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. He scored with one second left in the first period of the game, which directly 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 went on to defeat 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 team captain in 1983-85. He also played two seasons with Milan Saima SG in Italy and a final season in Austria before retiring from the game 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:

• 4x National Champion (2005-06, 2006-07, 2008-09, 2010-11)
• 5x WCHA Regular Season Champion (2005-06, 2006-07, 2010-11, 2011-12, 2015-16)
• 6x WCHA Tournament Champion (2005-06, 2006-07, 2008-09, 2010-11, 2014-15, 2015-16

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.

Johnson coached the Madison Monsters minor league hockey team during their inaugural 1995-96 season.

Season	Team	Overall	Conference	Standing	Postseason
Wisconsin Badgers (Western Collegiate Hockey Association)
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

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

In popular culture

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.

Awards and achievements

• 2011 Lester Patrick Trophy for outstanding service to hockey in the United States.
• Johnson was inducted into the Wisconsin Hockey Hall of Fame in 2001 and the United States Hockey Hall of Fame in 2004.
• He completed his B.A. degree in kinesiology at the University of Wisconsin in 1994.

Award	Year
All-WCHA First Team	1977-78
AHCA West All-American	1977-78
All-WCHA First Team	1978-79
AHCA West All-American	1978-79

• Played in NHL All-Star Game (1984)
• WCHA Freshman of the Year (1977)
• WCHA Most Valuable Player (1979)

United States National Team Coach

• 2000 Men’s World Championship (Assistant)
• 2002 Men’s World Championship (Assistant)
• 2006 Women’s Four Nations Cup (Head)
• 2007 Women’s World Championship (Head)
• 2007 Women’s Under-22 Select Team (Head)
• 2008 Women’s Under-18 Select Team (Head)
• 2010 Women's Olympic Team (Head)

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	University of Wisconsin	WCHA		43	36	44	80	16		—	—	—	—	—
1977-78	University of Wisconsin	WCHA		42	48	38	86	24		—	—	—	—	—
1978-79	University of Wisconsin	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

[ Source: Wikipedia ]