USA's head coach Joel Johnson speaks to his team after defeating Canada during the gold medal game of the 2017 IIHF Ice Hockey U18 Women's World Championship.
photo: Andrea Cardin / HHOF-IIHF Images
Joel Johnson comes to the 2021 IIHF Ice Hockey Women’s World Championship as a head coach of the senior USA team for the first time, and after leading the U.S. women to gold for an unprecedented four straight years (2015-18) he hopes to become just the fourth coach to win gold at both the WW18 and WW (after Dan Church of Canada and Americans Mark Johnson and Katey Stone).
He chatted with IIHF.com after practice in Calgary to discuss the upcoming Women’s Worlds and his long and successful career in women’s hockey.
Why did you make the switch from the junior to senior program?
I’m not so sure it was a decision I made so much as it was being around the women’s program for a long time and was asked to fill in, first with the U22 group and then the national team. It’s just worked out that way. The players have gotten older and I’ve gotten older and a lot of these players have grown up with the program. It wasn’t necessarily something I had in mind. It was just an opportunity that was afforded to me and I’m looking forward to it.
A lot of the young players here you coached at the U18 level. Does that help, you knowing where they came from and how they’ve developed?
I think it does. I was looking at our roster this morning and I don’t think there’s a player on the team I haven’t coached within the USA Hockey program or coached in the NCAA. There’s a lot of familiarity, so it’s been really neat. I sometimes think I know the players better than they know themselves.
It’s an odd situation because you’ve been with USA Hockey for so long, so there’s that continuity, but then the last four Women’s Worlds have all seen different coaches for the U.S. How do you see this year in relation to the last few years?
In some cases, four coaches in four years could be seen as a distraction, but I look at the veteran players we have, and they’re not distracted. I think it helps that I’ve been around, so there’s familiarity with me and some of the other coaches, as well as through various camps and programming. It’s not like everyone is new and doesn’t know anyone.
When you compare 2019 to this year, what will fans see as the biggest differences?
What I hope you’ll notice is that our style of play and our expectations haven’t changed. We like to play fast; we like to possess the puck. But that all starts with great defence and goaltending, which is what we’ve had in the past. That’s really how it all begins for us. That’s gives us our speed, especially up front, and helps us put pressure on the opponent. That hasn’t changed. The names have changed, which is exciting, but the style hasn’t, which is part of that continuity that comes from our veterans. Frankly, that style works for everybody. It’s not just a USA Hockey style; it’s a style of hockey that works really well, no matter who you are.
Over the last few years the U.S. has won the majority of the gold medals against Canada, but the scores continue to be close. What has been the difference that has given you a one-goal win instead of a one-goal loss?
It’s sometimes a little bit of luck and good fortune. Other times, you have a player having an extraordinary game. People want to focus on a streak of so many wins in a row, but we know the games are extremely competitive, not only with Canada but also some of the other federations. So I don’t think we’re caught up in ‘domination.’ We would never use that term to describe our success. What we know is that if we play well, we’ll have the opportunity to compete for a championship, and we have been fortunate with luck and skill, and a combination of everything coming together at the right time. That’s what we’re focused on.
You’ve seen players at the U18, and then they go off to play NCAA hockey and when they’re done some are ready to step up to the next level and others just haven’t developed. What are the factors for that success or lack of it?
When you’re 15 or 16 years old, you can get by on just being skilled and having a lot of talent. But when you get to be 18 or 19 and 20, it’s not only talent, because a lot of players have talent. When you get to that senior level, there’s just a lot more competition, and so other factors come into play like work ethic and attitude and coachability. You need a drive and determination and a willingness to sacrifice, do what it takes to be a senior player. Not a lot of players can put it all together.
You were first named interim coach when Bob Corkum left. Was it a relief when you were named full-time coach for Calgary as well as the Beijing Olympics?
I wouldn’t say relief. I would say it was an exciting opportunity. I never took a job with USA Hockey where I thought I was owed anything. I’ve treated each opportunity as an incredibly special privilege. And when I was given the chance to continue through Beijing, I felt the same way. It’s a unique and special privilege and honour.
In that sense, how much of the roster for Calgary did you also think about for Beijing, or are they two different considerations altogether?
