Herb Brooks Style Of Play

Brooks new hybrid style of play was going to be used by his 1980 Olympic team by comprising all elements of the different styles of play. Brooks knew that if his less experienced team was going to win they first needed to be able to skate three pull periods with them, thus began his intense training methods beyond any NHL team and similar to the Soviets. He became the most progressive coach in North America with his new methods (Gilbert 134-139). He kept the disciplined defense North American style, but his main focus was the creativity on offence. He made sure his players stuck to their assignment but gave permission for players to play as creative as possible on offense which threw teams off because they did not know what formation was coming at them.
The type of players he wanted on his team was the most important thing to Brooks. Brooks loved any player who gave 110% effort because that was what mattered most to him, if someone only gave 90% effort they would most likely get benched. He needed players who were creative to fit his new offensive style and who could take his criticism and respond to it (Gilbert 139).

When putting together his team for the Olympics, Brooks spent countless hours calling everybody in a prospects life to see if they were a good person and how hard they worked (Gilbert 145). This guaranteed that everybody who tried out for the Olympic team was hard working with a good attitude so that no matter who he cut or kept they would meet his requirements. All this lead to Brooks' team to be so successful and what makes him a coaching icon today.
Brooks' determined work ethic was the biggest key to all his success. When coaching the Gophers, Brooks benched his star player one game for discipline issues and lost the game because of it but it taught him a lesson and he had the best attitude by the end of the season (Gilbert 79). This example proves that Brooks would stop at nothing to make sure his players follow his own way of giving 110% effort. After a scrimmage against Norway with his Olympic Team, which they tied 3-3 after taking the team lightly, the team skated Herbies to the point of collapsing. Brooks told the team that if they played the same way the next morning they would skate even more; they won 8-0 (Gilbert 154). This shows once again that effort was the most important thing to Brooks because he knew much it mattered and paid off.
When someone says the name "Herb Brooks" the first thing that pops into most people's mind is the Miricle On Ice Hockey Team.

His biggest accomplishment was his 1980 Olympic team, but he had a lot of success before that coaching the Minnesota Gophers and after with his style of play being used across the country.
Before Brooks became head coach of the Gophers they went 8-24-0, but Brooks was there to revive them. Two years after becoming head coach he led them to their first national championship and won. Between the years of 1972-79 Brooks led the Gophers to three national titles with a total record of 167-97-18, he had brought them back from the dead. This was his first big accomplishment which made him a big name throughout the hockey community and all the recent success led to him getting the coaching job of the Olympic Hockey

team.
The 1980 Olympic hockey team shocked the world with the miracle of beating the unstoppable force of the Soviet Union and going on the win gold, all under head coach Herb Brooks. The team comprised of college students from about two different schools that happen to be rivals and hate each other. The team did not bond well at first, but Brooks knew that by being no one's friend and making the team hate him more than each other they would come together and forget their rivalry (Gilbert 144). The game everybody was looking forward to was against the Soviet Union and being in the middle of the Cold War with them, beating them was more than just winning a hockey game to many Americans. That game sent them to the championship versus Finland, and if they didn’t win that game them the Soviet game meant nothing at that point. The United States finished it out and pulled out the victory over Finland, they won gold for the first time in twenty years and Herb Brooks became an American hero. Along with all success of the Olympics, Brooks proved how well his new system that worked.
The traditional Canadian style of playing hockey throughout North America was soon not the same. Many NHL teams and college teams picked up on the new offensive weave concepts that were used by Brooks in the Olympics and were once thought to be silly. The extreme training and conditioning that he used were noticed also and teams started to condition their players the same way Brooks did (Gilbert 171). This information relates back on how Brooks became legendary coach and progressed the game with his new successful tactics.