The ice sheet which the University of Wisconsin hockey teams play on is
Kohl Center Ice
being named for one of the school’s legendary coaches.
The Kohl Center ice will be named “Bob Johnson Rink” in recognition of the men’s hockey coach who guided the Badgers to three NCAA titles during a career that also included coaching stints in the Olympics, World Championships and the National Hockey League.
During his fifteen years at the helm of the Badger program, Johnson coached Wisconsin to seven NCAA tournaments, winning three championships in 1973, 1977 and 1981. He coached numerous individual players to conference and national awards. He also led the United States at the 1976 Olympics, three Canada Cups and four IIHF Men’s World Championships.
Johnson 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 Fall of Fame in 1992. He was also elected to the Wisconsin Athletic Hall of Fame in 1993.