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Herb Brooks really was a good hockey coach, according to late football coach Buddy Ryan.
Former Jets and Bills head coach Rex Ryan made an appearancen in St. Louis during the Stanley Cup Playoff second round series between the Blues and the Nashvile Predators.
Ryan wore a Predators white road jersey while taking in the game at Scottrade Center, but it was a story announcer Kenny Albert told about the Ryan Family connection to hockey that was the real stunner.
According to Albert, St. Louis attorney Jim Ryan, Rex’s brother, once considered himself the hockey player of the legendary football family, which also includes Rex’s twin Rob, also a football coach.
Well, Jim Ryan went to the University of Minnesota in the 1970s while Herb Brooks was coaching there and decided to try out for the Golden Gophers team.
Brooks, forever known for coaching the USA Hockey team to the 1980 goal medal in what was dubbed ‘The Miracle on Ice,’ cut Ryan.
But that’s not the cold part.
When Jim Ryan called home to tell dad he didn’t make the club, the response was classic Buddy Ryan: “That coach must be pretty smart.”
