Mark Johnson (ice hockey)

Mark Johnson

Johnson at the 2010 Winter Olympics after the American women's loss to Canada in the gold medal game
Born (1957-09-22) September 22, 1957
Minneapolis, Minnesota, U.S.
Height 5 ft 9 in (175 cm)
Weight 170 lb (77 kg; 12 st 2 lb)
Position Center
Shot Left
Played for NHL
Pittsburgh Penguins
Minnesota North Stars
Hartford Whalers
St. Louis Blues
New Jersey Devils
National team  United States
NHL Draft 66th overall, 1977
Pittsburgh Penguins
WHA Draft 22nd overall, 1977
Birmingham Bulls
Playing career 19791990

Mark Einar Johnson (born September 22, 1957) is an American ice hockey coach for the University of Wisconsin–Madison women's ice hockey team. He is a former NHL player who appeared in 669 NHL regular season games between 1980 and 1990. He also played for the gold medal-winning 1980 U.S. Olympic Hockey team.

Amateur career

As a teenager, Johnson attended James Madison Memorial High School, where he was on the hockey team. He then played for the University of Wisconsin–Madison ice hockey team for three years under his father, legendary coach Bob Johnson. In 1977, during his first year at the university, he helped the Badgers win the NCAA national championship. He was the first Badger to win the WCHA Rookie of the year. He went on to become the school's leading goal scorer and second all-time scorer. Johnson was also a two time All-American. His brother, Peter, also played at the university.

International and professional career

Mark Johnson
Medal record
Representing the  United States
Olympic Games
Men's ice hockey
1980 Lake Placid Team competition
Coach for women's ice hockey
2010 Vancouver Team competition

Johnson made his international debut with the United States national team as an 18-year-old in 1976, when he played in 11 training games for the 1976 U.S. Olympic ice hockey team coached by his father. He represented the United States in 13 international tournaments (including the 1978, 1979, 1981, 1982, 1985, 1986, 1987, 1990 Ice Hockey World Championship tournaments and the 1981, 1984 and 1987 Canada Cup). He was a star player on the U.S. Olympic Hockey team at the 1980 Lake Placid winter games.

Playing for the United States against the Soviet Union, Johnson scored two of the four goals in the Team USA 4–3 victory. His first goal, scored with one second left in the game's first period, led to the Soviet coach taking out his goalie, Vladislav Tretiak, who was considered the best goalie in the world at the time; years later, when Johnson asked Soviet defenseman Slava Fetisov, now an NHL teammate, about the decision, he was simply told, "Coach crazy".[1] He also scored in the third period to tie the game at 3–3. The team then defeated Finland to capture the gold medal, with Johnson assisting on the game-winning goal and scoring the insurance goal with less than four minutes remaining in the game.

Johnson went on to play professional hockey in the NHL for the Pittsburgh Penguins, Minnesota North Stars, Hartford Whalers, St. Louis Blues, and New Jersey Devils. He played in the 1984 NHL All Star game as the Whalers representative and served as the Whalers' captain in 1983–85. He also played two seasons with Milan Saima SG in Italy and a final season in Austria before retiring in 1992. He briefly came out of retirement to play two games for Team USA in the 1998 Men's World Ice Hockey Championships qualifying tournament at the age of 41, where he helped Team USA retain its position in the World Championships' Pool A.

In 2010, thirty years after winning the Olympic gold medal as a player, Johnson coached the United States women's national ice hockey team, which won a silver medal in the Vancouver games.

Coaching career

Johnson is the head coach of the University of Wisconsin–Madison women's ice hockey team, a position he has held since 2002. The team won its first NCAA national championship on March 26, 2006. They repeated as national champions in 2007, 2009 and 2011. Prior to coaching the women's team, Johnson was an assistant coach for the Wisconsin Badgers men's ice hockey team from 1996 until 2002.

