Herb Brooks, the coach of the 1980 USA hockey team that defeated the USSR on the path to winning Olympic gold, in one of the greatest hockey games of all time, once said “Great moments are born from great opportunities.” The Miracle on Ice was one of those great moments in sports history.
Herb Brooks was born in Saint Paul, Minnesota and started playing basketball and hockey in junior high school. When he played for the University of Minnesota, he was almost selected for the 1960 USA Olympic hockey team. Just one week before the Winter Games were set to begin, he was cut from the team. Herb Brooks didn’t let this disappointment get him down. He focused on improving his skills and set a new record for the game by playing for 8 United States National and Olympic teams between 1960 and 1970. After he retired from playing, he started coaching at his alma mater, the University of Minnesota, where he led the team to 3 NCAA championships. Brooks then moved to St. Cloud State University in Minnesota where he built the team up to Division I and finished his college coaching career at St. Cloud with 175 wins.
Brooks hand picked the 1980 USA hockey team. He chose mostly University of Minnesota and Boston University players to make up the team that would go on to defeat the USSR in the famous Miracle on Ice Olympic game. Boston University was Minnesota’s long time hockey rival. Selection of players from Boston created one team with a singular goal: bring gold home to America. After coaching the USA hockey team to a gold medal win, he moved to Switzerland where he coached for one year before returning to the United States where he resumed his coaching career with the New York Rangers. Brooks became the first American coach to lead the Rangers to a 100 win season. In 1988 Herb Brooks coached France in the Winter Olympics. His long list of NHL coaching positions includes the Minnesota North Stars, New Jersey Devils, and the Pittsburgh Penguins for whom he later worked as a scout.
Herb Brooks was back behind a USA hockey team for the 2002 Winter Olympic Games and led team USA to the finals. He led the USA team to victory over Russia 22 years to the day after the 1980 Miracle on Ice. The USA team lot to Canada following this victory, but finished the Games with the silver medal. In 1990 Herb Brooks was inducted into the United States Hockey Hall of Fame. The International Hockey Hall of Fame inducted him in 1999. In 2006 after his death, he was inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame. Herb Brooks died at the age of 66 following an auto accident in Minnesota on August 11, 2003. On the 25th anniversary of the 1980 USA hockey team Miracle on Ice, the Olympic arena in Lake Placid, New York was renamed the Herb Brooks Arena. A statue based on a photograph of his reaction following the historic win for America was installed in Saint Paul, Minnesota in 2003
“You were born to be a player. You were meant to be here. This moment is yours.” Herb Brooks.
Brooks quote from: “The Boys of Winter: The Untold Story of a Coach, a Dream, and the 1980 U.S. Olympic Hockey Team,” by Wayne Coffey, p. 45