Coaching Hats Suit Johnson Just Fine
The former NHLer is mentoring three clubs, including a ground-breaking Squirt AAA team
By Chris Bayee
California Rubber Magazine
www.rubberhockey.com |
|
When Craig Johnson retired in 2008 after 14 seasons of pro hockey, including nine in Southern California with the Los Angeles Kings and Anaheim Ducks, he wanted to stay involved in the game.
Three-plus years later, “involved” might be understating it a bit because he has to juggle three different coaching roles, including two that represent paradigm shifts in youth hockey in the state.
“It’s hard to balance sometimes,” said Johnson. “I love the game and being around the rink. I love trying to teach the game.”
Settled in Orange County, Johnson, who has three kids - including two boys - with his wife, Brittany, began to examine the possibility of coaching and, in 2009, he began his career behind the bench at Santa Margarita High, which competes in the growing Anaheim Ducks High School Hockey League.
“It’s a great opportunity for kids to play and represent their schools,” said Johnson, who honed his game playing high school hockey in his native Minnesota. “For kids to go to school together and play together is something special.”
When his older son decided to resume skating last December after five years away, it was only a matter of time until he wanted to play hockey. So Johnson is also coaching his Bantam A team for the Anaheim Jr. Ducks.
“It’s a great group of kids who enjoy playing together,” Johnson said.
But it’s his third coaching role - with an elite-level Squirt team - that’s caught more attention.
Johnson and his three assistants - Scott Niedermayer, a former Ducks captain; Mitch Lane, who played Division I college hockey at Michigan Tech and Lake Superior State; and Nathan Brown - started an independent in-house team through The Rinks that’s scheduled to play in some of the top tournaments in North America.
“It’s a 2001 team that played Squirt A last year and had a very successful season, winning Nike Bauer and ranking third in the country at the end of the year (by MyHockeyRankings.com),” Johnson said.
The idea gained backing from USA Hockey and the team, which essentially is a Squirt AAA team (a category that didn’t exist in the state), was off to a 5-2 start through late September. It reached the semifinals in the Pee Wee AA bracket of Anaheim’s Wildcats Labor Day Invitational.
“There were a lot of questions; why, what are we going to gain from this?” Johnson said. “We have game slots and added practice time. We’re following the ADM (USA Hockey’s American Development Model), so we sometimes have six practices before every game (or tournament).
“We’ve found a lot of people love the whole concept. Whether your team wins or loses, people want competitive games.
“It was just something where we wanted to give the kids the best opportunity we could. It’s nothing against SCAHA or CAHA; they do a great job promoting the sport in our state.”
The team holds three practices a week and encourages its players to participate in others sports - in-season in some cases.
“At such a young age, skill development is so important,” Johnson said, echoing one of the foundational principles of the ADM. “Become athletes before hockey players.
“We practice Monday and Tuesday, and then we make practices early on Saturday so if some of the players have soccer games, they can attend those.
“Playing other sports develops a well-rounded athlete, and each sport indirectly helps the other. We encourage all of our kids to play other sports, and most play soccer, lacrosse or baseball.”
The staff also has the flexibility and connections to play elite-level 01 tournaments, including the Warrior in Detroit, the Shanahan in Canada (which includes the top-five U.S. teams from last season as well as select others that gain invites) and a Super Series event in Chicago.
“We’ll use tournaments and we’ll use our longer game slots to the kids’ advantage,” Johnson said.
“It’s nice to have your own freedom.”
|
|
