Herb Brooks: The Inside Story of a Hockey Mastermind - Softcover

Herb Brooks, the legendary coach who forged the invincible 1980 “Miracle on Ice” team, was famously antagonistic toward the press. Nonetheless, he turned time and time again to sportswriter John Gilbert, giving his friend and confidant what became the most comprehensive coverage of the ’80 team. This book is Gilbert’s memoir of Brooks’ entire coaching career—the story of an extraordinary man seen through the lens of a remarkable friendship. Gilbert became a friend of Brooks’—and, at times, his most astute critic—while covering the coach’s 1970s University of Minnesota teams. Now, for the first time, Gilbert relates rollicking anecdotes and memories from former players, illuminating Brooks’ hard-nosed coaching methods and his incomparable character. Beginning with Brooks’ youth hockey days in East St. Paul and his ill-fated stint with the 1960 gold medal-winning Olympic team, Gilbert goes on to dissect the coach’s tenure with the Gophers and the Lake Placid story, from the selection process through the Games themselves. Throughout this and later chapters on Brooks’ coaching turns with St. Cloud State, four NHL teams, and the 2002 U.S. Olympic squad, readers are treated to impossibly colorful quotes, rare photographs from Brooks’ playing and coaching careers.

Herb Brooks is best known for forging the “Miracle on Ice” team that stunned the world in 1980. He also resurrected the University of Minnesota hockey program in the 1970s, coached in the NHL, and built a reputation for unorthodox motivational and conditioning techniques. But perhaps Brooks’ greatest hockey achievements were his steadfast support of American-born hockey players and his tireless adherence to a creative, European-influenced style of play.

As the hockey beat writer for the daily Minneapolis Tribune, John Gilbert was on hand to cover those Brooks-coached “U” teams and the meticulously assembled 1980 Olympic squad. In the process, Gilbert became Brooks’ confidant, close friend, and sometimes his critic. Now, for the first time, Gilbert offers recently gathered anecdotes and reflections from former players and colleagues, as well as his own first-person perspective, to illuminate the people, experiences, and even the specific game situations that shaped and propelled Brooks’ philosophies and methods. In the process, he also busts many of the myths that have grown up around the coach and his colorful career.

Gilbert begins with Brooks’ childhood in blue-collar East St. Paul, his amateur playing career, and his ill-fated stint with the 1960 gold medal–winning U.S. Olympic team (from which he was famously the last player cut) before dissecting his tenure behind the Gophers bench and the entire 1980 Lake Placid story, from the selection process and barnstorming tour to a game-by-game breakdown of the Olympics themselves. Throughout, readers are also treated to impossibly colorful quotes from Brooks and a complete examination of his post-Miracle career, including his passionate battles with USA Hockey and coaching turns with Division III St. Cloud State, four NHL teams, the 1998 French Olympic team, and the 2002 U.S. Olympic squad. The result is a comprehensive, thoroughly unique, and at times rollicking portrait of the man some have called the greatest hockey coach ever.

The Author: John Gilbert has been around sports his entire life. The son of the late Wally Gilbert, Duluth's greatest athlete (Brooklyn Dodgers, Duluth Eskimos, pre-NBA pro basketball, and Duluth curling), he has written about hockey at all levels. A former Minneapolis Star Tribune writer, Gilbert now reports for various magazines and radio stations. He continues to play amateur baseball in his attempt to avoid reaching retirement age.