Mark Johnson adds to Hockey Hall of Fame resume with another Women’s Frozen Four Championship

Photo Credit: University of Wisconsin Athletics

If you are a hockey fan then you will know the name Mark Johnson for what he did on the ice. The 11-year NHL veteran was a catalyst for the greatest upset in Olympic history, leading the 1980 U.S. Olympic Men’s Hockey Team in points (11) while scoring twice in the team’s miracle gold medal-winning game against the Soviet Union. What he is now doing off the ice is cementing his legacy as one of the most successful figures in American hockey history.

Since becoming the head coach of the University of Wisconsin women’s hockey program in 2002, Johnson has been named Western Collegiate Hockey Association Coach of the Year ten times and has won eight National Championships. The 67-year-old’s eight National Championships are the most in NCAA Division 1 hockey history (men and women’s). Johnson’s most recent championship came a day ago, on Sunday, March 23, when his 38-1-2 Badgers defeated Ohio State in overtime, 4-3.

"The players deserve the credit,” Mark Johnson said. “I mean, we're just the coaches, we're the leaders, but we're serving [the players], and I think great leaders serve the people that are in front of them, and that's our job as a staff is to help them and to navigate them, sometimes encourage them and sometimes hold them accountable.”

However, Johnson and his team were 18.9 seconds away from falling to Ohio State in the NCAA Women’s Frozen Four title game for the second consecutive season.

Two crucial decisions in a matter of minutes changed the fate of Johnson’s program and strengthened his already Hockey Hall of Fame-worthy resume.

While on a power play, Johnson pulled sophomore goalie Ava McNaughton to create a six-on-four advantage with a minute left. During a mad scramble in the crease, junior forward Laila Edwards noticed Ohio State graduate forward Maddi Wheeler cover the puck with her glove in the blue paint, an illegal play. With no penalty being called on the play, the next whistle happened 30 seconds after the potential infringement when Edwards could then communicate to her coaches and the referees what she saw.

From that moment on, Johnson put on a coaching clinic that will live in infamy.

The first of his two game-changing decisions was challenging the play. Johnson trusted Edwards and his video staff, leading him to use his coach’s challenge. A successful challenge would lead to a penalty shot or a minor penalty, ultimately decided by the coach. An unsuccessful challenge would award a power play to Ohio State, all but sealing Wisconsin’s fate.

The challenge was successful.

What next? Well, Johnson now had to decide which of his many talented, high-scoring players would take the pressure-filled penalty shot in front of a sold-out crowd at Riddler Arena in Minneapolis, Minnesota.

Johnson looked at his bench and said, “Who wants it?”

Immediately, the hand of junior forward Kirsten Simms shot up in the air. Simms’ teammates encouraged her to volunteer for what would be - at the time - the biggest moment of her hockey career.

Simms, who finished second in the WCHA with 72 points, deposited her penalty shot into the back of the net with a nifty move that had Ohio State graduate goalie Amanda Thiele sprawling in her crease.

“Everyone on the bench was like ‘Simms you’re taking it’ and I was like you know what, fine I’ll do it,” said Kirsten Simms in her on-ice interview following the overtime win. “I was so nervous. I couldn’t think while I was going, just had to try to be confident with it.”

“If you’re lining up for your birdie put and think you’re going to miss it, you’re probably going to miss it,” Johnson said. “I wanted to see who wanted to step up and own it, and who felt comfortable in that setting because you can’t have one ounce of negativity in your mind as you pick the puck up. It’s going to be all positive because if you think about what’s going on, you’re going to miss your put and you’re going to miss your shot.”

The decisions to challenge for a potential penalty shot and ask who wants to take it turned the game on its head. Simms’ goal with 18.9 seconds left in the third period sent the National Championship to overtime.

With all the momentum, Johnson’s team came out firing in the extra session. Just 2:49 into overtime, the hero that tied the game on a penalty shot scored the biggest goal in Wisconsin women’s hockey history. Driving down the right wing on an odd-man rush, senior forward Lacey Eden had her low shot saved by the right pad of Thiele but Simms was in the right place at the right time, slotting home the championship-winning goal.

“I don’t really remember it,” Simms said. “I know Lacey [Eden] just took a shot and the rebound came right at me and I just kind of hit the puck and hoped that it went in the net, lucky enough it did.”

The Plymouth, Michigan native’s heroics at the end of regulation and in overtime gave her the Most Outstanding Player of the Tournament award.

After winning the WCHA regular season title and WCHA tournament, Johnson added more hardware to his packed trophy case with his eighth National Championship, all won while coaching for Wisconsin.

Johnson will look to bring his ninth National Championship back to Madison, Wisconsin next season with most of his core returning, but for now, he will enjoy his team’s success for many Mondays to come.

“As I’ve always said, Monday always comes,” Johnson said. “Well, Monday is coming tomorrow and we’ve got the National Championship trophy back in Madtown, so it’s a good day.”