Head Coach Mark Johnson
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Johnson led the UW to a 34-2-5 record during the 2008-09 season, marking the third-most wins in school history. The Badgers claimed the WCHA playoff championship en route to its third national championship in four years. Under Johnson, he has led the Badgers to an 11-2 record in the NCAA Tournament which includes seven Frozen Four wins, the second-most in the event's history. Johnson celebrated his 200th career win Sunday, Feb, 1, 2008 against Ohio State and leads all active women's college-hockey coaches with a winning percentage of .815 after compiling an impressive record of 210-39-22 in his first seven years at Wisconsin.
Named the 2009 Western Collegiate Hockey Association Co-Coach and American Hockey Coaches Association Division I Coach of the Year he is now a four-time WCHA and a three-time AHCA recipient. In the same year Johnson guided goaltender Jessie Vetter to the program's second Patty Kazmaier Memorial Award as the top player in NCAA Di-vision I women's ice hockey.
The Badgers have reached 29 victories in each of the past four campaigns, something no other program has ever accomplished. Since the 2005-06 season, Wiscon-sin has recorded 135 wins, more than any other team in the nation. Named the 2003 WCHA Co-Coach of the Year and one of eight finalists for the AHCA Division I Coach of the Year award, Johnson guided Wisconsin to a 22-8-5 overall and 14-6-4 WCHA record in his first season with the team.
After going 25-6-3 in 2003-04, the Badgers made history in Johnson's third season, winning a then-program-record 28 games (28-9-1) and earning the program's first-ever NCAA tournament berth. The team climbed as high as second in the national rankings by defeating then-No. 2 Minnesota Duluth in the WCHA tournament semifinals and dramatically forcing overtime by scoring two goals in the final minute of regulation vs. No. 1 Minnesota in the championship game.
Johnson carried the momentum into the 2005-06 cam-paign as Wisconsin debuted at No. 1 in the USCHO.com preseason poll and went on to validate that distinction with a 36-4-1 record and a national championship. Meanwhile, Sara Bauer earned the program's first Patty Kazmaier Memorial Award which is annually given to the most outstanding player in NCAA Division I women's ice hockey each season. As an encore in 2006-07, UW successfully defended all three championships while posting a record of 36-1-4 and solidifying its status as one of the elite women's college hockey programs in the nation.
Johnson, the 2006 and 2007 WCHA and AHCA Coach of the Year, led the Badgers to back-to-back WCHA regular-season, playoff and NCAA champion-ships while winning more games (72) in a two-year pe-riod (2005-07) than any other team in women's college hockey history. During the 2006-07 campaign, Johnson's team broke or tied 18 NCAA team and individual records including wins in a season (36), fewest losses (one), best winning per-centage (.927) and most shutouts (18).
Johnson has not looked back since, advancing to the national championship game again in 2008 and in 2009. Wisconsin brought back the WCHA playoff and NCAA title in 2009 after suffering a loss to Minnesota-Duluth in the 2008 championship game. Johnson put together an elite squad and in the 2008-09 season featured the nation's top players, with UW players leading the nation in nearly every category. Under the watch of Johnson, Wisconsin was anchored by senior goaltender, Jessie Vetter. Her performance earned her the 2009 Patty Kazmaier Memorial Award and her name at the top of the NCAA record books for career shutouts, shutouts in a season and career victories.
Leadership
The third head coach in the program's history, Johnson joined the staff after serving as an assistant coach with the men's program from 1996-2002.
During that time, he helped the men's team to a WCHA regular-season title during the 1999-2000 season, as well as a WCHA Final Five championship in the 1997-98 campaign.
Prior to his time with the Badgers, Johnson coached professionally, directing the expansion Madison Monsters to a 37-30-7 mark in the 1995-96 season and earning Colonial Hockey League coach of the year honors.
He also led a pair of area high schools, serving as the head coach of Verona from 1994-95 and as the assistant coach for Madison Memorial from 1993-94.
Olympic Role
While Johnson will be making his first appearance as the head coach of the U.S. Olympic Women's Ice Hockey Team, he is quite familiar with the international scene as a coach. His first assignment came as an assistant coach for the U.S. Men's National Team at the 2000 Internation-al Ice Hockey Federation Men's World Championship, a role he also served in at the same event in 2002. Johnson was also an assistant coach at the 2001 U.S. Olympic Men's Ice Hockey Orientation Camp in Colorado Springs, Colo., which featured 38 of the top American players from the National Hockey League.
Johnson has been part of the U.S. women's national program as a head coach for the past three seasons. In 2006-07, he led Team USA to a second-place finish at the 2006 Four Nations Cup, as well as the silver medal at the 2007 IIHF World Women's Championship. In 2007-08, Johnson led the U.S. Nation-al under-22 Team and, dur-ing the 2008-09 campaign, he guided the U.S. Women's National Under-18 Team to the gold medal at the 2009 IIHF World Women's U18 Championship.
Johnson will guide the squad during the Qwest Tour from September 2008 through February 2010 in the lead-up to the Vancouver Games.
On the Ice
In his playing career, Johnson helped Wisconsin to the 1977 national championship during his freshman campaign. The first Badger ever to win WCHA Rookie of the Year honors, he went on to become the school's second all-time leading scorer with 256 points on a school-record 125 goals and 131 assists in just three seasons.
The 1978-79 WCHA MVP, Johnson was a two-time, first team All-WCHA pick and a two-time All-American. In 2002, he was also selected as one of the WCHA's "Top 50 Players in 50 Years."
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.
The team attended the opening ceremonies of the 2002 Olympic Winter Games to light the flame and was honored by Sports Illustrated as giving us the "Greatest Sports Moment of the Century."
In 2004, Disney produced the blockbuster movie, "Miracle," chronicling the 1980 USA hockey team's unlikely climb to the top.
