E24 The Making of the “Miracle on Ice”
For two weeks in February of 1980, twenty young athletes determined to do the impossible, gave the United States a respite from the Cold War, the economic malaise of the 1970s, and the hostage crisis in Iran. In arguably the greatest upset in sports history, the 1980 United States Olympic Hockey Team defeated the Soviet Union and then went on to clinch the gold medal against Finland. The sports world was shocked and the “Miracle on Ice” was complete.
In this interview, Lou Nanne, a key influencer of the team, takes us back nearly 40 years and tells the story of the 1980 “Miracle” team, his involvement in securing Herb Brooks as the head coach of the Olympic team, and how the team was best prepared to face the international competition through innovative practice routines and training methods. Lou describes the nervousness and atmosphere during the game against the Soviet Union and the reactions afterwards. He also reminds us of how isolated players and fans were in Lake Placid during the Olympic Games. Social media didn’t exist, games were not televised live, and there was very little indication of what the rest of the world knew or felt about this historical run.
Lou Nanne has been a leading figure in the hockey community for decades. Lou was captain of the 1968 United States Olympic Hockey team. Later he played, coached, and served as general manager for the Minnesota North Stars. Lou is a member of the United States Hockey Hall of Fame and the International Ice Hockey Federation Hall of Fame. He has also been awarded the Lester Patrick trophy for his impact on the sport of hockey.
Lou Nanne:
No one knew the ceiling that they could reach, and they just were so well conditioned, so well coached, so well prepared that they reached levels that were truly unexpected.
Don MacPherson:
Our guest today is hockey legend and Hall of Famer, Lou Nanne. Lou was a college standout at the University of Minnesota. Throughout his professional career, he played, coached, and was general manager for the Minnesota North Stars. He also played in the 1968 Olympic Games for Team USA and was instrumental in the selection of his close friend, Herb Brooks, to coach the 1980 gold medal team, famous for the Miracle on Ice. Lou brings us back to 1980 as he discusses the stunning victory over the heavily favored team from the Soviet Union.
Lou, welcome to 12 Geniuses.
Lou Nanne:
Thanks, Don. Nice to be with you.
Don:
So, this is a pretty large and global diverse business audience. Some people will know who Lou Nanne is. Some people may not know who Lou is. Why don't you give us a little bit of background on your hockey career?
Lou Nanne:
Well, I came down to Minnesota from Sault Ste. Marie, Ontario in 1959 to play for the University of Minnesota Gophers. I played for them and I finished in ‘63. I had a contract dispute with Chicago. So, while I was sitting out, I was playing on the weekends in Rochester, Minnesota, actually just as senior league just to make some extra money for my family. I was able to get a U.S. citizenship in 1967, and I played with the Olympic team in ‘68 in Grenoble, and when the Olympics were over, I came home. Turned pro with the Minnesota North Stars, who had just received an expansion franchise that year. Played for them for 10 years. And then I became General manager coach, general manager in ‘78, February of 78. And I had hired a coach in the summer of ‘78 and just was general manager for 10 years, and then president after that, and I left in ‘91.
Don:
And when you stopped playing, did you stop playing in February of ‘78 and then take the coaching position mid-season?
Lou Nanne:
I was playing in New York on Wednesday night, February 8th. We got beat by the New York Rangers five, nothing. I got a phone call back in my room that night from the president and another one of the owners saying that they want me to come down to their office when I get in town the next morning, which I did. And they were asking me questions about the team and what I thought should be done. And the next day they wanted me to meet with the full board, which I did Friday morning at seven o'clock. The 10 members of the board, was questioned there, and they hired me at that time. And then Friday noon I took over as general manager and coach.
Don:
How did you get involved with the 1980 U.S. Olympic Hockey team?
Lou Nanne:
Well, I was the general manager of the North Stars, and I was… Herb Brooks, he was with me in the ‘68 team. And on my way home from Grenoble, I said, “Herby, I'm going to quit coaching.” I was coaching the university freshman team for those five years that I set out before I turned pro. And I said, “I want you to take over the job.” And he was selling insurance. He said, “I don't know, why would I want to do that?” I said, “You'd be a good coach. You got to do this.” I said, “I've already talked to the head coach, Glen Sonmor, and he will take you on as an assistant, so we got to meet Marsh Ryman,” who was the athletic director, “when we get back and get him to hire you.”
