by Charlie Adams, StokeTheFireWithin.com
We lost the first of the 20 heroes that were on the 1980 Miracle on Ice hockey team.
Bob Suter died earlier this month of a heart attack at age 57. He was doing what he loved best as he was coaching youth hockey at the facility he owned in his native Madison, Wisconsin.
In putting together that 1980 team that would stun the Soviets 4-3 in Lake Placid, Herb was looking for tough guys like Suter. Mike Eruzion nicknamed him Bam Bam, from the character from the Flintstones. He said Suter was always ‘bamming’ into someone. Other teammates called him Woody because he was like a wood duck, always bouncing back up.
As you recruit players, people like Bob Suter are who you want to win championships. Three months before the Games in Lake Placid, Suter broke his ankle. While he wasn’t at full speed, Herb kept him on his team because of his fire within and his toughness. When a Czech player cheap shotted Team USA’s top offensive player Mark Johnson in the second game of the Olympics, Brooks sent Bam Bam out to “deal with” the Czech player. As Brooks built teams, everyone had a role, and part of Suter’s role was to take care of such matters. It was the same with Mark Wells, who was the 20th and last man to make that roster. With the score tied with the Soviets 3-3 with ten minutes left on that fateful night of February 22nd, 1980, Brooks sent Wells out to agitage Soviet star Valeri Kharmalouv.
In recruiting, you are obviously focused on building a team and program that wins games and championships. However we can never lose sight of what’s really important is to recruit and develop young men and women that turn into people like Bob Suter. He was a standout at the University of Wisconsin, leading them to a National Championship. He was on the 1980 Olympic gold medal team, but what many will remember him most for is the impact on youth hockey in Wisconsin. Eurozione told the media recently that with respect to all his gold medal teammates, no one did more for youth hockey than Suter. His hockey programs at his facility impacted thousands, and sent several to the NHL.
They could not find a Lutheran Church big enough to hold his funeral. The waiting time to pay respects the day before was over four hours.
Suter never played NHL although he could have gone to that level. He wanted to get on to other things in his life like his sporting goods story and his hockey building. His son Ryan, a star for the Minnesota Wild, has never seen the 1980 game because decades ago his Dad lent it to someone and it never returned. Suter didn’t mind, as he had moved forward.
I will continue to write about the greatest sports moment and team of the 20th century, and I hope these insights help you not only in recruiting but in coaching. Herb Brooks was a genius. His players were very special. What they did should never be forgotten, and that is the purpose of my team building seminar I deliver on site to college athletics programs.
Charlie can be reached at charlie@stokethefirewithin.com, (574) 807 2279 or at his site stokethefirewithin.com