Omaha Athletics

Steve Johnson joined the UNO hockey program in June of 2012 as its assistant coach.

Johnson spent the prior two seasons as an assistant coach at WCHA rival school St. Cloud State.  Prior to that, he succeeded head coach Dean Blais as the head coach of the Fargo Force of the USHL where he coached for one season, leading the Force to the 2010 Clark Cup Finals.

Johnson is no stranger to hockey in Nebraska.  He was named the head coach of the Lincoln Stars of the USHL in 1996, one year into his coaching career.  In his first season at Lincoln, Johnson led the team to a 40-13-1 record and a Clark Cup championship. This would mark the start of a decade long run at Lincoln during which Johnson’s teams won 30-plus games nine times.

He was named the USHL Coach of the Year in 1996, 2000 and 2001, and he led the Stars to a second Clark Cup title as playoff champions in 2003. Johnson also led Lincoln to Anderson Cups (USHL regular season champions) in 2000, 2001 and 2003.  Johnson has a career record of 470-223-54 and ranks fourth in league history for career wins.  His career winning percentage of .665 ranks fifth all time in the USHL.

A Grand Forks, N.D. native, Johnson was recruited to the University of North Dakota by Blais and played there from 1984 to 1988 while Blais was an assistant coach.  He later served as a graduate assistant during Blais' first year as a head coach at UND.

Johnson earned All-WCHA and All-America status during his collegiate career and helped UND to a national title in 1987. As a senior, Johnson was a Hobey Baker Award finalist and was named the WCHA Student-Athlete of the Year in 1988.

In his four years at UND, Johnson recorded 191 points including 70 goals in 153 career games. As a senior, Johnson posted 85 points (34-51-85) for UND.

A 1987 draft pick of the Vancouver Canucks, Johnson played professionally for two seasons in the IHL with the Milwaukee Admirals and the Phoenix Roadrunners.