So, we went and got an interview with Marsh, and Herb got hired that day and took over from me. So, now Herby is coaching the freshman team for a while, and then he got hired in the early ‘70s to be head coach when I was playing with the North Stars. And he was very successful. He won three NCAA championships. And so, when I took over as general manager coach, I told the owners that I wouldn't do both jobs. I think you should only do one. Takes too much time to do both, but I'd coach till the end of the season until I could get somebody that I wanted to hire. So, I tried to hire Herb, then he didn't want it. Then in ‘79 when I tried to hire Herb to coach, he said, “Louie, I really want to coach the Olympic team. You're on the Olympic Committee, a selection committee to hire the coach. Get me the job.”
And I said, Well, Walter Bush, who's one of our owners of the Minnesota North Stars that I was working for, he was President of USA Hockey, he was chairman of the committee. I said, “Okay, I'm sure we can get that done.” We'd already had offered to a college coach who had turned it down. And so, I called Walter and asked Walter if the committee would consider Herby. We thought it'd be a good idea. He said, “Sure.” And so that's when Herby got hired. After he picked his team in Colorado, he said, “Louie,” said, “I can't play with this team against just college kids and get them ready.” I said, “Well, I can't get you in the NHL,” but I said, “I will get you some exhibition games with my friends, some of my other general manager friends. I know I could get them to give you a game. So, they may be able to get you four or five games.”
He said, “That'll work, but I need more than that.” I said, “Well, I'm chairman of the Central League Committee, and that's our top farm team down there.” And Bud Poile’s the president of the league, I said, “You and I got to go to Dallas, we'll meet with him. I'm sure Bud would consider this. We'll try and put your team right in the league. So, you would get 30 games or so against the top competition outside the NHL.” And I said, “And if you're in the league, then the guys won't be trying to fight you every game, just trying to take cheap shots at the players because the games mean something. If they lose the game, they're losing points in the standings.”
He said, “Okay, let's do that.” So, we went to Dallas, met with Bud, and Bud was great. He thought it was a good idea. He got the other people in the league to agree to it. So, the Olympic team was put in the Central League. So, they played a regular schedule, which was, Herb says that's the most important thing that happened to his team because it really prepared him well. We've never had that done before for an Olympic team. He had selected very talented but young group. These kids were young, they were young college kids. And to do what they did was really a remarkable achievement. The opportunity to get them to be prepared, playing against men, and real good competition was a big thing for them.
Don:
How did they do in the Central League?
Lou Nanne:
They did really well.
Don:
They did? Okay.
Lou Nanne:
Yeah. In fact, I was just looking at one of the things last night when they came back, I think it was against a Dallas team when they were losing 5-4. And the third period, came back, got a couple goals and won 6 to 5. But they did well. You could see, as they were going along in the season, they were growing, they were really getting to play well together, and he was making some changes during the year off and on in the lineup, But he was really getting them to gel as a group and getting them to play as a team real well. But one of the most important factors in their success was the way he trained them. You see, one of the things about the Russians is not only are they extremely talented, no one was in better condition. They worked really hard at it.
And Herb knew this, and he hired Jack Blatherwick, who this year will be honored in the Lester Packer Hall of Fame, which is really a great honor and a well-deserved one for. And Jack was the guy that Herb used at the university on the college team, and he was way ahead of his time in conditioning techniques. And he still is. I mean, the guy is amazing. And so, he worked with these kids. He gave Herb drills and ideas and conditioning methods to get these kids ready to play. And the most amazing thing was when they got to play in the Olympics, nobody was better conditioned than them, even the Russians. They were as well conditioned as the Russians, which was a big key because even the pressure of the game, they weren't going to get tired out or worn down like teams had so often been against Russians, especially U.S. teams because they never trained as hard as the Russian did.
Don:
When you think about the way that the team was selected, was it designed to compete with the Soviets or was it designed to be competitive against any competition?
