New Herb Brooks statue to be unveiled in Lake Placid

LAKE PLACID | As the Olympic world prepares for the 2026 Winter Games in Milan/Cortina, Lake Placid will harken back to its 1980 competitions and unveil a statue to legendary United States hockey coach Herb Brooks on Jan. 31. The statue is being donated by the Stanley Rumbough family in collaboration with the Herb Brooks Foundation and family, as well as the Olympic Regional Development Authority. All will be present for the unveiling as well as assistant coach Craig Patrick and defenseman Jack O'Callahan. "Our family is very proud of the statue being erected in the arena where the event happened and is named after our father," said Herb's daughter, Kelly Brooks. "The Lake Placid community and all of its visitors have never let the world forget what happened there and the role my dad played in it. For that we are forever grateful." The Lake Placid Olympic Winter Games produced the greatest sports moment in American history when the upstart U.S hockey team shocked the vaunted Soviet Union, 4-3, in the contest that became known forevermore as the Miracle on Ice. Two days later, the U.S. came back in the third period to defeat Finland and cap its run to the gold medal. Herb Brooks was the architect of that achievement. On the evening of Jan. 31, the six-foot-tall Brooks statue will be introduced to the public and placed outside the Olympic Museum at the Lake Placid Olympic Center, site of those unforgettable hockey games. It will be mounted on an 1,800-pound granite base made by Cold Spring Granite Company in nearby Ausable Forks, N.Y. "As Herb's assistant coach, it was eye-opening to watch him work around these guys," said Patrick. "As a hockey coach, Herb was well ahead of his time, and the way we played in the 1979-1980 season illustrated that. From his ability to motivate all of us, to the Xs and Os of his system, he was brilliant and worthy of this honor." Brodin Studios in Kimball, Minn., is charged with creating the Brooks tribute which follows the renaming of the famous rink to The Herb Brooks Arena. That took place in 2005 during the 25th anniversary of those Olympic Games. Meanwhile, Rob Eccleston, of Lake Placid and Colorado, is creating the life-sized team statue that features all 20 players on the top step of the Olympic podium. That will be unveiled in February 2030, on the 50th anniversary of the Lake Placid Games. Organizers of this initiative have currently raised over $500,000 toward the $5.2 million budget. The team statue will be affixed outside the Olympic Center at the intersection of Main Street and Cummings Road. "Prior to being named to the Olympic team, I had only heard the stories of Herbie and his successes at the college level," remarked O'Callahan. "But once you got close to him, you saw how unique his approach was. He found a way to motivate us and get us to all pull in the same direction. Arena visitors will really enjoy this statue. I can see tons of pictures being taken there with Herb." Brooks, the iconoclast whose coaching style and playing system went against the accepted concepts of the game at that time, inspired 20 players, made radical decisions, uttered perfectly timed motivational speeches and led his squad to a gold medal that will live in eternity. "Every person who walks into that arena must be reminded of what occurred here," said Stanley Rumbough, who has attended the annual Miracle on Ice camp in Lake Placid as a goaltender the past nine years and is registered for a 10th year. "That gold medal was more than a hockey achievement. Our country needed a big boost back then and Herb's team came through just when we needed it. The Rumbough family is proud to make this tribute to Herb happen. He was the perfect coach at the right time."

Signup for our newsletter

New Herb Brooks statue to be unveiled in Lake Placid

COMPANY

CUSTOMER SUPPORT

SUBMISSION FORMS

BEYOND THE NEWS