More Article Categories Internet Red Tag Sales Great EBooks And Software At The CBMall Submit Your Article
Below This Article Are Related Videos And Other Information!!
A Hockey Coach To Remember
A Hockey Coach to Remember
herbert Brooks coached the miracle hockey team of the Olympics of 1980. He had skated in two Olympic teams himself, was a long time college hockey coach, and spent 1979 looking for recruits for the team. In 1980, the US did not recruit NHL stars, for the players were still of entirely amateur status. Herbie Brooks went to the National Sports Festival in Colorado Springs, Co in 1979 and found those players who were the most willing to adapt to his style of hockey playing. His style was to skate hard and fast and work together as a team, with no individual standouts. He gave them psychological tests as well as physical ones, and tried to determine which players could not play together due to intense regional rivalry. Hockey was strong in only a few places back in 1980, and the rivalry between the University of Minnesota and Boston University was intense, culminating in a 1976 NCAA semifinal that was one of the nastiest college games played until that point.
Twelve of the young men he was considering for the team were from Minnesota, and Brooks had coached nine of them at the University of Minnesota. Four were from Boston University, and Brooks was not sure if they could forget their regional allegiance to play together for the Olympic team as a true team. The Easterners thought that Brooks was especially hard on them, but the men who had skated under Brooks said that his motto was "I'm here to be your coach; I'm not here to be your friend." Brooks was given a whip by the team as a gag gift for Christmas.
To get the team to work together, Brooks had six weeks of training camp, and then sixty-one hockey games played all over Europe and America during a five month period. Brooks ran them ragged, criticized them, and left the morale building to his assistant coaches. During this five month period he went over and over the team plans, looking for how to play the perfect game of hockey. When the team was winning, he congratulated them, but kept working over the plans. When the team tied, as they did in Norway, he was disgusted with the lack of effort. After the game was over, he told his players "If you don't want to skate during the game, then you'll skate after it." And the team did just that, skating line sprints: end line to blue line and back, end line to red line and back, end line to end line and back. The crowd left, the janitors turned out the lights, and still the team skated. The next night, the team won, 9 to 0.
Herbert Brooks died in an automobile accident on August 11, 2003. His Lake Placid team came to pay their respects to a hard taskmaster, but a beloved and respected coach. As they said in the eulogy "Herbie had a dream. And his players had a dream." He pursued that dream to the remarkable gold medal team of Lake Placid in 1980.
More Articles
Hockey At The International Level
Common Injuries To Hockey Players
Hockey Players And The Groupies Who Chase Them
Equipment And Warm Ups For New Hockey Players
How The Strike Changed National Hockey League Rules
Common Problems In Ice Hockey Skating Techniques
Hockey Players And Charity Causes
Products And Downloads
eBay Auctions
Warrior Bonafide Sr 14" White/black Senior Ice Hockey Gloves,roller
 | US $53.00 (17 Bids) End Date: Saturday Feb-04-2012 13:42:32 PST Bid now | Add to watch list |
05-06 Upper Deck Hockey Scrapbook Jaromir Jagr #hs23
 | US $1.00 End Date: Saturday Feb-04-2012 13:43:01 PST Buy It Now for only: US $1.00 Buy it now | Add to watch list |
1953-54 Parkhurst #38 Dineen (error Al Arbour) Hockey Card, Detroit Red Wings Vg
 | US $5.99 (0 Bid) End Date: Saturday Feb-04-2012 13:43:16 PST Buy It Now for only: US $11.50 Bid now | Buy it now | Add to watch list |
Tony Granato 1992 U Deck Autographed Hockey Card Jsa
 | US $5.00 End Date: Saturday Feb-04-2012 13:43:33 PST Buy It Now for only: US $5.00 Buy it now | Add to watch list |
Hockey, "scotland National Sport" -- C. 1925 Print
 | US $19.99 End Date: Saturday Feb-04-2012 13:43:50 PST Buy It Now for only: US $19.99 Buy it now | Add to watch list |
Vintage Larry Robinson Hockey Heroes Stand Up Montreal Canadiens Sealed
 | US $5.99 (0 Bid) End Date: Saturday Feb-04-2012 13:43:51 PST Bid now | Add to watch list |
Pittsburgh Penguins Earrings Logo Dangle By Wincraft Nhl Hockey
 | US $8.95 End Date: Saturday Feb-04-2012 13:43:52 PST Buy It Now for only: US $8.95 Buy it now | Add to watch list |
Nhl New York Rangers Marian Gaborik #10 Nyr Hockey Crest Pin Ny
 | US $9.99 End Date: Saturday Feb-04-2012 13:43:52 PST Buy It Now for only: US $9.99 Buy it now | Add to watch list |
2011-12 Ud Artifacts Hockey Box Break #14 Vancouver Canucks ( 2 Boxes )
 | US $5.24 (3 Bids) End Date: Saturday Feb-04-2012 13:44:06 PST Bid now | Add to watch list |
1980s Indianapolis Ice 6 Signed Ihl Hockey Photos #10
 | US $19.99 End Date: Saturday Feb-04-2012 13:44:07 PST Buy It Now for only: US $19.99 Buy it now | Add to watch list |
More Articles And Free Videos
Common Problems In Ice Hockey Skating Techniques
... This phase takes strong muscles, and it takes time to develop it well. The big problem here is balance, where your leg should be directly under the center of your body, your weight should be centered on the blade and not on the inside edge, and your head is up and over your support leg. The final phase ...
Hockey Players And The Groupies Who Chase Them
... woman who carried on an affair with Michael Jordan, but she tried to pin a child on him which later proved wasn't his because she had 3 kids and all of them had different fathers who played in the NBA on different teams. Women will resort to this kind of behavior and then when the athlete is tired of ...
Top Attendance Records In Hockey And Number Of Registered Players
... registered hockey players are Canada with 543,390 registered players in the country and the United States comes second with 435,737 registered players. Slovenia comes in last with 980 registered players so that clearly shows the Canada and the United States are the most popular areas to play hockey since ...
Hockey Players And Charity Causes
... don't need to be in the league if they can't exhibit behavior of a real role model to kids who look up to them. The bad thing is that the athletes who engage in lifestyles that result in negative publicity this is what hurts not only them, but the reputation they stand behind if they have charity foundations ...
Hockey Players Mismanaging Their Money
... about opportunities that are not the best to invest in. The money that athletes make are not being invested wisely so that they can have money to live on in case their career ends due to injury or retirement. The sad thing is they go from making 7 figures and up to almost nothing. Many well known name ...