Saturday, 21 December 2024

    Bob Johnson

    • Contest: The US Athletic Hall of Fame - Coaches 2024
    • Embed from Getty Images
    • Sport(s): Hockey
    • Statistics: 1 Stanley Cup (1991)
      3 NCAA Championships (1973, 1977 & 1981)
      6 WCHA Tournament Championships (1970, 1972, 1973, 1977, 1978 & 1982)
      1 WCHA Coach of the Year (1977)
      234-188-58 NHL Record
      394-224-27 NCAA Record
      9-5 NCAA Tournament Record
      Member of the Hockey Hall of Fame
      Member of the U.S. Hockey Hall of Fame
    • Bob Johnson was one of the top college hockey coaches in the 1970s, where his school, Wisconsin, won three National Championships and six WCHA Tournaments. Like his rival, Herb Brooks, who coached Minnesota, Johnson also coached the U.S. at the Olympics (1976), and he was also the head coach for the Americans at the 1981, 1984, and 1987 Canada Cup.

      At the NHL level, Johnson coached the Calgary Flames, bringing them to Stanley Cup Finals in 1986, losing to Montreal. Let go in 1987; Johnson came back to the NHL in 1990 with the ascending Pittsburgh Penguins, who he coached to a Stanley Cup win. This turned out to be his last run as a coach.

      After his greatest triumph, Johnson prepared to coach the U.S. for the 1991 Canada Cup. Before the tournament started, he suffered a brain aneurysm, which resulted in a brain cancer diagnosis. Johnson died only a few months later, at the age of 60.

      We are proud to nominate Bob Johnson for the United States Athletic Hall of Fame.
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