College Sports Television (CSTV), the first 24-hour college sports network, will premiere its original series Coach on Friday, Oct. 3, at 7 p.m. (ET) with a special presentation dedicated to Herb Brooks, the Hall of Fame coach of the 1980 gold medal-winning U.S. men’s ice hockey team who died in an automobile accident Aug. 11.
Mike Eruzione, who captained the 1980 “Miracle on Ice” team, will host Coach, which will feature interviews with 1980 teammates Jim Craig, John Harrington, Rob McClanahan, Buzz Schneider and Dave Silk. The Oct. 3 show will also include highlights from the 1980 Winter Olympics hockey competition and Brooks’ college and professional coaching tenures.
Coach will be followed immediately on Oct. 3 by CSTV Primetime (7:30 p.m. ET), the network’s live studio show previewing that evening’s college sports action. Eruzione will be a special CSTV Primetime guest on Oct. 3, discussing the Herb Brooks special and also previewing the premiere CSTV Friday Night Hockey telecast at 8 p.m. (ET) featuring St. Lawrence at Miami.
CSTV’s original Coach series, announced in June, will deliver the intimate perspective on college sports’ legendary coaches as told by the former student-athletes who were their star pupils. The Brooks-coached 1980 United States team upset a heavily-favored Soviet Union team in the Winter Olympics medal round at Lake Placid, N.Y., and subsequently defeated Finland for the gold medal two days later. Brooks had previously coached Minnesota to three NCAA Division I national championships (1974, 1976, 1979).
Brooks is enshrined in both the United States Hockey Hall of Fame and International Ice Hockey Federation Hall of Fame. He was a three-year letter winner at Minnesota before playing for the United States in the 1964 and 1968 Olympics. In addition to his team’s 1980 gold medal-winning performance, Brooks coached the United States to a silver medal in the 2002 Olympics and coached Team France in the 1998 Olympics.
Brooks also coached the New York Rangers, Minnesota North Stars, New Jersey Devils and Pittsburgh Penguins of the National Hockey League.
Eruzione, the former Boston University star, not only captained the 1980 Olympic team, but scored the game-winning goal in the 4-3 semifinal victory over the Soviet Union. Eruzione scored three goals and had five assists during the 1980 Olympic Games.
