Before changing our focus from the Olympics and back to the NHL, I thought it would be fitting to do one final Olympics-themed article about
Mark Johnson.
Johnson played on the “Miracle on Ice” U.S. Olympic team in 1980, and was the coach of the silver-medal winning U.S. Women’s team in 2010. He also had a fine career in the NHL too, playing 11 seasons with the Penguins, North Stars, Whalers, Blues and Devils.
1979 Panini Stickers #213 – Mark Johnson played in the 1979 World Championships for Team USA. This predates his “real” rookie card by a year.
1998 Sports Illustrated for Kids #666 – The card was released in 1998, but it shows Mark as a part of the “Miracle on Ice” team that won the gold medal in 1980. Johnson scored 5 goals in the tournament–including 2 in the upset game against the Soviets.After that, he went on to join the Pittsburgh Penguins.
EDIT: I was informed that the above card actually pictures Mark Wells and not Mark Johnson.
1980-81 Topps #69 – Johnson’s rookie card. Notice the USA Hockey logo in the upper right. All of the “Miracle “players who appear in this set have that logo on their cards. Pretty neat, since it acknowledges their Olympic accomplishment. He played the full season with Pittsburgh.
1981-82 – Neither Topps nor O-Pee-Chee made a card for Johnson this year. He was traded to the Minnesota North Stars at the end of the season, but wouldn’t stay there long.
1982-83 Topps Sticker CUSTOM – Another year without an official card. O-Pee-Chee did not include Johnson in their 1982-83 set, while Topps didn’t even make hockey cards that year. However, Topps did produce a set of 263 hockey stickers. This custom sticker I made “pretends” that there was a 264th sticker of Mark Johnson, who joined the Hartford Whalers right before the season started. As you can see, that sticker set has a no-frills design.
1983-84 O-Pee-Chee #140 – Johnson was named team captain that year, and led the Whalers with 87 points. He also played in the 1984 NHL All-Star Game, scoring 3 assists.
1984-85 O-Pee-Chee #72 – Johnson put up good numbers–roughly a point per game–before getting traded to the St. Louis Blues in February 1985. He and goalie Greg Millen were traded to the St. Louis Blues for goalie Mike Liut. Johnson’s time with St. Louis–just like with Minnesota–would not last long.
1985-86 Topps #44 – Johnson ended the previous season with the Blues, but played the entire 1985-86 season with the New Jersey Devils…
1986-87 O-Pee-Chee #112 – Johnson scored 25 goals and 26 assists in 68 games that year.
1987-88 Topps #101 – His third year with the Devils.
1988-89 O-Pee-Chee #45 – Johnson scored 38 points in 40 games that season. I like how colorful this card is.
1989-90 New Jersey Devils #12 – His 5th and final season with the Devils.This card is part of a set that was given out at Devils games during the ’89-90 season.
1990-91 Upper Deck #180 – Johnson was not in the NHL this year. He played in Italy and Austria that season, and then called it a career. At least as a player.
1995-96 – Johnson coached the Madison Monsters of the Colonial Hockey League, and was named Coach of the Year.
1996-97 to 2001-02 – He then served as the Assistant Coach to the University of Wisconsin Badgers (NCAA).
2002 to present – Johnson is the head coach of University of Wisconsin’s Women’s hockey team.
2010 – Johnson coached the U.S. Women’s team to a silver medal in the Olympics.
Overall, Johnson played 11 seasons in the NHL, scoring 508 points (203 G & 305 A) in 669 games. He played in the Olympics once, the Canada Cup tournament 3 times, and the World Championships 9 times.
Author: Sal Barry
Sal Barry is the editor and webmaster of Puck Junk. He is a freelance hockey writer, college professor and terrible hockey player. Follow him on Twitter @puckjunk
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Before changing our focus from the Olympics and back to the NHL, I thought it would be fitting to do one final Olympics-themed article about Mark Johnson.
How do I not have that 80-81 card? The mystery escapes me.
Do you have the full set?
I thought I did but apparently I don't. I'm so confused.
Notice that the Sports Illustrated For Kids card used a picture of #15, Mark Wells, instead of Mark Johnson.
Wow, zoot…you are right!
Great catch!