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Rachel Blount: St. Cloud State berth in Frozen Four fulfills Herb Brooks' vision

Bob Motzko seemed surprised that no one had made the connection. Last week, the St. Cloud State coach noted that these Huskies were not the first to make it to the final four in an NCAA hockey tournament. They had done so in Division III in 1987, finishing third in the nation to end the season in which Herb Brooks coached them. The Huskies went 25-10-1 that season, and Brooks also aided them by lobbying for state funds to build the National Hockey Center. In the Division III tournament, they lost 5-2 to Oswego State in the semifinals and defeated Bemidji State 6-4 in the third-place game. "I'll never forget when we played the semifinal game,'' said Motzko, who played for the Huskies for two seasons before joining Brooks's staff. "I was standing right next to Herb in the press box, and he was madder than a hornet. He turned to me and said, 'I've never lost a semifinal game before in my life.' He was so mad. I'm just a young guy, and I'm thinking, 'He won three titles [at the U], he won the gold medal [at the 1980 Olympics]. He isn't used to that.' ... One of the players from that team told me, 'You can finish what we started.' I do know Herb would be very proud of this.''

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