Hall of Fame Professional Hockey Head Coach, Olympic Games Gold Medalist Hockey Coach. Born in St. Paul, he played hockey at the University of Minnesota, where he later coached from 1972-79, winning three national titles and left with a 167-99-18 to lead the national team. As coach of the 1980 Olympic team hockey, he led them to the "Miracle On Ice Gold Medal Victory" with a win over the highly rated Soviet Union. The gold medal, which was won in Lake Placid, New York, was maybe the most famous moment in Olympic history. He returned to lead the 2002 U.S. Olympic hockey team to a silver medal. In the famous U.S.-Soviet Union hockey semifinal matchup, Brooks told his players: "You're meant to be here. This moment is yours. You're meant to be here at this time." The U.S. team won 4-3 in a game often referred to as one of the greatest sports moments of the century. The Americans went on to down Finland in the final. Brooks was the last player cut on the 1960 U.S. gold medal teams, but made it onto the 1964 and 1968 Olympic teams. Last season, Brooks was the director of player development for Pittsburgh Penguins. He rejected a multimillion dollar offer to coach the New York Rangers last summer, saying he didn't want to be away from his wife and family in Minnesota. For that reason, the Penguins couldn't persuade Brooks to return after he was their interim coach during the 1999-2000 season. Brooks replaced Kevin Constantine in December 1999 and led the Penguins into the second round of the playoffs. He had an NHL career coaching record of 219-221-66-2, including a 29-23-5-2 record with Pittsburgh. He was inducted into the U.S. Hockey Hall of Fame in 1990. He was killed when his single vehicle rolled over at an intersection on a highway north of Minneapolis. The "Miracle on Ice" inspired the Disney sports drama film, "Miracle" (2004) starring Kurt Russell as Brooks. During his NHL coaching career, he coached the Minnesota North Stars (1987-88), the New Jersey Devils (1992-93) and New York Rangers (1981-85), where he reached the 100-victory mark faster than any other coach in franchise history. The Ranger teams he coached were built on speed and stick handling ability. Unfortunately, his Ranger teams were never able to get passed a New York Islanders team that was in the process of winning 4 straight Stanley Cups. In 2006, he was posthumously inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame as a builder.