Johnson has won the following championships as head coach:

He served as an assistant coach for the American national men's hockey team in 2000 and 2002. On July 6, 2006, he was named head coach of the American women's team as part of a general reorganization of the program, leading the women's hockey team to a silver medal at the 2010 Olympics.[2]

Johnson coached the Madison Monsters minor league hockey team during their inaugural 1995–96 season.[3]

Season Team Overall Conference Standing Postseason
Wisconsin Badgers (Western Collegiate Hockey Association) (2002–present)
2002–03 Wisconsin 22–8–5 14–6–4 3rd
2003–04 Wisconsin 25–6–3 18–5–1 2nd
2004–05 Wisconsin 28–9–1 20–7–1 3rd NCAA First Round
2005–06 Wisconsin 36–4–1 24–3–1 1st NCAA Champions
2006–07 Wisconsin 36–1–4 23–1–4 1st NCAA Champions
2007–08 Wisconsin 29–9–3 20–5–3 3rd NCAA Runner Up
2008–09 Wisconsin 34–2–5 21–2–5 2nd NCAA Champions
2009–10* Wisconsin 18–15–3 15–12–1 4th
2010–11 Wisconsin 37–2–2 24–2–2 1st NCAA Champions
2011–12 Wisconsin 33–5–2 23–3–2 1st NCAA Runner Up
2012–13 Wisconsin 23–10–2 17–9–2 3rd
2013–14 Wisconsin 28–8–2 21–5–2 2nd NCAA Frozen Four
2014–15 Wisconsin 29–7–4 19–6–3 2nd NCAA Frozen Four
2015–16 Wisconsin 35–4–1 24–3–1 1st NCAA Frozen Four
Wisconsin: 395–75–35 268–57–31
Total: 395–75–35

      National champion         Postseason invitational champion  
      Conference regular season champion         Conference regular season and conference tournament champion
      Division regular season champion       Division regular season and conference tournament champion
      Conference tournament champion

*Johnson spent the 2009–10 season coaching the US Olympic Women's Ice Hockey Team, finishing with a silver medal at XXI Winter Games.

Michael Cummings played Johnson in the 1981 TV movie Miracle on Ice.

Johnson's son, Patrick Johnson, played for the men's hockey team at the University of Wisconsin–Madison. He coaches his daughter, Mikayla, who plays for the women's hockey team at the University of Wisconsin-Madison.

Eric Peter-Kaiser portrayed him in the 2004 Disney film Miracle. Peter-Kaiser was playing college hockey for SUNY Potsdam when he got the part.[4]

Awards and achievements

Award Year
All-WCHA First Team 1977–78 [7]
AHCA West All-American 1977–78 [8]
All-WCHA First Team 1978–79 [7]
AHCA West All-American 1978–79 [8]

United States National Team Coach

He was elected to the Wisconsin Athletic Hall of Fame in 2003.

Career statistics

    Regular Season   Playoffs
Season Team League GP G A Pts PIM GP G A Pts PIM
1976–77 Wisconsin Badgers WCHA 43 36 44 80 16
1977–78 Wisconsin Badgers WCHA 42 48 38 86 24
1978–79 Wisconsin Badgers WCHA 40 41 49 90 34
1979–80 Pittsburgh Penguins NHL 17 3 5 8 4 5 2 2 4 0
1980–81 Pittsburgh Penguins NHL 73 10 23 33 50 5 2 1 3 6
1981–82 Pittsburgh Penguins NHL 46 10 11 21 30
1981–82 Minnesota North Stars NHL 10 2 2 4 10 4 2 0 2 0
1982–83 Hartford Whalers NHL 73 31 38 69 28
1983–84 Hartford Whalers NHL 79 35 52 87 27
1984–85 Hartford Whalers NHL 49 19 28 47 21
1984–85 St. Louis Blues NHL 17 4 6 10 2 3 0 1 1 0
1985–86 New Jersey Devils NHL 80 21 41 62 16
1986–87 New Jersey Devils NHL 68 25 26 51 22
1987–88 New Jersey Devils NHL 54 14 19 33 14 18 10 8 18 4
1988–89 New Jersey Devils NHL 40 13 25 38 24
1989–90 New Jersey Devils NHL 63 16 29 45 12 2 0 0 0 0
1990–91 Milan Saima SG Italy-A 36 32 44 76 15
1991–92 Milan Saima SG Italy-A Statistics Unavailable
1991–92 Zell am See EK Austria 33 23 49 72 14
NHL Totals 669 203 305 508 260 37 16 12 28 10

See also

References

Awards and achievements
Preceded by
Mike Eaves
WCHA Player of the Year
1978–79
Succeeded by
Tim Harrer
Sporting positions
Preceded by
Russ Anderson
Hartford Whalers captain
198385
Succeeded by
Ron Francis
Preceded by
Ben Smith
American women's hockey team head coach
2006–present
Succeeded by
Current
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