2010 United States Women's Olympic hockey coach Mark Johnson was in Eau Claire Tuesday for the Fellowship of Christian Athletes Home Team celebration at the Florian Gardens. Johnson is taking a one-year sabbatical to guide the 2010 Olympic U.S. Women's Hockey team to Vancouver. No stranger to the Wisconsin program as coach's son (his father is legendary coach Bob Johnson), player and assistant coach, Mark Johnson stepped into the role of head women's ice hockey coach at UW beginning with the 2002-03 season, becoming the third coach in program history. In seven seasons, Johnson and the Badgers have continued to shatter both school and national records, while being the first team ever to land in the NCAA championship game in four consecutive seasons and winning the title three times (2006, 2007, 2009).
Johnson has represented USA Hockey as a player in 13 international tournaments, with his most recent appearance as part of the U.S. national team at the 1998 IIHF (A-Pool) World Championship Qualification Tournament in Austria. Most notably, he led the 1980 U.S. Olympic Team's gold medal-winning effort with 11 points, including two goals in the "Miracle-On-Ice" against the Soviet Union and an assist on the game-winning goal against Finland in the final contest.