Lou Nanne:
Well, you got to be a realist. Nobody expected this team to beat the Russians. You would hope that they'd beat the Russians, but really, I mean, and if the team played again another 20 times, they probably wouldn't win another game. That's just the way it is. I mean, they were as good a team as there was in the league, so you just couldn't have that. But they were designed to be a competitive team and go with their strengths. No one knew the ceiling that they could reach. And they just were so well conditioned, so well coached, so well prepared that they reached levels that were truly unexpected.
Don:
Maybe you could take a little time to describe the Soviet team because they were extraordinarily dominant at the time.
Lou Nanne:
Well, they still were. I mean, that's the beauty of playing in the Olympics. One-game playoffs, you can win a game. You don't have to play in two, three, five, seven games. And these guys had won the most championships over the last 20 years before that. They won of the most World Championships, they won the most Olympics. They played a series, which I still think is the greatest series I've ever seen in any sport called the Summit Series in 1972 against the Canadians. So, the Canadians had an all-star team. They started training in August, they played an eight-game series; four games in America, four in Russia. And it went down to the final minute of the eighth game when the Canadians beat the Russians. But these were the top players in the world; in the NHL, in the world, and then Russia.
And it was the most magnificent bit of hockey you can ever see. I mean, it's been on all different sports channels, TV channels, documentaries, etc. And it took eight games and the last minute to decide a winner. Well, you're playing this team eight years later when they're not getting worse, they're getting even better. And you're able to beat that team through wonderful play, terrific coaching, a couple of good breaks. It worked out right. It's a storybooks tale. These things you can only imagine and visualize, but you never expect to see.
Don:
Going into the Olympics, the U.S. was, I think either the sixth or seventh-rated team in the tournament, and they had to play Sweden in the first game. They were number three. They played Czechoslovakia in the second game, tied Sweden, and…
Lou Nanne:
Tied them right at the end in the last minute. I'm watching them play, I'm telling… I'm not so certain that that pass didn't go to the wrong guy because it was going to one guy and was missed, and went back to the point that Billy Baker shoots and goes in the net. And that's the beginning of good things to happen.
Don:
If they lose that game, are they demoralized? Did they go-
Lou Nanne:
Numbers wouldn't even be they’re demoralized, they wouldn't have won the gold medal. They just wouldn't have won it.
Don:
And then they beat the second team in the tournament, the second-best team in the world, seven to three, next game.
Lou Nanne:
Well, I'm not so certain that they were the second-best team because Canadians were in the other bracket. They didn't have to play the Canadians. So, as I said, things were breaking really right coming down the line.
Don:
You talked about their training. What are some of the other innovative and creative things that the team did to prepare or execute in game?
Lou Nanne:
I have to say that the biggest things they did was the training, the methods and the games they played. There wasn’t anything innovative that changed the way they played because there's only so many things you can do in any sport. And they did play more of a controlled puck game than they might have… Usually you might have seen a college team play. Rather than dump and chase, they did control it more. They had, as I said, very skilled players who were able to handle pucks like Mark Johnson, Neil Broten. Their defense was great back there. Jim Craig was a magnificent goalie in that game. So, you had a lot of good things going with a lot of talented players and you had more puck control than maybe they might have had if they would've played a dump and chase game.
The fact that they were able to play at the same speed and the same level throughout the game for 60 minutes was a factor. You weren't going to out fool the Russians. You weren't going to come up with some gimmicky plays that were going to do any damage. You had to play the best of your ability with as much puck control as you can, and certainly with as much pressure as you can put on the puck as you could.
Don:
Can you talk about the team chemistry? And was the team designed to have great chemistry, or did that chemistry grow over the six, seven months that they were together?
Lou Nanne:
It grows. It grows out of the abilities of the players to playing, want to play together and play for one another. But they had a group of players that not only were talented, they were committed, and I have to say they were driven, and they had a lot of belief in each other, which was really important. As they played through the season, as they grew, they had to believe in one another. Then now, they didn't give up either because the week before the tournament starts, they got hammered at Madison Square Gardens by the Russians, and that wasn't a set deal. They didn’t want to play bad or something. It was just Russians being dominant. But they didn't get demoralized. They didn't quit believing in themselves. And they looked ahead playing one game at a time, as best as they could, and that turned out to be good enough.
