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American hockey coach Joel Johnson skillfully juggles 2 jobs

 


It’s not often that someone gets two chances of their life. For Joel Johnson, the opportunity came just two months apart.

In April, he was promoted to coach of the US women’s national hockey team after Bob Corkum’s abrupt resignation due to COVID-19 protocols at the world championships. In June, Johnson was hired by St. Thomas University in St. Paul, Minnesota, to lead its women’s hockey program that made the leap to the Division I level.

I think it’s interesting when someone says perfect storm. It’s still a storm and it’s still perfect, Johnson said of juggling two jobs. And that’s kind of how it feels. It is a mess. It is busy. It’s a storm. But it’s perfect. … And I love it.

As daunting as the responsibilities are, it helps to have both teams in Johnson’s backyard. St. Thomas is a 20-minute drive from the USA Women’s Hockey facility in Blaine, which allows him to work with both teams on the same day, schedule permitting.

What also makes it manageable is that Johnson has the backing of officials on both programs, with the understanding that his main focus this year is on preparing the U.S. women to defend their Olympic gold medal at the Beijing Winter Games next month.

The chance to build his own program from scratch while coaching on the global stage made it impossible for Johnson to say no.

On the other hand, as he put it, I’ve always said yes, and I’ve never been disappointed.

At 47 years old, Johnson is no stranger to multitasking. During a six-year stint at his alma mater, Bethel University, he coached men’s hockey, men’s and women’s golf and earned the 2010 Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference Football Coach of the Year.

He then went on to double down on hockey duties in Minnesota. As an associate coach, he helped the Gophers win six national titles, while simultaneously coaching the women’s USA Hockeys Under-22 team before taking the job of assistant on the national team under Corkum in 2018.

His familiarity with the American players made him a natural candidate for promotion, while USA Hockey played a part in recommending Johnson for the St. Thomas job.

It’s been pretty seamless, said Katie Million, general manager of the US team. We know this team is the priority, and we know Hell does a fantastic job with both.

St. Thomas assistant Bethany Brausen had no doubts, having previously worked with Johnson and played under him in Minnesota.

He’s definitely spread very thin. But I also knew that if there was anyone in the country who could do both jobs and do them well, it would be Joel Johnson, said Brausen, who is Tommies’ head coach during Johnson’s absence. Even if you get Joel Johnson in a limited capacity, I believe you will still get the best coaching you could ever get as a player.

The key is Johnson’s ability to delegate, often leaving game day decisions and practice plans to Brausen and fellow assistant Marty Sertich.

Such was the case when Johnson showed up one day and told Brausen that he would serve as her puck pusher.

I laughed because I’m like, you’re the most overqualified puck pusher in the world, she said. He has the humility to show up and say, Hey, I wasn’t here today and I may not be the best person to make this decision.

American players praise Johnson for the confidence he places in them.

We trust what he does, his vision for us and what he has planned for us to be successful in Beijing, said veteran forward Brianna Decker.

Johnson has taken an optimistic approach to dealing with the tantalizing memory of a 3-2 overtime loss to Canada in the World Championship gold medal match in August.

We lost in a difficult, difficult game. And I think I’ve shared with our team that losing brings clarity that winning doesn’t, Johnson said. That doesn’t mean we played badly. It doesn’t mean we feel like we can’t win. It just means we have clarity.

Johnson focused on watching videos and reviewing notes to determine what he could have done better before assessing what his players could improve on.

Equally important was letting go and moving on.

It is over. It’s finished. And it doesn’t matter anymore because we weren’t trying to win the world championships, Johnson said. Canada has won. Congratulations to them.

While the US roster is essentially unchanged since August, there is an expectation that younger players, such as defender Caroline Harvey and forward Abbey Murphy (both 19), could see more ice age in Beijing to counter Canada’s speed.

St. Thomas athletic director Phil Esten laughed at how he occasionally bumped into Johnson on campus, noting that the two phone or text each other more often.

It’s a unique opportunity for Joel, and it’s something I would never ask him to give up, Esten said. And frankly, it’s one of those things that St. Thomas only goes through once in his life to be able to associate with us: Our head coach is also the head coach of USA Hockeys. Those are things that don’t come up often.

The young Tommies are off to a 4-15-1 start in the Central Collegiate Hockey Association, which includes the nation’s three top-ranked teams.

For Brausen, there is more than Xs and Os with Johnson crediting him for spending time getting to know his players and staff.

While working together in Minnesota, Brausen recalled sharing a difficult period in her life with Johnson. After practice, she heard Johnson yell as she walked to her car.

He sprinted out of the rink to come and grab me one last time and give me a hug and tell me how much he loved sharing life with me, Brausen said. That was a moment that was only a reflection of Joel. He never misses the opportunity to stand up for people and make it more than just hockey.

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More AP Winter Olympics: https://apnews.com/hub/winter-olympics and https://twitter.com/AP_Sports

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More AP NHL: https://apnews.com/hub/nhl and https://twitter.com/AP_Sports

Sources

1/ https://Google.com/

2/ https://www.yahoo.com/lifestyle/us-womens-hockey-coach-joel-065836379.html

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