Bob Johnson (ice hockey coach)

Bob Johnson
Hockey Hall of Fame , 1992
Date of birth	March 4, 1931
place of birth	Minneapolis , Minnesota , USA
date of death	November 26, 1991
Place of death	Colorado Springs , Colorado , USA
position	striker
Career stations
1951-1952	Minneapolis Millers
1952-1953	University of Minnesota

Robert "Bob" Johnson (born March 4, 1931 in Minneapolis , Minnesota , † November 26, 1991 in Colorado Springs , Colorado ) was an American ice hockey coach .

Career

As a player, Johnson was active for the teams at Minneapolis Central High School , the University of North Dakota and the University of Minnesota , where he was coached by the legendary John Mariucci .

After serving as a medic in the Korean War , he first coached various high school teams in Minnesota. In 1963 he became a coach at Colorado College before moving to the University of Wisconsin – Madison in 1966 . At the same time, he often looked after the US national ice hockey team at international tournaments. He was behind the gang at the World Championships in 1973 , 1974 , 1975 and 1981 , at the Canada Cup in 1981 , 1984 and 1987 and at the 1976 Winter Olympics in Innsbruck . For the Olympic Games, he even interrupted his coaching work at the University of Wisconsin-Madison for a year. After that he had his son Mark on the Badgers team , as the university team was called in Wisconsin-Madison. Mark was then also in the squad of the American team that won the gold medal at the 1980 Olympic Games in Lake Placid .

For the 1982/83 season Bob Jonson took over the Calgary Flames for the first time an NHL team. He looked after the Flames for five years until 1987. For the 1990/91 season he took over the Pittsburgh Penguins around superstar Mario Lemieux . He led the team to their first Stanley Cup victory. After this great success, Johnson suffered great disillusionment. The following summer, doctors diagnosed him with a brain tumor , which he succumbed three months later.

His frequently made statement “It's a great day for hockey!” Became well known, and was affixed to the blue lines of the Civic Arena after his death . The team of the Penguins played in the 1991/92 season with a patch with the word Badger and his life data, which reminded of his nickname "Badger Bob".

He was inducted into the United States Hockey Hall of Fame in 1991 and the Hockey Hall of Fame in 1992.

Web links

• Bob Johnson in the database of the Hockey Hall of Fame (English)
• Bob Johnson at hockeydb.com (English)