Don:
Our guest today is Hockey Hall of Famer, Lou Nanne. We just talked to Lou about the construction of the 1980 USA Olympic hockey team. When we return, Lou will share what it was like at the Olympic Games in Lake Placid, New York as the team went on its improbable Gold Medal run.
Hi everybody, this is your podcast host, Don MacPherson. At 12 Geniuses, we write, report, and speak about the trends shaping the way we live and work. As we look toward entering a new decade, technologies like 3D printing, artificial intelligence, gene editing, and more and more sophisticated robots will continue to disrupt and change our society. If these trends are important to you, we invite you to follow us on social media. To book me to speak at your next event, contact us at future@12geniuses.com.
We are back with Lou Nanne. In this segment, Lou shares what his expectations were for the U.S. hockey team going into the 1980 Olympic Games. He also talks about being a professional sports general manager and his strategy on talent selection and building team chemistry.
So, you alluded to a game that they played three days before the Olympics started in Madison Square Garden, they got beat by the Soviets 10 to 3.
Lou Nanne:
Right.
Don:
What was the strategy behind scheduling that game?
Lou Nanne:
It wasn't a strategy. A lot of it was money. I was part of the USA Hockey and it was a big draw. We get some money out of this stuff. We weren't thinking, oh, we're going to play them in the finals. This was set up before. This was essentially a money deal. Maybe it helped because the Russians might have got a little overconfident by the time they got to play them in the finals.
Don:
So, the U.S. team loses 10-3, three days before the Olympic Games start. What did you think their ceiling could be?
Lou Nanne:
I thought that they could win the bronze. I thought that they could get third. I never ever thought that they'd get a silver, and I certainly didn't believe they'd get a gold.
Don:
When did you believe they could get a gold?
Lou Nanne:
When the buzzer blew.
Don:
For which game?
Lou Nanne:
When they were playing the Russians. When they were playing the Soviets. I was sitting right there, and I waited till that buzzer went down. They were putting pressure on all the time, and especially near the end, they were right, and I was right at the blue line, our blue line at that time. So, the puck was in the zone, I'm watching it, we got it out, and that's when I'm starting to feel we got a chance.
Don:
The last 10 minutes, after the U.S. goes ahead 4 to 3, the last 10 minutes, it is just a frenzy. And the U.S. team is doing everything they can to cling to life. So, it's dramatic. And maybe you remember what the shot count was. I think it was 39 to 16 or something like that. So, the Soviets-
Lou Nanne:
Craig was great.
Don:
Unbelievable.
Lou Nanne:
That goaltender was superb, man. He couldn't play a better game than he played that night.
Don (17:20):
They beat the Soviets and they have one more game left.
Lou Nanne:
Right, against the Finns.
Don:
They don't have the gold medal yet. How does the team avoid a letdown?
Lou Nanne:
Well, they were down for two periods. They're behind two goals at the of the second. Herb told them, “If you guys don't win tonight, you're going to take it to your grave.” It's hard to avoid a letdown because everybody was focusing on the Soviets not realizing you still got to win that game against the Finns. And then when you go in a game against the Finns, you're still coming from the euphoria of beating the Soviets like you did. And so, but he got them turned around by the third period, and they came back and won that game.
Don:
Did you have any trepidation or?
Lou Nanne:
Oh, yeah. Yeah. I mean, when you're down by two in the third against the Fins who are a good team. Finns had a lot of… They had a lot of experience in world competition and Olympics. So, these were good players.
Don:
How did the team deal with going from zero expectations to the whole country paying attention in just two weeks? Because that was the case, right?
Lou Nanne:
Well, yeah, but you got to realize they're in Lake Placid. I was there watching, and Lake Placid, at the time, had about 5,000 people. They're immune. I was immune. No one had an idea what was going on in the rest of the world. It was like, you're in your own little town here. Nobody knows the rest of the world is watching the games or anything. There's TV. You didn't have the kind of TV you have at this time. I don't think the game was even televised at that time.
