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.
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.