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acolbert@aspentimes.com
In terms of hockey memories, Mark Johnson has a lot more to pull from than most.
On top of being one of the most decorated college hockey coaches of all-time — leading the University of Wisconsin women to a record eight national championships — and a key member of the U.S.’s gold-medal winning “Miracle on Ice” Olympic hockey team in 1980, he’s been coming to Aspen every summer for about six decades to help lead the Bob Johnson Hockey School, named after his father.
“It’s just remarkable we’ve been able to sustain it for so long, just because of the way the atmosphere in youth sports has changed,” Mark Johnson said last week. “One of the greatest memories I personally have is our annual trip out to Aspen. When my dad started it in the middle ’60s, our summer vacations were getting in the station wagon, driving across the country, and hanging out in Aspen for three or four weeks and putting on the hockey school.”
This week marks the 60th anniversary of the Bob Johnson Hockey School in Aspen. It was started in 1964 by Bob Johnson and Art Berglund at the Aspen Ice Garden, where it used to be a multi-week camp that included boarding options for the players. A lot has changed since those early days, but the legacy of the camp remains alive and well through Bob Johnson’s children.
“When I grew up, we had three, 10-day sessions. Our whole August was in Aspen. We were there full time,” said Pete Johnson, Bob’s other son. “We had a locker room (last week in Breckenridge) before our goalie session with like 2 year olds, 3 year olds, 4 year olds. I looked around the locker room, and I’m like, ‘This might not end anytime soon because a another whole generation is coming.’”
The camp’s namesake, Bob Johnson, was one of the most accomplished coach’s in hockey history, winning three national championships with the University of Wisconsin men’s program in the ’70s and ’80s. He also coached the U.S. Olympic team during the 1976 Games and eventually went to the NHL, where as head coach he led the Pittsburgh Penguins over the Minnesota North Stars in the 1991 Stanley Cup Finals.
Only months after winning the Stanley Cup, Bob Johnson died of brain cancer at age 60. Through his children and extended family, the Aspen camp with his name on it has carried on for another three decades and counting.
Tim McConnell, who was a football player for the Wisconsin Badgers, has helped run the camp for about 50 years now alongside Mark and Pete after marrying Bob’s oldest daughter, Sandi, who was the UW cheerleading captain at the time.
“Her dad, Bob Johnson, was the ultimate salesman. When I started dating Sandi, he said, ‘Boy, I have a great opportunity for you,’ and I said, ‘What’s that?’ ‘Oh, I’m going to give you the chance to be the off-ice director for the Bob Johnson Hockey School,’” McConnell recalled with a laugh. “I got to be the dorm director. I got to do wake-up call in the morning and bed check at night. It was the worst job I ever had in my life, but he made it sound like it was the greatest thing ever.”
Certainly, a lot has changed in 60 years. In the early days of the camp, many of the attendees were older teens hoping to earn a roster spot on Bob Johnson’s squad at Wisconsin. Today, it’s a much younger group of players, with about a third of them being girls. McConnell said about 30% of today’s camp comes from the Roaring Fork Valley, with the rest mostly coming from out of state.
The school is now run out of Lewis Ice Arena and the players are responsible for their own housing for the week, but the camp’s legacy remains alive and well.
To celebrate 60 years, the directors will host a get-together for the community on Monday, July 21, from 4-7 p.m. at Buck bar in Aspen. It will be a casual affair for attendees past and present to reminisce on what the camp has meant to them over the years.
“To have a hockey school and sustain it for so long, it’s actually quite impressive. The people in Aspen have been very supportive,” Mark Johnson said. “The most important part is it’s a game. We call it a hockey game, so on top of working on the things we feel are important for the foundations of becoming a good hockey player, it’s (important) to have fun. We throw that in there and we enjoy ourselves, so we create a positive atmosphere.”
For more on the school, visit bobjohnsonhockeyschool.com.
acolbert@aspentimes.com
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