Don:
I think it might have been recorded.
Lou Nanne:
It might have been recorded.
Don:
I think so.
Lou Nanne:
Yeah. I'm saying that we think now that everybody, the rest of the world's going crazy. No, not until it came to that final, until they were playing the Soviets, and they were undefeated, and now they're… You either beat them and the game's recorded, and that's when the euphoria and attention really started to come. I don't know that I've ever seen anything like that where you feel like you're in a glass booth just watching the game or they're playing a game and nobody else knows anything about it.
Don:
Yeah, that's a really good point because I remember being a kid, I was 11 years old at the time, and I don't think we saw the game live, but we didn't know who won. There just wasn't coverage, no phones and the newscast at five o'clock or whatever. And I don't think that was covered either.
Lou Nanne:
You're talking 40 years ago. Media was a lot different than the media coverage and social media, etc., it just didn't exist.
Don:
Can you describe the atmosphere before the Soviet game in the arena?
Lou Nanne:
Well, a lot of apprehension and there was a complete buzz because it was filled with American flags and American people, small arena. We have about 6,000 in there. And two undefeated teams, and even though U.S. got hammered a couple of weeks before, there's always the dreaming that what if this could happen? And so, the anticipation of seeing how the U.S. was going to react after having got demolished in Madison Square Gardens, and the opportunity to, if only the U.S. can win this one game, this one game, if this could really happen, this is like make-believe world. That's what you're sitting, feeling, and thinking, and everybody's the same way. So, the excitement was just building up till the game started.
Don:
And then what's it like during the game?
Lou Nanne:
Oh, it was just wild.
Don:
Mayhem?
Lou Nanne:
Yeah, it was just nuts, and especially when the U.S. scored their first one and then got in the game, and then they're close, and then they tie it, and then they go ahead, and now just, the clock seems like it's not moving, it's broken. And you're wondering why it's going so slow. It was crazy.
Don:
Have you ever experienced anything like that in your life, sports-wise?
Lou Nanne:
Sports-wise, that's the biggest upset that I've ever seen in anything. So, no, I can't think of anything that rivals that.
Don:
Can you talk about what Herb Brooks was like?
Lou Nanne:
Herby was very intense. He was very motivated. He was somewhat introverted unless you knew him. He sort of changed. He was more outgoing and fun loving when we were playing before the Olympic games. But once he got to coaching the Olympic teams, that Olympic team, he was so driven. I think he was taking it upon himself and he was keeping a lot of stuff inside. But he knew what he wanted. He was a guy that can motivate you and talk to you. But he's also, I think, a terrific strategist. And he also had a great feel for knowing what his team needed, like the conditioning. He needed a Blatherwick to get them in that kind of condition that he needed. He knew what he wanted and he was driven to get there.
Don:
How did he know how far he could push the team?
Lou Nanne:
No one could tell you how another guy knows this or that. But having been with him for so much of our lives, I would say that it was a feel. He had a great feel for what was needed, what was expected. I think he had a thought process that said they have to do this, or I gotta get somebody else, or I won't play them.
Don:
So, we talked about the atmosphere before the game. During the game with the Soviets, what was it like afterwards?
Lou Nanne:
It was bedlam. I remember I went down to the locker room and he was sitting in the hallway outside alone. I went, sat down beside him, and his words were, “Can you effing believe it?” And I said, “No, I can't.” He was like in another world, he was like in a daze. Most people were in a daze, when you saw something that you would only dream and hope that would happen, but never expect it to happen. And this is magnified by everybody. So, you're living in a Never Neverland.
Don:
What does it feel like to put on the USA jersey?
Lou Nanne:
One of the greatest things that can happen for you is representing your country, playing for your country, competing for your country. And you never ever have the feeling that you have in that locker room. The closest I had was in the Stanley Cup playoffs. I played in the semi-finals, but reached the finals as a manager. The excitement and exuberance is there, but it's a little extra, a little different when you're competing at the world stage, especially the Olympics for your country. In my mind, there probably is more pressure, but you don't think about the pressure. You just think about what you're doing and why you're there and what the competition's about.
