Head Coach Mark Johnson
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During the 2006-07 campaign, Johnson's team broke or tied 18 NCAA team and individual records, including wins in a season (36), fewest losses (1), best winning percentage (.927) and most shutouts (18). Johnson leads all active women's college hockey coaches with a winning percentage of .815 on a 147-28-14 record in five years at UW.
Johnson's impact on women's hockey has extended well beyond Madison in large part due to his involvement with USA Hockey. In 2006-07 alone, he led the U.S. women's national team at the 2007 IIHF World Championship in Winnipeg, Manitoba as well as the 2006 Four Nations Cup in Kitchener, Ontario.
As an accomplished athlete, coach and humanitarian, Johnson continues to be honored year after year. He received the NCAA Silver Anniversary award in 2005 for his accomplishments in the 25 years following his days as a student-athlete. In 2004 he was inducted into the U.S. Hockey Hall of Fame for his accomplishments as a player and coach. He was also inducted as a member of the 1980 U.S. Olympic hockey team in 2003 and received the 2004 Award of Excellence from Vince Lombardi Charitable Funds.
Named the 2003 WCHA co-Coach of the Year and a finalist for the AHCA Div. 1 Coach of the Year award, Johnson guided UW to a 22-8-5 record in his first season. After going 25-6-3 in 2003-04, the Badgers made history in Johnson's third season, winning a program-record 28 games (28-9-1), earning a first NCAA tournament berth, and reaching a No. 2 national rank. In 2005-06, Wisconsin debuted at No. 1 and went on to validate that distinction with a 36-4-1 record and a national championship. As an encore in 2006-07, the team successfully defended all three championships while posting a record of 36-1-4.
The third head coach in the program's history, Johnson joined the staff after serving as an assistant coach with the men's team from 1996-2002. He helped the men's team to a WCHA title in 1999-2000 as well as a WCHA Final Five championship in 1997-98. Johnson also coached the professional Madison Monsters to a 37-30-7 mark in 1995-96, earning CHL coach of the year honors. He also coached at both Verona (WI) HS (1995) and Madison Memorial HS (1994).
In 2001, he was as an assistant coach at the U.S. Olympic Men's Hockey Orientation Camp, featuring 38 of the top American players in the NHL. He also served as an assistant coach with the 2002 U.S. Men's National Team at the IIHF World Championship in Sweden and the 2000 U.S. Men's National Team at the 2000 IIHF World Championship in Russia.
In his playing career, Johnson helped Wisconsin to the 1977 national championship as a freshman, winning WCHA Rookie of the Year honors. He went on to become the school's second all-time leading scorer with 256 points (a school-record 125 goals) in just three seasons. The 1978-79 WCHA MVP, Johnson was a two-time, first team All-WCHA pick and a two-time All-American. In 2002, he was selected as one of the WCHA's 'Top 50 Players in 50 Years'.
Johnson has represented USA Hockey as a player in 13 international tournaments, with his most recent appearance with Team USA at the 1998 IIHF World Championship Qualification Tournament in Austria. Most notably, he led the 1980 U.S. Olympic Team's gold medal-winning effort with 11 points, including two goals in the "Miracle-On-Ice" against the Soviet Union and an assist on the game-winning goal against Finland in the final contest. The team attended the opening ceremonies of the 2002 Olympic Winter Games to light the flame and was honored by Sports Illustrated as giving us the 'Greatest Sports Moment of the Century'.
Following his Olympic experience, Johnson embarked on a successful 11-year NHL career, playing for the Pittsburgh Penguins (1980-82), the Minnesota North Stars (1982), the Hartford Whalers (1982-85), St. Louis Blues (1985) and New Jersey Devils (1985-90). Over 669 career NHL contests, the forward collected 203 goals, 305 assists and 508 points, highlighted by an 87-point season as Hartford's captain in 1983-84. He also tied an NHL All-Star Game record with three assists that season.
A 1999 inductee into the IIHF Hall of Fame, Johnson is the son of legendary Wisconsin men's head coach Bob Johnson and brother of former men's assistant coach Peter Johnson. One of Wisconsin's most decorated athletes, Johnson was inducted into the State of Wisconsin Athletic Hall of Fame in 2003 and is a charter member of Wisconsin's National W Club Hall of Fame.
Johnson earned his B.S. degree in Kinesiology from Wisconsin in 1994. He and his wife, Leslie, have five children - Douglas, Christopher, Patrick, Mikayla and Megan.