MADISON, Wis. – Wisconsin women's hockey head coach Mark Johnson was named a finalist for the CCM/AHCA Division I Women's Ice Hockey Coach of the Year Award, the AHCA announced Tuesday.

Johnson is a four-time (2006, 2007, 2009, 2011) recipient of the award. One of the seven finalists will be selected to win the honor on Thursday. 

This season, Johnson has led the Badgers to lead the nations in goals, assist, power-play and penalty killing percentage, scoring offense and scoring margin. The Badgers also lead the nation with a .949 winning percentage on a 36-1-2 record. The WCHA Coach of the Year coached three Badgers — Casey O'Brien, Caroline Harvey and Laila Edwards — to be top-three finalists for the Patty Kazmaier Memorial Award, guaranteeing that a Badger will win the honor.

Johnson helped the Badgers to a memorable regular season, winning the WCHA Regular Season title with the most points (77) in school history. The Badgers would go on to add more conference hardware, defeating Minnesota for a back-to-back WCHA Final Faceoff Championship.

The winningest head coach in women's hockey history coached the Badgers to a one-seed in the NCAA tournament and with a recent victory over Clarkson in the regional finals, Johnson helped the Badgers to their 16th Frozen Four Appearance, which is tied with the Golden Gophers for the most of any program.

2024-25 CCM/AHCA Women's Ice Hockey Division I Coach of the Year Finalists
(* Past Winners of the Division I Coach of the Year Award)
Doug Derraugh, Cornell, ECAC Coach of the Year, NCAA Semifinalist*
Brad Frost, Minnesota, NCAA Semifinalist*
Mark Johnson, Wisconsin, WCHA Coach of the Year, NCAA Semifinalist*
Jeff Kampersal, Penn State, AHA Coach of the Year
Chris MacKenzie, UConn, Hockey East Coach of the Year*
Nadine Muzerall, Ohio State, NCAA Semifinalist
Kelly Nash, Long Island, NEWHA Coach of the Year