BY ANDY BAGGOT
UWBadgers.com Insider
MADISON, Wis. — Paul Chryst and Mark Johnson used to live next door to one another in Madison, but even though they're good friends with remarkably similar backgrounds, Chryst said he never took full advantage of those circumstances.
Chryst, the acclaimed Wisconsin football coach, said he would love to have sat down with Johnson, the iconic UW women's hockey coach, and taken a deep dive into his philosophies and strategies.
Picture the two of them in the backyard under a summer moon, amid a warm breeze, with cold beverages in hand talking and laughing.
Picture the two — perpetually humble hometown kids, sons of one-time UW coaches, former Badgers student-athletes who now run championship-level programs at their alma mater — breaking it all down till the wee hours.
Alas, Chryst said he and Johnson never had one of those expansive discussions, certainly not one long enough to his liking.
"When we were living next to each other, I never wanted to wear him out," Chryst said of a time back in the mid-2000s when he was the UW offensive coordinator.
Chryst said he didn't pester his neighbor about his role in the Miracle on Ice — Johnson helped lead Team USA to the gold medal in 1980, including a two-goal performance during a landmark 4-3 victory over the Soviet Union — out of professional respect.
"Because I pictured that he got it all the time, so we'd talk about his dog, Cooper, and we'd take the kids to his (backyard) rink," Chryst said.
"But I always loved hearing and tidbits you could pick up from him. I'll probably regret that I haven't asked him more, but I didn't want to stalk him in his backyard."
Chryst moved to Pittsburgh in 2012 to become a head coach for the first time. He returned to UW — and a different home — in 2015.
With Chryst in charge, the Badgers have won 83 percent of their games, including three straight bowl games, and he earned back-to-back Big Ten Conference Coach of the Year honors in 2016 and '17.
That's an impressive resume, but Chryst is clearly more enamored with what Johnson has done.
The UW women's hockey team is gearing up for its fifth consecutive appearance — its 11th overall since 2006 — in the NCAA Frozen Four.
The Badgers (31-4-2 overall) will take on Colgate (33-5-1) in the national semifinals at 7 p.m. Friday at Ridder Arena.
The survivor will face either defending NCAA titlist Clarkson (34-4-1) or Ohio State (24-10-4) in the championship match Sunday at 2 p.m.
With his birthplace as the backdrop — he was born here 60 years ago last September — Johnson will try and orchestrate the fifth NCAA title in program history. His next win will be No. 460 of his career vs. 82 losses in 15 seasons. Those numbers suggest he could be the first women's coach to get to 500 wins before he reaches 100 losses.
Chryst shook his head in amazement when he heard that projection.
"That's so hard to do," Chryst sighed, "and yet there's something about Mark that none of us are surprised.
"You marvel at consistency and what they've done — the players and him — that their consistency is at such a high level. It's hard to be consistent, yet to do it with different groups, it's impressive.
"As a coach and a fan, you want to find out more. What is it? Certainly it's really good players and who I think is a really good coach, but there's still more to it than that.
"I think what they all have done — led by him — is fascinating."
A year after losing to Clarkson in the national title game, few expected this much out of the Badgers this season. They were without two Olympians — center Emily Clark and winger Annie Pankowski would have been seniors — and began the year with gaping holes on defense and in goal with the graduation of Patty Kazmaier Award winner Ann-Renée Desbiens.
Yet Wisconsin opened with 16 straight wins, claimed its third straight Western Collegiate Hockey Association regular-season champion and finished 17-0 at home.
Johnson admits his team, featuring 11 freshmen and five sophomores, surprised him "in a lot of areas." The biggest was its consistent approach to preparing for each day, a process he said was driven by the mature, accountable efforts of senior winger and co-captain Baylee Wellhausen and senior defenseman Lauren Williams.
Two major contributors are transfers who came to UW in large part because of Johnson's reputation.
Sophomore goaltender Kristen Campbell played two seasons at North Dakota before that WCHA school abruptly dropped its program in a cost-cutting maneuver in March of 2017.
Before Campbell signed with the Badgers and evolved into the WCHA Goaltender of the Year, she consulted sisters Jocelyne Lamoureux-Davidson and Monique Lamoureux-Morando, acclaimed North Dakota alums who recently starred for Team USA in its gold-medal-winning performance at the Winter Olympics.
Not only was Campbell once a regular training partner with the high-intensity Lamoureux sisters while in Grand Forks, the siblings also provided valuable insight into Johnson. The Lamoureuxs were members of the U.S. squad, coached by Johnson, that won the Olympic silver medal in 2010.
"I trust their judgment," Campbell said of the Lamoureuxs. "They said coming here is an amazing opportunity and, playing for Mark, they said he was a great guy and a great coach."
UW senior winger and co-captain Claudia Kepler, who leads the team with 21 goals, played her first three college seasons at Ohio State and was facing the prospect of skating for her third head coach as a senior.
Kepler, a Verona, Wis., resident, opted to return home to something familiar even though it meant sitting out a year to adhere to NCAA transfer rules. After all, she grew up playing youth hockey with Johnson's daughter, Mikayla, and was coached by Johnson's son, Doug.
"I knew his philosophy on having fun and smiling every day," Kepler said of her coach. "I've been smiling every day since I've gotten here."
Kepler said she learned some things about Mark Johnson that she didn't know.
"You can tell he doesn't sweat the small things," she said. "He's very appreciative of everything he has here. He's always positive on the bench, which makes you want to be positive.
"That's what happens when you have a great leader; the personality comes down and spreads to the followers. A lot of our players look up to him and we just want to make him proud because he cares about each one of his players."
When Paul Hickman, the long-time UW director of hockey operations, stepped down early this season, Johnson reached out to a player from his first outfit in 2002-03.
Sis Paulsen, an Eau Claire, Wis., native, jumped at the opportunity to work with a program she loved. She excelled from 1999 to 2003, amassing 42 goals and 88 assists as a defenseman, despite playing for four head coaches in her first three seasons.
Paulsen said Johnson, a former NHL player and UW men's assistant coach, has obviously learned to adapt.
"He coaches them just like you'd coach a hockey player," she said. "That's cool."
What was Johnson like as a rookie women's coach?
"A great teacher," Paulsen said. "He taught us so much.
"He's just a teacher in every way and he even doesn't know it. He just goes about his day and he's teaching people."
Paulsen said the UW culture under Johnson and assistants Dan Koch and Jackie Crum — every student-athlete is asked to be passionate, competitive and committed to school and hockey — dates back to his debut.
"It's an expectation that we're here to do a job and we're working hard and you're working hard in the classroom in order to get on the ice," Paulsen said. "I think he set that precedent right from the start."
A big hockey fan, Chryst talks about Johnson with an unmistakable tone of reverence. That was evident during an engaging Olympic-themed roundtable featuring Chryst, Johnson and UW men's coach Tony Granato, who coached Team USA in the Winter Games in Pyeongchang, South Korea, last month.
"I know Mark well enough to know that he truly loves and respects the game," Chryst said. "It looks like his players enjoy playing and their competitive level seems really high. They've got a balance of confidence, yet there's a hunger and an edge it seems to me."
Chryst paused for a moment, weighing the thought that Johnson succeeds mainly because he keeps the game fun and uncomplicated for his players.
"I wonder, just because they think it's simple, people could perceive that as being not detailed," Chryst said.
"It's not always easy to be simple. That's the art of coaching. I'll bet you every "i" is dotted and every "t" is crossed.
"I don't think he just throws the puck out there."
