The University of Wisconsin women’s hockey coach Mark Johnson has been named head coach of the 2010 U.S. Olympic Women’s Ice Hockey Team.
Johnson, who has extensive experience in international competition as both a player and a coach, is an iconic figure on both a local and national level.
The Johnson family is deeply rooted in Wisconsin and United States hockey folklore. Johnson’s father, the late Bob Johnson, had a 15-year tenure as head coach here at Wisconsin that produced three national championships and earned him the nickname “Badger Bob.” Mark’s son Patrick is currently a forward on the Wisconsin Men’s team.
During a press conference at Camp Randall, USA Hockey’s executive director Dave Ogrean spoke about how special the contributions of the Johnson family have been to USA Hockey.
“I mentioned to Barry [Alvarez] earlier today that if one were to have a debate about the first families of hockey in the United States it would come down to a discussion of the Granatos and the Johnsons,” Ogrean said.
Ogrean, who Hockey News rated as one of the 50 most influential people in hockey, praised Johnson and expressed his excitement for the 2010 games in Vancouver, British Columbia.
“Mark has some very, very special qualifications and the experience of being an Olympian, of being in the blast furnace, if you will, of a high pressure gold medal game,” Ogrean said. “And knowing what all that is like is a very special attribute in addition to the fact that he has done such a marvelous job for you at the University of Wisconsin.”
In Johnson’s seven seasons as head coach here in Madison, he has won two national championships, with the Badgers reaching the national championship in each of the past three seasons. Johnson’s 0.802 winning percentage is also tops among active coaches.
Johnson will finish out the remainder of this year as he and his top-ranked Badgers fight to earn Johnson his third national championship. Following the conclusion of this season, Johnson will head to Blaine, Minn. to prepare for Vancouver. Besides his duties as coach of the Olympic team, Johnson will help prep the national team for the Olympics with the Qwest Tour, a 10-game tour throughout the U.S. playing collegiate teams and the annual Olympic warm-up — the National Women’s Invitational Tournament.
Former Wisconsin football coach and current athletic director Barry Alvarez is confident Johnson is the right fit for the job. Alvarez acknowledged that though his knowledge of hockey is limited, he sees an innate coaching instinct in Johnson.
“He is like a sponge as a coach — I know a little bit about coaching, and Mark is a coach’s coach,” Alvarez noted. “Mark will have a vision for this Olympic team, and there is no one better that can achieve that job than Mark Johnson, and we’re very proud of him and wish him the very best.”
USA Women’s Hockey is quietly emerging as the top force in the world of women’s hockey. As mentioned by Ogrean, USA Women’s Hockey is undefeated is international play in the past year. Women’s hockey star and three-time Olympian Natalie Darwitz said she expects a large influx of Badgers in Vancouver in 2010.
“You have Erika Lawler who has been on the national team for the last two seasons, and then Meghan Duggan too.” Darwitz, former University of Minnesota forward said. “Obviously Jessie Vetter has proved herself on the national level. Hilary Knight too and there is potential with [Brooke] Ammerman too.”
USA Hockey’s director of Women’s Hockey Michele Amidon could barely conceal her excitement for the news of Johnson coaching the Olympic team. Amidon has already seen the fruits of Johnson’s presence in USA Women’s Hockey and is excited to see what can be achieved with even more time and opportunity.
“We have had a lot of success over the past three years, and a lot of it is contributed to Mark coming on board and helping us with all of our programs,” Amidon said. “We got some great talent here and some great hockey culture and traditions, and we’re hoping to bring that on to the 2010 Olympic platform.”
Johnson is probably best known as the leading scorer on the 1980 “Miracle On Ice” team that improbably captured the gold medal in Lake Placid, N.Y. As part of the famous “Cone-Head Line,” Johnson scored a pivotal first period goal that led to the pulling of arguably the world’s best goalie, the Soviet Union’s Vladislav Tretiak. Johnson would score another goal in the win over the seemingly unbeatable USSR team and was an integral part of what is known as one of the greatest moments in American sports history.
Johnson went on to play 11 years in the NHL for the Pittsburgh Penguins, Minnesota North Stars, Hartford Whalers, St. Louis Blues and New Jersey Devils. Johnson was an NHL All -Star in 1983 while he was captain of the Hartford Whalers. The 2010 games in Vancouver will be Johnson’s 20th experience as a representative of his country in international play; he has played in 12 international events and coached in seven.
Johnson was at the pinnacle of the hockey spotlight when his team, led by Herb Brooks, pulled off history’s greatest upset in 1980, and an opportunity to get another gold medal is one Johnson has been looking forward to for quite some time.
“Obviously the past three years, in the back of my mind, this was one of my goals to get the opportunity to coach this team. It is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity, and having the game up in Canada makes it that much more special,” Johnson said during Tuesday’s press conference. “Hockey is going to be at the forefront. It is going to be at the forefront of the great exposure of women’s hockey that started back in 1998 back when they won the gold medal in Nagano.”
A man with Johnson’s qualifications should have no trouble finding a prominent men’s coaching job, and many have wondered why he has not jumped on the opportunity to coach a team with more fans and more lucrative coaching contracts. In a perfect illustration of Johnson’s passion, he stated why he loves women’s hockey and why many think he will once again be coming home with a gold medal.
“On the women’s side, we don’t have pro hockey — they aren’t looking for the next contract; they aren’t looking for the next paycheck. They really play the game for the love of it,” Johnson said. “When you put your jersey on and you’re representing your country I do not think there is a greater feeling a player can have. The next best thing is to be the coach, and that’s what I look forward to doing.”
