MONROE - Mark Johnson could end up celebrating the 30th anniversary of the Miracle on Ice with another run for an Olympic gold medal.
Johnson, a Madison native who was the leading scorer for the 1980 U.S. Olympic team who shocked the Soviet Union by winning in Lake Placid, N.Y., will get another chance at gold.
The University of Wisconsin women's hockey coach, will coach the U.S. women's hockey team in the 2010 Winter Olympics in Vancouver. Johnson was in Monroe for Badger Booster Days on Tuesday and is excited about starting his quest in coaching the Olympic team.
"I think any time you get a chance to compete in the Olympics as an athlete or coach, it's a big honor," Johnson said. "Hopefully, we will have the same result as my team in 1980. That's how we will be judged anyways."
Johnson will follow his father, Bob Johnson who coached the 1976 men's Olympic team.
He will take one year off from coaching the Badgers to prepare for the Olympics. Forty hockey players are expected at the team tryouts in Minneapolis on Aug. 18.
By Aug. 24, Johnson will have to trim the roster down to 23 before the U.S. team begins an exhibition tour across the country.
"We will have a Wisconsin flavor for sure," Johnson said as he estimated that as many as five or six former Badger players could make the Olympic team. "It's not because I'm the coach. It's because they earned the right to be on the team."
Johnson was named the best Division I women's coach in the nation after guiding the Badgers to their third national title in the last four years. It was the third time Johnson has received college coaches' top honor in the last four years.
Johnson said women's and men's hockey will be at the forefront with the Olympics in Canada.
"Women's hockey has no professional league," Johnson said. "This is the top of the mountain for them. They get the chance to wear the U.S. jersey and go represent their country."
Johnson, a Madison native who was the leading scorer for the 1980 U.S. Olympic team who shocked the Soviet Union by winning in Lake Placid, N.Y., will get another chance at gold.
The University of Wisconsin women's hockey coach, will coach the U.S. women's hockey team in the 2010 Winter Olympics in Vancouver. Johnson was in Monroe for Badger Booster Days on Tuesday and is excited about starting his quest in coaching the Olympic team.
"I think any time you get a chance to compete in the Olympics as an athlete or coach, it's a big honor," Johnson said. "Hopefully, we will have the same result as my team in 1980. That's how we will be judged anyways."
Johnson will follow his father, Bob Johnson who coached the 1976 men's Olympic team.
He will take one year off from coaching the Badgers to prepare for the Olympics. Forty hockey players are expected at the team tryouts in Minneapolis on Aug. 18.
By Aug. 24, Johnson will have to trim the roster down to 23 before the U.S. team begins an exhibition tour across the country.
"We will have a Wisconsin flavor for sure," Johnson said as he estimated that as many as five or six former Badger players could make the Olympic team. "It's not because I'm the coach. It's because they earned the right to be on the team."
Johnson was named the best Division I women's coach in the nation after guiding the Badgers to their third national title in the last four years. It was the third time Johnson has received college coaches' top honor in the last four years.
Johnson said women's and men's hockey will be at the forefront with the Olympics in Canada.
"Women's hockey has no professional league," Johnson said. "This is the top of the mountain for them. They get the chance to wear the U.S. jersey and go represent their country."
