The ice sheet at Kohl Center, where Wisconsin's hockey teams play, is going to be named the Bob Johnson Rink.
Johson coached the Badgers men's hockey team to three NCAA titles. He also coached in the Olympics, the World Championships and the National Hockey League.
Twenty-two former Badger hockey student-athletes made gifts to help secure the ice sheet naming opportunity.
During his 15 years with the Badger program, Johnson coached Wisconsin to seven NCAA tournaments, winning three championships in 1973, 1977, and 1981. He also 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 was inducted into the Wisconsin Hockey Hall of Fame in 1987, United States Hockey Hall of Fame in 1991, and the Hockey Hall of Fame in 1992.
Johnson, fondly nicknamed Badger Bob,. was born in Minneapolis, played for old Minneapolis Central and then under John Mariucci at the U of M. He coach high school hockey at Warroad and Minneapolis Roosevelt before becoming head coact at Colorado College in 1963. He was the Badgers coach from 1966-82.
His son Mark is the head coach of the women's hockey team at Wisconsin now.
Roman Augustoviz spends Minnesota's winters covering college hockey, specifically the Gophers, and other University of Minnesota sports. During the summer, he writes about the WNBA's Minnesota Lynx, with a dose of U sports sprinkled in. Follow @RomanStrib on Twitter. E-mail Roman.
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