Don:
And you obviously grew up in Canada. You became a U.S. citizen in 1967, and then played for the U.S. Olympic team in ‘68. How did that all come about?
Lou Nanne:
Well, like I told you, I was sitting out for five years. I had had a very successful college career and I had won all the awards, and I thought I had a contract agreed too, in June of ‘63, and when it came to training camp in the fall, they sent me the letter to camp without my contract. And I said, “Well, you forgot to send the contract.” Oh, you’ll get it at camp. In those days, the NHL had all the power, nothing of players. I said, “Well, we've already agreed to terms, I want the contract.” And they said, “Bobby Hull doesn't even get it till he comes to camp.” And I said, “I really don't care about Bobby Hull's situation. I said, I got a college degree, now I got a wife and I got a month-old baby.” I said, “I want a contract. Well, I'm not coming.”
He said, “Well, you won't play.” So, I was stubborn enough to sit out. And then the year later, they come, and this went on for five years, they said, “Okay, playing now?” But I kept making more money. I was making way more money than they're making at the NHL, so I didn't. So, people from the U.S. came to me and says, “Look, would you play for the Olympic team?” And I said, “No, I can't. I'm Canadian.” They said, “Well, we'll get a bill put through Congress for you,” which they did. So, I got instant citizenship, and then I was captain of the ’68 team.
Don:
I want to talk a little bit about your experience as a general manager of a hockey team because I think, well, let me just ask you this question. In terms of talent selection, what are the things that you looked for in a player? Was it strength, speed? Was it their-
Lou Nanne:
Well, there's not one thing. You, you look for a lot of things. First of all…
Don:
Yeah, what are the dimensions?
Lou Nanne:
First of all, you got to have hockey sense. If you can't have hockey sense, you can't play. And you definitely want to have speed because speed kills, speed wins. But if you don't have hockey sense, I used to say I had a cousin in Sault Ste. Marie, was the fastest thing in the world, but if you open up the end boards, he would skate to the steel plants on those blades. You have to have hockey sense. You got to have speed. You have to have a competitiveness. You have to have intestinal fortitude. You realize you got to get guys that have to play through a lot of tough things. There's different skills. You want to have people with hand skills. You want to have people that are aggressive.
There's a combination, when you're putting a team together, you can't be all rushers, but you can't be all crushers either. You want to get the right blend where you can play, I used to say, “We want to have a team that can play the game any way you want to play it as an opponent.” You want to play fast, hard, skilled? Yes. You want to play tough? Yes. Whatever you want to do, we can do, and we can do better. That's what you look to get.
Don:
So, multidimensional. They have to be durable too, I would imagine because that to me is one of the big differences between college sports and professional sports is the ability to answer the bell every day.
Lou Nanne:
Well, one thing about hockey players, and I think Bud Grant, a great football coach from the Viking said it best. He says, “The ability to play and not be injured all the time is a skill.” But hockey players play through more injuries than any other people I know. So, it's hard to say that… I haven't seen too many hockey players that are hurt all the time, is what I'm saying. They're very, very few and far between. So many that are hurt, but they were able to play and they played through pain. In the old days before I played and when I played, you didn't want to come out of the lineup because you might not get back in the lineup. So, you play with a lot of different things that you wouldn't play with today. It's just like thinking, when we talk about a hockey player, and I talk about having a hockey sense, your head is part of your talent.
People say, “Well, he could skate, he can shoot, he can handle a puck, and then how does he think the game?” Because the head is another talent level. And it's...same thing in hockey as far as injuries. Injury is another thing...how tough are they? And usually, it's been unequivocable. Hockey players, for the most part, they play with a lot of different injuries.
Don:
Yeah. There is a big difference between being hurt or in pain and being injured, right?
Lou Nanne:
Yeah.
Don:
Injured, probably going to be taken out of the lineup. Hurt, everybody's hurt. April and May, everybody's hurt.
Lou Nanne:
Exactly, yeah. That's what I said. I mean, I once said, after I had a plane crash and I was getting off the plane, all of us lived, and there were six of us on there, and I wasn't moving too fast, and this nurse came running down because he had already called the medics, “Jesus, stop, you're hurt. You're hurt.” I said, “I've been hurting my whole life.” I said, “I'll tell you, if I'm bad after, I get to shore here.”
