>
>    EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. (UPI) -- The New Jersey Devils Friday fired
> coach Tom McVie and replaced him with Herb Brooks, who led the 1980 U.S.
> hockey team to a gold medal and coached the New York Rangers and
> Minnesota North Stars of the NHL.
>    Brooks, 54, coached the Devils' Utica farm club of the American
> Hockey League last season. His three-year contract is the longest New
> Jersey has ever given a coach.
>    Brooks said the long-term contract gives him time to install his
> motion offense.
>    ``It shows they will let me put my system in and I belive in a
> motion-created system,'' he said. ``Every team that has won the Stanley
> Cup since the 1980s has used that, plus a tough defense in the playoffs.
>    ``I think the right pieces are here to eventually win the Stanley
> Cup, but there's work to be done. I don't necessarily disagree with
> everything Tom Mcvie did. In fact, I agree with much of it. But there
> are areas I want to change.''
>    Brooks said he thought the Devils have the deepest goaltending in the
> NHL, with Chris Terreri, Craig Billington, Michael Dunham and Sean
> Burke, who sat out last season because of a contract dispute.
>    The Devils' front office hopes Brooks can give the team an identity
> it has lacked while sharing the New York metropolitan area with the
> Rangers and New York Islanders.
>    Brooks led the University of Minnesota to three NCAA championships in
> the 1970s, then coached the ``Miracle On Ice'' the 1980 Olympic team
> pulled off by winning the gold medal at Lake Placid, N.Y. The United
> States scored a semifinal upset over a heavily-favored Soviet team that
> included current Devils defensemen Viacheslav Fetisov and Alexei
> Kasatonov.
>    After coaching the Swiss team Davos for a season, Brooks took over
> the Rangers and had a 131-113-41 record over three-and-a-half seasons.
>    Brooks coached Division III St. Cloud (Minn.) in 1986-87, then
> returned to the NHL for one season, coaching the North Stars to a 19-48-
> 13 mark. Brooks' career NHL record is 150-161-54
>
>
 
--
Dave [log in to unmask]
Cornell '91 OSU Med '95
Far above Cayuga's waters.....