coached the New Jersey Devils to a 40-wins, 37-losses, 7-ties record in 1992-1993. Brooks resigned because of a dispute with the management. After coaching the French Olympics team in 1998, he also coached the Pittsburgh Penguins to a 29-24-5 record in 1999-2000. His overall NHL record was 219 wins, 222 losses and 66 ties.
At the Salt Lake City Winter Olympics, Brooks coached the US team to a silver by loosing to the very powerful Canadian team. He turned down a multi-million dollar offer from the New York Rangers because he wanted to stay near his wife and family in Minnesota.
On Monday, August 18, 2003, Herb Brooks died in a car wreck. He was returning from a celebrity golf tournament at the U.S Hockey Hall of Fame in Eveleth, Minnesota. He was 66 years old. He left behind him his loving wife Patty, his son, Dan and his daughter, Kelly.
