Coach Brooks was as famous for his colorful command of language as he was for his coaching style. These are a few "Brooksisms" as remembered by his players. They were complied on the Herb Brooks Foundation website.

• "You're playing worse and worse every day and right now you're playing like it's next month."
• "You can't be common, the common man goes nowhere; you have to be uncommon."
• "Boys, I'm asking you to go to the well again."
• "You look like you have a five pound fart on your head."
• "Fathers and mothers love their children as I love this hockey team."
• "You're looking for players whose name on the front of the sweater is more important than the one on the back. I look for these players to play hard, to play smart and to represent their country.”
• "Great moments are born from great opportunities."
• "You're getting bent over and they're not using Vaseline"
  
• "You know, Willie Wonka said it best: we are the makers of dreams, the dreamers of dreams."
• "This team isn't talented enough to win on talent alone."
• "If you lose this game you'll take it to your grave...your fucking grave."
• "You were born to be a player. You were meant to be here. This moment is yours."
• "Write your own book instead of reading someone else's book about success.
• "A really good hunter will go up to a tiger and spit in his eye before he shoots him. A unique athlete will also walk up to the tiger, spit in his eye and then shoot him."