Robert Norman "Badger Bob" Johnson (March 4, 1931 – November 26, 1991) was an American college, international, and professional ice hockey coach. He coached the Wisconsin Badgers men's ice hockey team from 1966 to 1982, where he led the Badgers to seven appearances at the NCAA Men's Ice Hockey Championships, including three titles. He later coached hockey at Roosevelt High School in Minneapolis. He would teach his history class using a hockey stick as a pointer to the chalkboard. Johnson became the head hockey coach at Colorado College in 1963.
In 1966, Johnson moved to the University of Wisconsin–Madison, where he was head coach until 1982. He led the Badgers to seven NCAA tournaments, winning three championships in 1973, 1977, and 1981. It was at Wisconsin where Johnson earned the nickname, "Badger Bob."
Johnson also coached the 1976 Winter Olympic hockey team, the 1981, 1984, and 1987 U.S. teams in the Canada Cup tournament, and the 1973, 1974, 1975, and 1981 U.S. national teams.
NHL coaching career
thumb|1982 postcard of Johnson as Calgary Flames coach
In 1982, Johnson began his National Hockey League career when he became the head coach of the Calgary Flames, a position he held for five seasons. In the 1985–86 season, he coached the Flames to the Stanley Cup Final, where they lost in five games to the Montreal Canadiens. On May 20, 1987, it was announced that Johnson would resign from the Flames for become the executive director of the Amateur Hockey Association of the United States (now commonly referred to as USA Hockey). He had two years remaining on his contract but felt that it was time to move on and that the Flames job was a "great job". He was 193-155-52 in Calgary. He served in the position for three years. On June 12, 1990, the Pittsburgh Penguins hired Johnson to serve as head coach while also naming Scotty Bowman as director of player development and recruitment. In his first season, led by superstar Mario Lemieux, the Penguins reached the postseason for only the second time in the past nine seasons. They advanced all the way to the Stanley Cup Final and faced the Minnesota North Stars. The Penguins lost two of the first three games before dominating the next three, which included an 8–0 victory in Game 6 to clinch the first Stanley Cup in franchise history.
Brain cancer and death
In August 1991, as he was preparing the U.S. team for the upcoming Canada Cup tournament, Johnson suffered a brain aneurysm and was hospitalized, where he was diagnosed with brain cancer. He was then flown on a private plane to Colorado with Dr. Dan Thompson of Mercy Hospital in Pittsburgh. He began treatment and turned the day-to-day supervision of the Penguins over to his three assistant coaches and Scotty Bowman, the team's director of player development and recruitment, who was named interim head coach. Though the team was "coached by committee", Johnson continued to oversee them from his hospital room by way of videotape and remained in contact by fax machine.
On November 26, 1991, Johnson died of brain cancer in Colorado Springs, Colorado. After his death, his catchphrase was emblazoned on a banner hanging over the ice at the University of Wisconsin–Madison and was painted at the bluelines on the ice in Pittsburgh's Civic Arena. In memoriam, it remained on the ice there for the remainder of the season. In addition, Penguins players would wear a patch on the left sleeve of their jerseys with the word "BADGER" under his birth and death years. Pittsburgh also put his name on the Stanley Cup a second time after their second straight Cup victory in . "He's such a tremendous person...We would like to win it again for him," said Mark Recchi, a member of the team in 1991.
At the team's 1992 victory celebration at Three Rivers Stadium in Pittsburgh, Bowman's first remark was that "the coach of the Pittsburgh Penguins will always be – Bob Johnson".
The team used "A Great Day For Hockey" as their marketing slogan for the 2008–09 season. On June 12, 2009, exactly 19 years to the day of Johnson's hiring, the Pittsburgh Penguins won their third Stanley Cup. Furthermore, the Penguins won their fourth Stanley Cup, 26 years to the day that Johnson was hired, on June 12, 2016. "A Great Day For Hockey" now adorns the entrance of the PPG Paints Arena, the current home arena of the Penguins.
At the time of his death Johnson's 234 NHL victories were a record for an American born coach. Dan Bylsma, John Tortorella, Peter Laviolette and Mike Sullivan have since eclipsed this mark.
Head coaching record
College
NHL
{| class="wikitable" style="font-size:95%; text-align:center;"
|-
! rowspan="2"|Team !! rowspan="2"|Year !! colspan="6"|Regular season !! colspan="5"|Postseason
|-
! G !! W !! L !! T !! Pts !! Finish !! W !! L !! Win% !! Result
|- style="background:#fdd;"
!CGY||1982-83
|80
|32
|34
|14
|78
|2nd in Smythe
|4
|5
|
|Lost in Division Finals (EDM)
|- style="background:#fdd;"
!CGY||1983-84
|80
|34
|32
|14
|82
|2nd in Smythe
|6
|5
|
|Lost in Division Finals (EDM)
|- style="background:#fdd;"
!CGY||1984-85
|80
|41
|27
|12
|94
|3rd in Smythe
|1
|3
|
|Lost in Division Semifinals (WPG)
|- style="background:#fdd;"
!CGY||1985-86
|80||40||31||9||89||2nd in Smythe
|12||10||||Lost in Stanley Cup Final (MTL)
|- style="background:#fdd;"
!CGY||1986-87
|80||46||31||3||95||2nd in Smythe||2||4|| ||Lost in Division Semifinals (WPG)
|-
! colspan="2"|CAL total !! 400 || 193 || 155|| 52|| || || 25 || 27 || !! 5 playoff appearances
|- style="background:#FDE910;"
!PIT||1990-91
|80||41||33||6||88||1st in Patrick||16||8||.667|| Won Stanley Cup (MNS)
|-align=center
! colspan="2" |PIT total !!80 ||41||33||6||—|| ||16||8|| ||1 Stanley Cup
|-
! colspan="2" |Total
!480
!234
!188
!58
!
!
!41
!35
!
!6 playoff appearances<br>1 Stanley Cup title
|}
Honors
Johnson was inducted into the Wisconsin Hockey Hall of Fame in 1987, United States Hockey Hall of Fame in 1991, and the Hockey Hall of Fame in 1992. He was elected to the Wisconsin Athletic Hall of Fame in 1993. On November 2, 2012, the Wisconsin Badgers Men's Hockey team dedicated their home ice rink to Johnson, dubbing it "Bob Johnson Rink".
Personal life
Johnson is also the father of 1980 Olympic hockey gold medalist and current Wisconsin women's hockey coach Mark Johnson and former Wisconsin assistant coach and Toronto Maple Leafs scout Peter Johnson. He is the grandfather of former Wisconsin hockey player Patrick Johnson, former Denver Pioneer hockey player Scott McConnell, Augsburg College men's assistant hockey coach Chris Johnson, women's hockey player Mikayla Johnson, and women's soccer player Meghan Johnson.
Johnson umpired baseball games in Minnesota with fellow hockey coach Dave Peterson.
See also
- List of members of the United States Hockey Hall of Fame
- List of members of the Hockey Hall of Fame
- List of notable brain tumor patients
- Notable families in the NHL
References
External links
- Pittsburgh media coverage of tributes for Johnson