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 NCAAnational championship. He was the first Badger to win the WCHARookie 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 younger brother, Peter, also played at the university.
International and professional career
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. He was a star player on the "Miracle on Ice" 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". 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 was named team MVP. 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 1984NHL 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 Championshipsqualifying 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. On February 9, 2019, the University of Wisconsin retired #10 during a pre-game presentation at the Kohl Center. Johnson was the first player to have his number retired.
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, 2011, and 2019. 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:
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. His other son, Chris Johnson, played for the men's hockey team at Augsburg College, and now serves as an assistant coach on the Augsburg men's hockey team. His other daughter, Megan, also plays hockey for the women's team at Augsburg College. Eric Peter-Kaiser portrayed him in the 2004Disney film Miracle. Peter-Kaiser was playing college hockey for SUNY Potsdam when he got the part.
