In The Presence of Greatness

Some Know How To Get The Very Best Out Of Star Performers…Herb Brooks Was One Of Those Rare People

Herb Brooks had the reputation of being one of the greatest hockey coaches the game has ever known–and for good reason.

Brooks, perhaps best remembered as the coach of the U.S. Hockey team that upset the Red Menace (28 years ago this month) was a master motivator; a person who instinctively knew how to get his people to perform to their very best time and time again.

Here’s one for the books.

Just days prior to the lighting of the Olympic flame and less than two weeks from the “Miracle On Ice,” the U.S. team played an exhibition match against the Russians in Madison Square Garden. Heavily promoted, the game was hyped domestically as the changing of the guard; it would be the official unveiling of the U.S. Hockey Team as the new dominant force in the game.

But somehow Herb Brooks knew that Madison Square Garden wasn’t the stage he was looking for. Somehow, it just wasn’t big enough; it wasn’t grand enough.

Instead, Brooks would wait for the world’s stage in Lake Placid.

Humilated by the Russian’s in the Garden 10-3, fans and reporters were ready to turn their backs on this team. Indeed, headlines lamented the loss, “U.S. Team Kneels Before Russians.”

Always the consummate strategist, Brooks used the experience to ready his team for what we would be the most remembered moment in sport’s history–and one of the greatest examples of getting the best out of another human being.

“We were playing the Soviets right in Madison Square Garden - I knew I had to tweak [U.S. Goalie] Jimmy [Craig] again. And he was playing well, but it was a mind thing with him. I said, ‘Jimmy, I fucked up.’ I said, ‘I played you too long. Not your fault. My fault. I see these elements in your game. You’re playing tired. My fault, Jimmy.’ He says, ‘What?’ I said, ‘I gotta play Janaszak here half the game. I want to give him some work because - I just see some flaws now. And I’m kicking myself, Jimmy. I played you too long.’ And he said, ‘It’s my job, I’ll show you, you dirty blah blah blah …’ So halfway through that exhibition in the Garden, I yanked him. I yanked him right there in front of 18,000 people. And he was livid. This was my last tweak with this guy. I knew what I had. Solid goalkeeper … Right after we won [in Lake Placid], he came right to me, with his finger in my face, saying, ‘I showed you, didn’t I. I showed you, didn’t I.’ I said, ‘Yep. You sure did, Jimmy. You did a helluva job, kid.’ “

Herb Brooks died in a one-car accident on the afternoon of August 11, 2003 near Forest Lake Minnesota on Interstate 35. It is believed that he fell asleep behind the wheel–neither drugs nor alcohol were involved. In 2006, he was posthumously inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame. Brooks remains one of the most admired and beloved motivators and coaches in sports history.

Ed’s Note: We should all be so lucky as to have the opportunity to work for someone who knows what battles are worth winning–and just what our role is in delivering the victory.