The Next Level
Following his Olympic experience, Johnson embarked on a successful 11-year NHL career. He began his pro tenure with the Pittsburgh Penguins (1980-82), before moving onto the Minnesota North Stars (1982).
He also enjoyed stints with the Hartford Whalers (1982-85), St. Louis Blues (1985) and New Jersey Devils (1985-90). Over his 669 career NHL contests, the forward collected 203 goals, 305 assists and 508 points, highlighted by his 87-point season as captain of Hartford in 1983-84. He also tied an NHL All-Star Game record with three assists that season.
Awards
As an accomplished athlete, coach and humanitarian, Johnson continues to be honored with awards year after year. In January 2009, as he was named the recipient of the Red Smith Award, given annually to an individual who has contributed or continues to con-tribute to sports either on or off the field in the state of Wisconsin.
In 2005, he received the NCAA Silver Anniversary award, one the most prestigious honors given by the NCAA, for his accomplishments in the 25 years following his days as a student-athlete.
Further, in 2004, Vince Lombardi Charitable Funds hon-ored Johnson's volunteer work by presenting him with the Award of Excellence. That same year, he was inducted into the U.S. Hockey Hall of Fame for his individual ac-complishments as a player and coach. He was previously inducted as a member of the 1980 U.S. Olympic Men's Ice Hockey Team in 2003. One of Wisconsin's most decorated athletes in any sport, Johnson was inducted into the Wisconsin Athletic Hall of Fame in 2003, the Wisconsin Hockey Hall of Fame in 2001 and is also a charter member of Wisconsin's Na-tional W Club Hall of Fame.
In 2002, Johnson was selected as one of the WCHA's "Top 50 Players in 50 Years," and, in 1999, he earned one of international hockey's highest honors when he was in-ducted into the IIHF Hall of Fame.
In addition, Johnson's contributions as a member of the 1980 Olympic team have continued to be recognized. In 2002, the team attended the opening ceremonies of the Olympic Winter Games to light the flame. That same year, the Miracle on Ice was named the"Greatest Sports Mo-ment of the Century' by Sports Illustrated. In 2004, Dis-ney produced the blockbuster move, Miracle, chronicling the team's unlikely climb to the top. Later that year, ESPN, as part of its 25th anniversary, declared the Miracle on Ice to be the top sports headline, moment, and game of the period from 1979-2004. Finally, in 2008, as part of its 100th anniversary celebration, the IIHF picked the Miracle on Ice as the No. 1 international hockey story of the century.
Personal
Born in Minneapolis on Sept. 22, 1957, and raised in Madison, Wis., Johnson is the son of legendary coach Bob Johnson. Bob coached Wisconsin to three national titles and led the United States at the 1976 Olympics, three Canada Cups (1981, 1984, 1987) and four IIHF Men's World Championships (1973-75, 1981). He went on to coach the NHL's Calgary Flames for five seasons (1982-87) and led the Pittsburgh Penguins to the Stanley Cup title in 1991 before passing away from brain cancer that fall.
Johnson earned his bachelor's degree in kinesiology from Wisconsin in 1994. He resides in Verona, Wis., with his wife Leslie. The couple has five children, Doug (2/24/84), Chris (11/3/85), Patrick (4/21/89), Mikayla (8/15/94) and Megan (1/15/97). Doug is the head coach for the Wisconsin Ice Spirit Girls' U14 hockey team, Chris is a senior captain for the Augsburg College men's ice hockey team, Patrick is a junior on the UW men's ice hockey team and Mikayla and Megan play hockey for the Wiscon-sin Ice Spirit Girls' U14 and U12 teams, respectively.
INTERIM HEAD COACH TRACEY DEKEYSER
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Ashton, Ontario native Tracey DeKeyser begins her 11th season at Wisconsin, and for the first time at UW she will lead the squad while Head Coach Mark Johnson takes a one-year leave to coach at the 2010 Olympics. She has been with the program since the drop of the first puck and has done everything from recruiting to co-coaching the team during her tenure. DeKeyser has co-coached with former assistant coach Dan Koch on two previous occasions, including the second half of the 2001-02 season and a brief stint in 2008-09.
The energetic DeKeyser, formally known as Cornell, came to Madison after spending the previous year as girls hockey head coach at Cushing Academy in Ashburnham, Mass. DeKeyser led Cushing Academy to a 24-4-2 mark, the most successful season in the history of the program. Her team captured second during the regular season and advanced to the NEPSAC Championship. Most recently, DeKeyser volunteered as a Team Leader at Canada's Under-22 Selection Camp in August 2005.
DeKeyser's playing experiences include four years at Cornell University, as well as one year as a professional in Switzerland for the SC Reinach Lions.
While at Cornell, she co-captained the hockey program her senior season and earned Academic All-Ivy honors both her junior and senior years. Cornell helped the Big Red to the Ivy League hockey title during the 1995-96 season and served as assistant captain during the title run. The one-time Cornell rookie of the year also earned team honors as most inspirational player as a sophomore and senior.
Her stay with the SC Reinach Lions was also successful. The Lions placed second overall in the top Swiss hockey league and were crowned Zurich Cup Tournament Champions during her 1997-98 season.
DeKeyser earned her bachelor of science degree in marine ecology from Cornell University in 1997. In the summer of 2007 DeKeyser earned her M.B.A. in the graduate program at Wisconsin. In addition to her time with the hockey program, DeKeyser played forward for a year with the Big Red women's soccer team and is an avid cyclist who has tried her hand competing in triathlons over the past few years, including the 2006 and 2008 Madison Ironman competitions.
DeKeyser and husband Darren DeKeyser were married in May of 2008 and currently reside in Middleton, Wis.
