About Herb Brooks
Herbert Paul Brooks (August 5, 1937 – August 11, 2003) was an American ice hockey player and coach. His most notable achievement came in 1980 as head coach of the gold medal-winning U.S. Olympic team at Lake Placid. Brooks' team upset the heavily favored Soviet team in a match that came to be known as the "Miracle on Ice". Brooks also coached multiple National Hockey League (NHL) teams, and the French team at the 1998 Winter Olympics. He returned to coach the U.S. men's team to a silver medal at the 2002 Winter Olympics in Salt Lake City. When Brooks died in a car accident in 2003, he was the director of player personnel for the Pittsburgh Penguins. Brooks was inducted into the United States Hockey Hall of Fame in 1990 and the IIHF Hall of Fame in 1999. He was honored posthumously with the Wayne Gretzky International Award in 2004 and inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame in 2006. Afterwards, Brooks went up to the coach, Jack Riley, and said, "Well, you must have made the right decision—you won". From 1960 to 1970, Brooks set a record by playing for the U.S. national team eight times, including the 1964 and 1968 Olympic teams. After retiring as a player, Brooks first tried his hand at selling insurance. Nine members of the 1979 team that won the championship in March would be recruited for the 1980 Olympic team, which Brooks was already recruited to coach.
Biography source: Wikipedia. The profile adds birthday-specific historical context from the Celebs Birthday Today editorial database.