Don:
In hockey, people are typically drafted pretty young, but don't necessarily play when they're young. It seems like a bit more of a crapshoot than say the NBA.
Lou Nanne:
It is. It’s hard.
Don:
Yeah. How do you manage that as a general manager?
Lou Nanne:
Well, I'll tell you, what happened was I drafted the first 18-year-old because it was in ‘79. The draft used to be 20 years old. Like, an older draft you have in football and basketball, etc. Well, Tom McCarthy was a great junior player in Canada, and his agent was Art Kaminsky. And they were going to challenge the right to work rule in the U.S. because they figured this kid could play. We're going to make him play now. Because years and years before that, they had one time, Bep Guidolin, played at 16 in the NHL. But then when things came about, sort of settled down over the years, then the draft became 20-years-old. And we didn't want to pick out players younger because all you do is make more mistakes. Notwithstanding the fact that most of them can't play. You might have three, four, or five at the most who are going to play. But because this challenge was coming, we knew we were going to lose, the NHL, we changed the rules to allow us to draft at 18. And so, I picked Tom McCarthy. And he was the first 18-year-old guy to come.
Don:
And he had a good career, if I remember.
Lou Nanne:
Yeah, he was a very talented player. He actually was drafted, I think it was in the major draft in Ontario, they had Gretzky. He went to one, Gretzky went two. He could have played longer and better, but he had some personal problems that affected that. Otherwise, he was magnificent, very talented player.
Don:
What's it like to lead former teammates?
Lou Nanne:
Well, when I took over in that morning that I walked in the locker room, I said, “Guys,” I said, “yesterday I was your teammate and today I'm your boss.” I said, “As far as I'm concerned, you're still friends of mine and I'm going to do what I have to do to make this team better. And after I do that, whether you still consider me a friend is your prerogative. But it's not going to change my feeling towards you, but it certainly isn’t going to affect the way I have to make deals or run this club. So, I just want you to know that I'm still your friend, but now I'm your boss and things are gonna have to change here, and we're going to have to make some moves.” And first guy I traded with, I rode to the game with for four years.
I mean that's just the way it was. You just have to realize that whatever position you're in, in business, when you, one day you might be working for someone, next day you might be the boss, and your obligations change, your duties change. If you're going to be successful in business or anything, you… I have a saying, when I go out to talk to people, I say, “Do your job. Whatever that job is, do your job.” I tell them a story about John Ferguson. He was an enforcer in the league. He was this tough guy there was in league. He'd fight like crazy. He was in a Montreal Canadiens because he'd make sure that everybody else could do their job. And I say, we get guys that come in the league as a crusher. They score two goals, they want to be a rusher. Next thing you know, they're an usher.
Ferguson never let that happen. He wouldn't walk down the street, in the same side of the street as a player that he was playing against junior year because he didn't want to talk to them, didn't want to know them or anything. He knew how to do his job. And that's the same thing in business. No matter what you do, whether you're an executive or you're an administrative assistant, or whatever your duties are, you’re working in the shop, you got to do your job. And that's when a company becomes successful when people are doing their job properly.
Don:
You had a great hockey career. You've had a great business career. What are one or two lessons you took from hockey and applied to business?
Lou Nanne:
Relentlessness, driven, perseverance. Not leaving the stone unturned. I have to tell you, I still work today, even though I'm 78 years old, because I can't play hockey anymore. I love to play. I can't play. I'm too old. But I miss the competition. I need the wins. So, I'm in it just to compete. Because once you retire, I'd be bored. It's like the adrenaline for me, it feeds me. I have to compete. This is my competition and that's what I enjoy. And I think anybody that's working, you have to, if you want to be successful, you have to really drive to be successful. You have to have an attitude that you want to be the best that you can be. You really try and leave no stone unturned to make you better at what you do.
Don:
If you've played athletics and are in sales, there is something beautiful about the win in sales. It doesn't completely replace the win on the ice or on the court or whatever, but it's pretty similar. It feels good.
