"Miracle on Ice" legacy alive in women's coach Mark Johnson
While several proven players and Olympic veterans like Jenny Potter and Natalie Darwitz sat on stage, much of the attention at Thursday's Team USA women's hockey press conference was paid to the lone male behind a mic.
Coach Mark Johnson was the leading scorer for the 1980 "Miracle on Ice" team that won the gold after beating the Soviet Union, yada yada yada, we're all very familiar.
And though his 2010 team is a major podium contender in the tournament that, for them, begins on Valentine's Day, it's those Lake Placid Games that still captivate the media. Those Lake Placid Games that, according to Johnson, only one of his players was alive for.
"And she was very young," he said with a laugh.
(In fact, two of Johnson's players were alive when Team USA upset the USSR on that Feb. 22. Jenny Potter was about 13 months old; Angela Ruggiero was just over one month old.)
Urged to liken his coaching style to the methods of either his father,
renowned college and pro hockey coach "Badger Bob" Johnson, or his 1980
Olympic coach and legendary disciplinarian Herb Brooks, Johnson smirked.
He
credited his father for being genuine, real, with great energy and
enthusiasm, he said Brooks was "180 degrees different." Apparently Kurt
Russell's portrayal in Disney's "Miracle" wasn't completely accurate.
"The movie actually makes him out to be a pretty nice guy."
The coach dodged the question and left it up to his players to judge his style. Sort of.
"Be careful," he warned Angela Ruggiero before the veteran blue-liner sang his praises.
As Johnson's Olympic past gets rehashed while he leads his ladies in 2010, he seems uncomfortable with the spotlight.
"That was my time, that was my place," he said. "This is their journey, this is their opportunity."
Photo by Joe O'Donnell
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