He ultimately returned to coach the U.S. men's team to a silver medal at the 2002 Winter Olympics in Salt Lake City.

He was honored posthumously with the Wayne Gretzky International Award in 2004 and inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame in 2006.

Three weeks later, Brooks sat at home with his father and watched the team he almost made win gold in Squaw Valley.

[4] While playing for the Rochester Mustangs in the United States Hockey League in the 1961–62 season, he formed part of the highest-scoring forward line in USHL history at the time, along with Bill Reichart and Ken Johannson.

[7] Brooks had been hired due to lobbying from Nanne and USA Hockey executive Walter Bush (after Jack Parker declined the position).

[11] After his team's Olympic gold medal win, Brooks moved to Switzerland to coach HC Davos in the National League A.

However he resigned from this position in January 1981, only six months after being hired, with the team having a poor record and Brooks facing criticism for what were described as "rough practices".

[13] In July 1985, after failed negotiations with the Minnesota North Stars, Brooks stated that he was through with coaching and would take a job as a national sales representative for Jostens, a memorabilia manufacturer.

However, he was convinced by John Mariucci (head coach at Minnesota for Brooks in the late 1950s) to take the position because Mariucci (who died the following year) felt Brooks could get the school to think about elevating itself to Division I in the future; at the time, the state of Minnesota had just two Division I programs for hockey.

With practices dedicated to the power play and penalty kill on a constant basis as opposed to the norm of dedicating to it once a week, the team won 25 games, a team record for over a decade and won the Northern Collegiate Hockey Association tournament to reach the NCAA Division II Tournament for the first time, where they went all the way to the Third Place game; Brooks later called it the most enjoyable year he had had in coaching.

He stressed a need for youth and speed to build a winner but argued with players such as Claude Lemieux, who was both the leading scorer on the team and one that Brooks labeled midway through the season as a "cancer".

A perception of having little support from general manager Lou Lamoriello and owner John McMullen did not help matters for Brooks.

Despite a three-year contract, Brooks resigned on May 31, 1993, citing differences over what the team needed to get to the next step in the playoffs; two seasons later, the Devils won the Stanley Cup.

25 games into the 1999–2000 season in December 1999, Brooks was hired by general manager Craig Patrick to replace Kevin Constantine as head coach of the Penguins.

[21] On January 13, 2000, Brooks confronted Colorado Avalanche announcer John Kelly for suggesting that Matthew Barnaby faked an injury after being hit by Alexei Gusarov with 27 seconds left.

He was honored posthumously with the Wayne Gretzky International Award in 2004, and inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame in 2006.

[32][33][34] After he was fired by the Minnesota North Stars, Brooks then spent two years doing TV color commentary for SportsChannel America alongside Jiggs McDonald.

[39] On the afternoon of August 11, 2003, six days after his 66th birthday, Brooks died in a single-car accident on Interstate 35 near Forest Lake, Minnesota.

[46] In 2004, Disney released a film about the 1980 Olympic team called Miracle featuring Kurt Russell playing the part of Brooks.

Brooks served as a consultant for the Disney film during principal photography, which was completed shortly before his death.

The inscription reads: "A man of passion and dedication, Herb Brooks inspired a generation of Americans to pursue any and all dreams.