Lou Nanne:
Oh, it does, yeah. Believe me. But what you have to remember, even if you're a salesperson, other people made you successful. I have a bunch of people that have to do a lot of work for me before I make a presentation. And so, when I have a win, I celebrate the win with all of them because it's not just you that made it successful.
Don:
It’s your team.
Lou Nanne:
It’s your team. That's my team behind me.
Don:
Absolutely.
Lou Nanne:
And I want them to know that they're important in the success that we have because I can't do some of the things they do. Some people can't do some of the things I do. I can't do some of the things a lot of people do. And so, it takes everybody to make a success of whatever you're doing. And you should recognize that and realize that. I don't come back from getting a victory and think, Oh God, I was really good at that.
Don:
How greatyou were. Yeah, patting yourself on the back.
Lou Nanne:
I know I'd be nothing. I'm in the investment management business. I go out and get pension funds to manage. Well, if they were leaving it up to me to manage, they'd be bankrupt. I got really talented people that I work with that make it successful.
Don:
When you were leading a team, how did you motivate them? What was one or two levers that you could pull in order to motivate them?
Lou Nanne:
Well, what I used to try and do is make them believe in themselves. I can illustrate, like Neil Broten still talks about it. He says, “Louie, I still remember when we beat Boston the first time you came in the locker room and you went down the lineup, player by player, against all player by player, and said, “Now, why we had never beaten Boston in our history.” And this was in the Stanley Cup Playoffs. And he says, “I remember you going by player by player, how our guy is better than their guy here.” He's all so fired up to get out in the ice. I knew we were better. And we did, we beat them three in a row and we put them out. I always try and make the person believe in their capabilities and what they can achieve because I believe in what they can achieve.
That's why I'm saying that. I really feel that way and I want them to feel that way. You can achieve a lot more when you know people that are counting on you believe in you. I think that's very important. I think that's one way. And the other way is, just basically it's like, who's going to take food off my table? It's either me or you're going to eat here, and try and get them to be tough enough, mentally tough enough to know, hey, it's you or me. And no matter how big or how tough or how strong the other guy is, I'm not quitting.
Don:
So, last question. Did your mom really want you to be a dentist?
Lou Nanne:
Yes. As a matter of fact, her brothers, one was a doctor, one was a dentist. And she's from a family of 10, and she had to quit school to help put them through school. When I was 18 years old, I was a senior in high school, and I said, “Mom, I need a new pair of skatesfor $92.” She says, “Quit hockey.” She says, “You're going to be a dentist.” I said, “Mom, if you give me a pair of skates, I'll get a scholarship.” “Don't worry about a scholarship.” She said, “We'll find a way to pay. You're going to be a dentist.” So, I went to my grandmother to go to my father because my father, we lived with my grandmother and grandfather, and so my grandmother said, “Hey Mike, or son, Louis needs some skates. You better make sure he gets some.” So, I got a scholarship to Minnesota. That's what happened.
Don:
$92 back then, that’s no small-
Lou Nanne:
Yeah. That was a lot of money then.
Don:
I think your mom was onto to something because when I did learn that she wanted you to be a dentist, I thought, well maybe she understood your relationship with hockey and the teeth getting knocked out.
Lou Nanne:
Well, that's what Mariucci....when I came down here, he was showing me around the campus. He says, “What do you want to see?” I said, “I want to see the dental school.” He says, “Why?” “You're supposed to knock out teeth, not put them in.”
Don:
Lou, thank you so much for taking the time to talk with me today.
Lou Nanne:
My pleasure, Don. Thank you.
Don:
It’s been fantastic, and thank you for being a genius.
Thank you for listening to 12 Geniuses. Thanks also to the amazing team that makes this show possible: Devon McGrath is our production assistant; Brian Bierbaum is our research and historical consultant; Toby, Tony, Jay, and the rest of the team at GL Productions in London make sure the sound and editing are top-notch. To learn how 12 Geniuses can prepare leaders for a rapidly changing business world influenced by shifting demographics, new technologies, and innovative business models, please go to 12geniuses.com.