Herb Brooks killed in car accident

Mpls Star Tribune ^ | 8/11/03 | Star Tribune

[Johnny Gage]

Herb Brooks, 66, former University of Minnesota hockey coach, was killing this afternoon in car crash near Forest Lake, Minn., on Interstate 35.....

[LS]

He loved that team, and helped them reach their potential as perhaps few coaches ever could.

[Miss Marple]

I agree. In a couple of hours, those kids and Herb Brooks reignited patriotism in this country. People remembered who we were by watching that game.

My daughter was a new-born and we were glued to the set through the entire series. We were in Evansville, Indiana, which is NOT a hockey town...but EVERYONE was watching.

Great memories!

[rs79bm]

This is awful. Having lived near Lake Placid, I remember the miracle on ice vividly. This is sad news indeed.

[rintense]

I'll never forget the miracle on ice. I was 11 years old, and became a hockey fan in an instant. Herb Brooks will always be a part of that memory. Rest in peace, Herb.

[X-FID]

Include me. USA College kids vs. USSR army pros. What a game!

Indeed, I followed the Russian team during the 70's they were an awesome, very professional team, a machine, and they got beat by our boys, you couldn't make up a better story.

[Russell Scott]

It wasn't a miracle, but it was fun to watch. I hope Herb knows the real miracle worker, because anything he accomplished in this world means nothing, if he doesn't have the gift of eternal life.

[xp38]

A tip of the hat to a great coach from north of the border. Ice hockey at its best is an amazing game. I've sat through many a similar set of games over the years up here. Prayers for his soul and his surviving loved ones.

[CurlyBill]

R.I.P. Herb

Thanks for the miracle!!! You were one of the best!!

[VOA]

I hope Herb knows the real miracle worker, because anything he accomplished in
this world means nothing, if he doesn't have the gift of eternal life.

It may be wishful thinking, but I'll venture the thought that Mr. Brooks might be
about in the same league as the centurion of great faith.

[VOA]

But beating the Russians was only one step.... Again, Brooks went to work
on his players' minds, peppering them with cryptic words.

"Basically, he walked in and told us after the Soviet game that if we
lost to Finland, we would take it to our grave,"

..."There was incredible apprehension before this game.
We were horrified by the thought that we'd be sitting around 10 years
later and wondering how we could lose the gold medal after coming so close.
Essentially, we were afraid to lose."

The United States was losing 2-1 entering the final period. Three unanswered goals
later, the fans were singing "God Bless America" and waving flags. The Soviet Union's
streak of four consecutive gold medals had been stopped, and Finland had
been vanquished. And to think, before the Olympics, Brooks was talking bronze.


The "Miracle On Ice" was da bomb...but Brooks ability to squeeze the US Team to finish off
Finland...my amateur guess is that was a master stroke of coaching.

more at this URL--
http://espn.go.com/abcsports/wwos/80hockeyteam.html

[baseballfanjm]

The Miracle on Ice was years before I was born, and yet watching it almost brings me to tears and gives me chills down my spine. A tragedy and a loss indeed.

[jhw61]

I doubt there were very many dry eyes in living rooms across America....when they played the National anthem and raised our beloved American flag. God Bless you Herb Brooks. Thanks for the memories.

[Colonel_Flagg]

Would this be the northern equivalent of a beloved college football coach dying?

This would be the American equivalent of a folk hero dying. In Minnesota, the hockey community is like family and there are a lot of people in South St. Paul and around the state in shock tonight - I am one of them.

UM is my alma mater and I watched his great teams of the mid to late 70s as my first exposure to hockey. He restored the program to national prominence and then did a masterful job with the '80 Olympians.

I hope Herb is sitting with another Minnesota alum - Bob Johnson - remarking that it's a great day for hockey. What a tragic loss.

[RonF]

I was channel surfing and saw someone in a U.S. uniform check someone not in a U.S. uniform so hard they were knocked off the ice and into their own bench. "Hell, this looks good!" and I watched them beat Sweden. I kept watching the games. I was playing in an evening volleyball league, and we had a TV there with the game on (we never had a TV there before or after). Everyone went nuts when the goal was scored at the end of the period. When the game was won, they went nuts again!

Then they played Finland, won, and had to drink a bunch of beers to be able to produce urine for the drug test. And when they got up on the podium to get their medals, they looked and acted like it. Even the Russians had to smile a little. But not much. They weren't there for bronze.

And I remember the first Bruins game that Eruzione played in. He was introduced last; "From Team U.S.A. ..." and the crowd started chanting "U.S.A.! U.S.A.!" and waving flags. They almost couldn't drop the puck.

[Z-28]

Another reason for 4-point safety belts.

[the tongue]

I remember so well watching the game against the Russians, knowing the outcome, because it was on tape delay. One golden moment in the midst of the Iranian hostage crisis. Unbelieveable. Reagan did a lot to make us all proud to be Americans, but if you ask me, that was the jumping point of the whole revitalization of Americanism.

[Danette]

Was he even wearing a safety belt? Says he was "thrown" from the van.

[mosby]

How good was that USSSR team? In 1972 Canadian NHL all-stars played the USSR for the first time. It was an 8 game series, 4 games in Canada, 4 games in the USSR. The Canadians won the last 3 games in Moscow to take the series 4-3-1, with Paul Henderson scoring the winning goal in the last minute of the 8th game. That Canadian team had all the NHL greats of that era on it - Esposito, Savard, Dryden, etc (although Bobby Orr was injured and missed the series). During the 70's Canadian NHL all-star teams played the USSR on numerous occasions. I would say that overall the results were about even - maybe a slight edge to the NHL.

The 1980 USSR team that the US college team beat was at least the equivalent of the 1972 USSR team. In effect a bunch of US college players beat a team equal in talent to the best in the NHL (NHL players couldn't play in 1980 because they were pro's). Difficult to think of a comparable sporting result. Amazing.

[Finalapproach29er]

Almost ran for the US Senate as a Republican. He was right of center politically. A Minnesota legend.

[Amelia]

This would be the American equivalent of a folk hero dying. In Minnesota, the hockey community is like family and there are a lot of people in South St. Paul and around the state in shock tonight - I am one of them.

I'm sorry. You can imagine that most of us down here in GA don't know much about hockey, but it was crass of me to post to the thread under those circumstances.

My sincere condolences.