Ken Johannson | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Born | October 6, 1930 Edmonton, Alberta, Canada | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Died | November 27, 2018 (aged 88) Naples, Florida, US | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Alma mater | University of North Dakota | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Occupation | Mayo Clinic administrator | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Known for | Amateur Hockey Association of the United States executive | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Children | 3, including John and Jim | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Kenneth Johannson (October 6, 1930 – November 27, 2018) was a Canadian-born American ice hockey player, coach and executive. A native of Edmonton, he attended the University of North Dakota on a football scholarship, then played for the Fighting Sioux men's ice hockey team and was its captain for two seasons. After a professional career in England, Scotland and Switzerland, he played for the Rochester Mustangs in the United States Central Hockey League from 1957 to 1968. He served as player-coach of the Mustangs for two seasons and led them to the league's championship in 1959. In the 1961–62 season, Johannson played with Herb Brooks and Bill Reichart on the highest-scoring forward line in league history at the time, and led the league in individual point scoring in three seasons. He played for the United States men's national ice hockey team at two Ice Hockey World Championships, winning a bronze medal in 1962. He was inducted into the University of North Dakota Athletics Hall of Fame in 1977.
Johannson helped establish hockey at Rochester Lourdes High School and Rochester Junior College, before starting a minor ice hockey program in Rochester, Minnesota. During the 1970s, he served as the first national coaching director for the Amateur Hockey Association of the United States, developed its first coaching manuals and oversaw schools for hockey players and coaches. He served as general manager of the United States national team at the 1979 World Championships and preparations for ice hockey at the 1980 Winter Olympics. He arranged an exhibition schedule for the national team at the Metropolitan Sports Center prior to the Olympics, which included games versus the Minnesota North Stars, university teams, the Canada and Soviet Union national teams, and the Central Hockey League. He resigned as general manager before the Olympics citing personal reasons, and had completed all of the necessary travel arrangements and accommodations for the national team which subsequently won the gold medal as part of the Miracle on Ice. He was the father of professional hockey players John Johannson and Jim Johannson, the latter of whom also served as general manager of the United States national team.