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06-23-2005, 02:12 AM
Anderson: Brooks not in Hall? How rude
Thursday, June 23, 2005
By Shelly Anderson, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
Do you believe in mirages?
Surely, that's what appears before your eyes when you scan the list of Hockey Hall of Fame enshrinees. It can't be that Herb Brooks isn't a member.
Herb Brooks, who produced the finest, most exciting chapter in United States hockey history when he coached a team of amateurs past the thinly disguised pros of the Soviet Union and on to the gold medal at the 1980 Olympics in Lake Placid.
Herb Brooks, who helped inspire a nation, spawn unprecedented interest and growth in the sport across this country and provide the story line for movies, documentaries and assorted other media.
Herb Brooks, who died in an auto accident 23 years after those glorious days in upstate New York perhaps not knowing how much he meant to hockey because of a small group of men.
It's indefensible that Brooks -- who spent his last eight years with the Penguins as a coach and scout -- has been overlooked year after year.
The Hall announced its class of 2005 earlier this month.
Former Boston Bruins power forward Cam Neely and late Soviet winger Valeri Kharlamov made it in the player category.
Murray Costello, who conveniently is a past member of the selection committee, was picked in the builder category for his years of service with the Canadian Hockey Association.
In the builder category, there is a limit of two inductees per year, so it's not as if there was no room to include Brooks.
Looking for some commiseration, the best person seemed to be Penguins general manager Craig Patrick, Brooks' assistant on the 1980 team, his boss in Pittsburgh and a Hall member.
Back came this statement from Penguins spokesman Keith Wehner:
"Craig was very close with
Herb and thought the world
of him as a coach and a per-
son. When he feels the need
to express his feelings, he'll
do so in a private manner
with the appropriate people,
just as he has always done."
You see those gaps between the lines? That's where you can easily read how Patrick must really feel -- he's so embarrassed about the Brooks oversight that he's reluctant to say something he might regret.
So we turn to Mike Eruzione, captain of the 1980 team who scored the winning goal in the 4-3 upset of the Soviets.
"How insulting," Eruzione said. "To me, that's typical anti-American. How can he not be in the Hall of Fame? He orchestrated the greatest moment in American hockey."
The charge has been leveled before that the 18-member selection committee -- former players, representatives from NHL management and journalists -- is esoteric and heavily biased toward Canadians, even specifically those from Toronto, where the Hall sits.
That argument is not without merit. Americans and Europeans in particular seem to get short-changed. Kharlamov's selection came more than 30 years after he starred for the Soviets against Team Canada in the 1972 Summit Series and more than 20 years after he died in an auto accident.
The Hall process is so shrouded (another bone of contention because there's no reason for such secrecy) that we don't know whether Brooks has been considered.
It is disheartening that an alternative group called the World Wide Hall of Fame, which dedicates its virtual shrine to international fairness and diversity, also has ignored Brooks.
"What Herb Brooks did was absolutely phenomenal, but it's hard to compare one person's achievement with someone else's long, successful career," said WWHoF founder and chairperson Morey Holzman of Escondido, Calif.
He described Brooks' 1980 coaching job as a two-week event. That's a gross mischaracterization, considering the impact and ripple effect.
Although the 1980 Olympics should be enough to get Brooks into any Hall of Fame, there was more to his accomplished career -- playing in two Olympics and for five other national teams, coaching the United States to the silver medal in 2002, Minnesota to three NCAA titles and four NHL teams to a 219-222-66 record.
Sadly, it seems it will take something extraordinary to get Brooks into the Hall of Fame.
For now, that miracle is on ice.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
(Shelly Anderson can be reached at shanderson@post-gazette.com or 412-263-1721.)
Thursday, June 23, 2005
By Shelly Anderson, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
Do you believe in mirages?
Surely, that's what appears before your eyes when you scan the list of Hockey Hall of Fame enshrinees. It can't be that Herb Brooks isn't a member.
Herb Brooks, who produced the finest, most exciting chapter in United States hockey history when he coached a team of amateurs past the thinly disguised pros of the Soviet Union and on to the gold medal at the 1980 Olympics in Lake Placid.
Herb Brooks, who helped inspire a nation, spawn unprecedented interest and growth in the sport across this country and provide the story line for movies, documentaries and assorted other media.
Herb Brooks, who died in an auto accident 23 years after those glorious days in upstate New York perhaps not knowing how much he meant to hockey because of a small group of men.
It's indefensible that Brooks -- who spent his last eight years with the Penguins as a coach and scout -- has been overlooked year after year.
The Hall announced its class of 2005 earlier this month.
Former Boston Bruins power forward Cam Neely and late Soviet winger Valeri Kharlamov made it in the player category.
Murray Costello, who conveniently is a past member of the selection committee, was picked in the builder category for his years of service with the Canadian Hockey Association.
In the builder category, there is a limit of two inductees per year, so it's not as if there was no room to include Brooks.
Looking for some commiseration, the best person seemed to be Penguins general manager Craig Patrick, Brooks' assistant on the 1980 team, his boss in Pittsburgh and a Hall member.
Back came this statement from Penguins spokesman Keith Wehner:
"Craig was very close with
Herb and thought the world
of him as a coach and a per-
son. When he feels the need
to express his feelings, he'll
do so in a private manner
with the appropriate people,
just as he has always done."
You see those gaps between the lines? That's where you can easily read how Patrick must really feel -- he's so embarrassed about the Brooks oversight that he's reluctant to say something he might regret.
So we turn to Mike Eruzione, captain of the 1980 team who scored the winning goal in the 4-3 upset of the Soviets.
"How insulting," Eruzione said. "To me, that's typical anti-American. How can he not be in the Hall of Fame? He orchestrated the greatest moment in American hockey."
The charge has been leveled before that the 18-member selection committee -- former players, representatives from NHL management and journalists -- is esoteric and heavily biased toward Canadians, even specifically those from Toronto, where the Hall sits.
That argument is not without merit. Americans and Europeans in particular seem to get short-changed. Kharlamov's selection came more than 30 years after he starred for the Soviets against Team Canada in the 1972 Summit Series and more than 20 years after he died in an auto accident.
The Hall process is so shrouded (another bone of contention because there's no reason for such secrecy) that we don't know whether Brooks has been considered.
It is disheartening that an alternative group called the World Wide Hall of Fame, which dedicates its virtual shrine to international fairness and diversity, also has ignored Brooks.
"What Herb Brooks did was absolutely phenomenal, but it's hard to compare one person's achievement with someone else's long, successful career," said WWHoF founder and chairperson Morey Holzman of Escondido, Calif.
He described Brooks' 1980 coaching job as a two-week event. That's a gross mischaracterization, considering the impact and ripple effect.
Although the 1980 Olympics should be enough to get Brooks into any Hall of Fame, there was more to his accomplished career -- playing in two Olympics and for five other national teams, coaching the United States to the silver medal in 2002, Minnesota to three NCAA titles and four NHL teams to a 219-222-66 record.
Sadly, it seems it will take something extraordinary to get Brooks into the Hall of Fame.
For now, that miracle is on ice.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
(Shelly Anderson can be reached at shanderson@post-gazette.com or 412-263-1721.)