I think there’s always a dual focus when you get into this type of situation when you’re so close to the Olympics. The changing of the World Championship dates just added to the difference of playing hockey in a pandemic year. We’re trying to win this tournament, but we’re also trying to prepare for the Olympics. But there’s no better way to prepare for the Olympics than to prepare for the World Championships and focusing on winning. We’re looking at the long haul and the short term now, but the closer we get to the games in Calgary, the more we’re going to focus only on winning that event. So preparing well and competing hard here will definitely be a part of preparing for the Olympics.
He chatted with IIHF.com after practice in Calgary to discuss the upcoming Women’s Worlds and his long and successful career in women’s hockey.
Why did you make the switch from the junior to senior program?
I’m not so sure it was a decision I made so much as it was being around the women’s program for a long time and was asked to fill in, first with the U22 group and then the national team. It’s just worked out that way. The players have gotten older and I’ve gotten older and a lot of these players have grown up with the program. It wasn’t necessarily something I had in mind. It was just an opportunity that was afforded to me and I’m looking forward to it.
A lot of the young players here you coached at the U18 level. Does that help, you knowing where they came from and how they’ve developed?
I think it does. I was looking at our roster this morning and I don’t think there’s a player on the team I haven’t coached within the USA Hockey program or coached in the NCAA. There’s a lot of familiarity, so it’s been really neat. I sometimes think I know the players better than they know themselves.
It’s an odd situation because you’ve been with USA Hockey for so long, so there’s that continuity, but then the last four Women’s Worlds have all seen different coaches for the U.S. How do you see this year in relation to the last few years?
In some cases, four coaches in four years could be seen as a distraction, but I look at the veteran players we have, and they’re not distracted. I think it helps that I’ve been around, so there’s familiarity with me and some of the other coaches, as well as through various camps and programming. It’s not like everyone is new and doesn’t know anyone.
When you compare 2019 to this year, what will fans see as the biggest differences?
What I hope you’ll notice is that our style of play and our expectations haven’t changed. We like to play fast; we like to possess the puck. But that all starts with great defence and goaltending, which is what we’ve had in the past. That’s really how it all begins for us. That’s gives us our speed, especially up front, and helps us put pressure on the opponent. That hasn’t changed. The names have changed, which is exciting, but the style hasn’t, which is part of that continuity that comes from our veterans. Frankly, that style works for everybody. It’s not just a USA Hockey style; it’s a style of hockey that works really well, no matter who you are.
Over the last few years the U.S. has won the majority of the gold medals against Canada, but the scores continue to be close. What has been the difference that has given you a one-goal win instead of a one-goal loss?
It’s sometimes a little bit of luck and good fortune. Other times, you have a player having an extraordinary game. People want to focus on a streak of so many wins in a row, but we know the games are extremely competitive, not only with Canada but also some of the other federations. So I don’t think we’re caught up in ‘domination.’ We would never use that term to describe our success. What we know is that if we play well, we’ll have the opportunity to compete for a championship, and we have been fortunate with luck and skill, and a combination of everything coming together at the right time. That’s what we’re focused on.
You’ve seen players at the U18, and then they go off to play NCAA hockey and when they’re done some are ready to step up to the next level and others just haven’t developed. What are the factors for that success or lack of it?
When you’re 15 or 16 years old, you can get by on just being skilled and having a lot of talent. But when you get to be 18 or 19 and 20, it’s not only talent, because a lot of players have talent. When you get to that senior level, there’s just a lot more competition, and so other factors come into play like work ethic and attitude and coachability. You need a drive and determination and a willingness to sacrifice, do what it takes to be a senior player. Not a lot of players can put it all together.
You were first named interim coach when Bob Corkum left. Was it a relief when you were named full-time coach for Calgary as well as the Beijing Olympics?
I wouldn’t say relief. I would say it was an exciting opportunity. I never took a job with USA Hockey where I thought I was owed anything. I’ve treated each opportunity as an incredibly special privilege. And when I was given the chance to continue through Beijing, I felt the same way. It’s a unique and special privilege and honour.
In that sense, how much of the roster for Calgary did you also think about for Beijing, or are they two different considerations altogether?
I think there’s always a dual focus when you get into this type of situation when you’re so close to the Olympics. The changing of the World Championship dates just added to the difference of playing hockey in a pandemic year. We’re trying to win this tournament, but we’re also trying to prepare for the Olympics. But there’s no better way to prepare for the Olympics than to prepare for the World Championships and focusing on winning. We’re looking at the long haul and the short term now, but the closer we get to the games in Calgary, the more we’re going to focus only on winning that event. So preparing well and competing hard here will definitely be a part of preparing for the Olympics.