MINNEAPOLIS – In November of 2021, dozens of well-known names from the Minnesota hockey scene gathered for lunch at a country club in the suburbs for a birthday party. George “Doc” Nagobads, as he hit the century mark. Even at 100, the legendary trainer for the Minnesota Gophers and the 1980 Miracle on Ice Olympic team was the same man so many of his former players remembered from decades earlier, when he was in the trenches helping players deal with the bumps and bruises that are so much a part of this game.
In the early morning hours of Friday, March 31, 2023, Nagobads died at age 101.
“A gentleman beyond reproach who touched the lives of literally thousands of young hockey players at the youth, collegiate, international and Olympic levels over the past 65 years,” wrote legendary Gopher and former Olympic coach Murray Williamson in an email to friends, noting that Nagobads’ time with the Gophers began when John Mariucci was their coach. “May God rest his soul as he joins his wife Velta in everlasting peace.”
Born in Latvia, Nagobads and his family fled to Germany during World War II and he earned his medical degree at university there. He came to the United States in 1951 and began working with the University of Minnesota five years later, eventually spending 34 seasons with the Gophers and being a part of three NCAA title teams under head coach Herb Brooks.
Our deepest condolences to the family and loved ones of Dr. George Nagobads, who passed away today at the age of 101.
— USA Hockey (@usahockey) March 31, 2023
The U.S. Hockey Hall of Fame inductee served on countless national and Olympic teams over the past 65 years. pic.twitter.com/oVQrddzCAO
The 1980 Games were among five Olympics where Nagobads was Team USA’s doctor, and his work with the players who would earn a gold medal in Lake Placid is forever remembered after Nagobads was portrayed by Kenneth Welsh in the 2004 movie “Miracle.”
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“He lived a pretty good life and he was sharp as a tack to the very end,” said Rob McClanahan, who was a player under Nagobads’ care with the Gophers and in Lake Placid. “He was full of life lessons. At the U he would give us the talk at the beginning of each year about behaving ourselves and not getting out too far over our skis. He was just phenomenal and he loved and respected everybody. It didn’t matter if you were a fourth-liner or a top player. He treated everybody the same.”
In 1980, it has been widely reported that Brooks wanted Team USA’s forwards to take short shifts of 40 seconds or less, to preserve their energy for the crunch time of the third period. Nagobads, stopwatch in hand, timed each line’s shift during the Americans’ games, and later admitted that he didn’t get to watch much hockey, as he was focused on the timepiece.
Before retiring in 1992, Nagobads also worked with the Minnesota Fighting Saints and Minnesota North Stars. He has been inducted into the U.S. Hockey Hall of Fame and the M Club Hall of Fame at the U of M.
"People say that Herbie was a student of the game, well, Nagy was a student of medicine," McClanahan said. "He never stopped learning. He was a beauty."
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