Herb Brooks-The Leader

The Coach of the 1980 Olympic Hockey Team was Herb Brooks from St. Paul, Minnesota. Brooks had actually qualified for the 1960 Olympic Team, which was the only other American team to win the Olympic Gold Medal, but he was the last player to be cut from that team. At the time of the games, he was the head coach of the Minnesota University Hockey team, and he had won three national championships in the 1970's. At first, the Olympic committee that selected him was skeptical of his abilities, because he wanted to change the way the American team played the game. He wanted the American players to train harder and play much more competitive, as the Soviets and Canadians did at the time. However, Brooks got the job and began his training, which was very controversial because his methods were very harsh and intense, such as the infamous Blue Line Drill (called the "again drill by his players because they had to repeat it so many times). The team practiced together for only six months before the games, but because of Brooks' training, the team was ready. Herb Brooks once said, "Great moments come with great opportunity" (Brooks) before the game agianst the Soviet Union. After the Games, Herb Brooks became an American celebrity and began to coach in the NHL. Brooks was the head coach of the United States again in the 2002 Olympics in Salt Lake City, where the Americans won the Silver Medal. He was a consultant for the film Miracle, which was released in 2004, in which he was played by Kurt Russel. He was killed in a car accident in 2003 during production of the film, which was dedicated in his honor. The Arena in Lake Placid, where the team won the Gold Medal, was renamed Herb Brooks Arena in 2005.