The international hockey community lost a coach, an innovator and a friend on August 11 when Herb Brooks died in a car accident on a Minnesota highway. Brooks, 66-years old when he died, will always be remembered for leading a bunch of kids to an improbable Olympic gold medal in 1980. But he accomplished so much more.

The 1980 U.S. Olympic triumph, a story that encompassed world politics as well as ice hockey, will always be what is associated with Herb Brooks. Lost in the legacy are the three NCAA titles at Minnesota in just a seven-year stint with the Gophers. Think about that for a second. Lost is the exemplary playing career. And what about his tireless crusade addressing the excesses and ills that plague our game from time to time?

There are those who bristle when anyone points out flaws in how we oversee our game. The response is often,“Why be negative?” But Brooks was never afraid to point out our faults. And what better spokesman for such a cause than Brooks, whose passion and respect for the game were beyond question.

Whether suggesting more outdoor rinks or challenging some USA Hockey program or taking on the administration of Minnesota High School hockey, Brooks was never shy in expressing another way things might be done. Behind it all was a sincere concern for the improved development of the hockey player and a broadening of the base.

“He really was a revolutionary,” says Yale coach Tim Taylor, whose own lengthy international resume includes 1994 U.S. Olympic Head Coach. “He took a combination of European hockey and Canadian hockey and the result was American hockey. I don’t know that anyone will ever again be as influential as he was because he was part of the globalization of the sport and because of the many philosophies he brought together.

“Herb never wavered from his deep-seated belief that we could do more to develop hockey players and that we could do better by our youth. He strongly believed in giving them the best chance to succeed. He bordered on being a genius in these areas.”

Taylor makes an observation echoed by many that for all his fame and visibility, Brooks was a somewhat reluctant figurehead.

“’The Reluctant Icon’ is what one paper called him,” says Taylor. “He was never really able to use the pulpit in a very effective way. And it’s too bad because his ideas were so positive and made such sense.”

If the most visible coach in America couldn’t bring about change, who will take hold of these issues now that he is gone? Hearing this lament, Taylor, it seems, is not so pessimistic.

“He left his imprint on a lot of other people who are still around. The State of Minnesota does many things the way Herbie envisioned. I think there are a lot of people laboring behind the scenes to put into effect the game plan that he wasn’t politically correct enough to implement. It remains for the rest of us who believe in his ideas to follow through.”

— Joe Bertagna