ST. PAUL, Minn. -- Herb Brooks isn't looking for a "Miracle
on Ice" -- just a gold medal in Salt Lake City.
Brooks, who led the U.S. hockey team to the gold medal against
huge odds in 1980, was introduced Wednesday as the head coach of
Team USA for the 2002 Winter Games. This time, he'll be coaching
players from the NHL, not a group of amateurs.
|  | | Herb Brooks, who coached the U.S. Olympic team to gold in 1980, will get that same opportunity in 2002 -- this time with NHL players. |
"That was then, this is now. It's apples and oranges," Brooks
said. "This team, if it wins, it won't be a miracle. I don't think
it will even be an upset. This team can stand with the top six or
seven teams in the world."
Joining Brooks as assistants are minor league coach John Cunniff
and former Olympic hockey coach Lou Vairo. Pittsburgh Penguins
general manager Craig Patrick will be the team's general manager,
while St. Louis Blues general manager Larry Pleau is associate GM,
USA Hockey official Art Berglund is director of player personnel
and Jim Johannson, another USA Hockey official, is team leader.
In 1980, Brooks and Patrick, the assistant general manager and
assistant coach, led a group of college players to an upset of the
Soviet Union en route to a gold medal. It was the last time the
United States won a medal in men's hockey.
Brooks' team will have only three days to prepare for the 2002
Olympics while the NHL shuts down for a 12-day period.
Brooks said he preferred the old format, in which professionals
were not allowed to play with amateurs, but he accepts the change.
"Without change, there's no progress," he said.
At the 1998 Nagano Games in Japan, the United States tied for
fifth place, despite using NHL players, and the team came under
criticism for its behavior. A room at the Olympic Village was
trashed by U.S. players following their elimination. The events
were investigated, but no culprits were identified.
Brooks, who coached the French Olympic team that year, said he
didn't want to "look in the rearview mirror" regarding the
incident. "What happened there will be among the things we have to
learn from. But I don't think too many of us will spend much time
on it," he said.
Brooks, 63, who coached the University of Minnesota (1972-79), played on the 1964 and '68 teams. He has not been a
part of the U.S. Olympic team since 1980. Brooks also has coached
the Penguins, New York Rangers, Minnesota North Stars and New
Jersey Devils.
Patrick, 54, has been the general manager of the Rangers and
Penguins. Patrick has been in Pittsburgh since 1989.
Pleau, 53, a member of the 1968 U.S. Olympic team, has been the
Blues' general manager since 1997.
Assistant coach Cunniff, in his fifth season as head coach of
the American Hockey League's Albany River Rats, is making his third
appearance on the staff of a men's Olympic hockey team. He served
as assistant coach in 1998 and was an associate coach in 1994. He
also was a member of the 1968 U.S. Olympic team.
Vairo has been director of special projects for USA Hockey since
1992. He served as head coach of the 1984 Olympic hockey team. Send this story to a friend | Most sent stories |
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 Herb Brooks sees the United States as one of the hockey powers.
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