Johnston, Mike

BORN FEBRUARY 19TH 1957 IN DARTMOUTH NS CANADA, he first played in the CIAU at 18 for Acadia University in Wolfville, Nova Scotia. He finished higher education as captain of the Brandon University Bobcats in Manitoba under coach Andy Murray who went on to coach in the NHL. Some of his Brandon teammates will be familiar to Australian ice hockey followers, including Jeff Taylor, Glen Williamson, Rob Smith, Craig (Spooly) Campbell, Darry Stevens and Ralph Bradbury. Jim Fuyarchuk arrived under his own steam, but he later coached the Bobcats in the early 2000s. [3] Johnston was a qualified phys ed teacher by 22, but jobs were scarce in Canada. He wrote letters to NHL teams, but only received one response, from Canucks GM Pat Quinn, who didn't offer anything but encouragement. Quinn said he would keep his name in mind. [1]

Johnston contacted the Canadian association to get addresses for teams in Austria and Switzerland where he had played with Brandon. They initially gave him Australian contacts, not Austrian, but he contacted them anyway and received a response in April explaining a 6-team pro league was forming with a new rink and hockey program. [1] He arrived with Level III Coaching Accreditation [4] and his Bobcat friend, Ray Robertson, a Toronto Maple Leafs draft pick who didn't land a contract. They lived on Sydney's northern beaches and with Warren Pitstock helped Dick Mann finish the Narrabeen Ice Skating Centre. [3] Johnston played a season with the Newcastle Northstars [4] commuting from Sydney, and another in Sydney on completion of the rink at Narrabeen.

Appointed co-coach with Ray Robertson of the Warringah Bombers managed by Dick Mann, Johnston brought over ex-Bobcat Taylor and Craig Hutchinson among others, and led the squad to the CP Air state premiership. Awarded Most Valuable Player of the 1981 NIHL season, he won the Pat Burley Cup with the Bombers, scoring a league high of 30 goals 43 assists (73 pts) ahead of Jeff Taylor (66) and Rob McEachern (52). The Bombers recorded the highest total team points, over 400, or nearly twice league average, and 50 percent more than their nearest rival, the Oakleigh Golds, on 268. Johnston was also the league leading scorer over Taylor and Darrell Becker (52).

Appointed assistant national coaching director to Elgin Luke, he represented NSW as both player and coach against the Vic All-Stars in the first exhibition game of ice hockey at the new Phillip Ice Skating Centre in Canberra in 1981. Elgin Luke coached the Victorians and both sides had some of the 1980 NIHL champions and runners-up from each city. [2] During his short stay, he coached the NIHL team, the junior team, and youth teams. "Uni grads, especially those from Brandon, often came with BEds, teaching experience, and an understanding about developing the sport," said Sandi Logan, the national secretary of the Australian association during Johnston's time here. [3]

"The interesting thing was, in Australia, I was a coach, and nobody knew anything about hockey, really," Johnston said. "So I could do anything I wanted. No matter what drill I ran or what I did, I could do anything. It gave me a chance to coach and just do whatever". [1] He returned home after the 1981 season of the NIHL, where he went on to coach hockey in the CCAA at Cameron Lutheran College, and in the CIAU at the universities of Calgary and New Brunswick.

He earned a masters in coaching science, and co-authored three books on coaching. He coached Canada in world juniors, world championships and an Olympics (1993 to '99). He became assistant coach of two NHL teams, the Vancouver Canucks (1999 to '03) and the Los Angeles Kings (2005 to '07), head coach and general manager of a major junior team, the WHL Portland Winterhawks (2008 to present), and head coach of the NHL Pittsburg Penguins for two seasons (2014 to '15).

Sixteen marquee players took to the field for the inaugural season of the Australian Rules women's football league in 2017. They received $25,000 each and their relocation costs. The term usually describes an athlete who is exceptionally popular or skilled. Maybe a foreign player who has represented their country in one of several international championships, maybe a local player who is most in demand irrespective of their ability. But they are always expected by the club and fans to take them to the next level.

The dozen or so Brandon Bobcats imported to the second season of Australia's NIHL in 1981 were just that but, even more remarkably, it was this Australian league in which Mike Johnston began a coaching career that would take him to the highest level of professional ice hockey in the world. Johnston and Robertson later set up a meeting between Australian national secretary Sandi Logan and Bobcat head coach Andy Murray. It resulted in almost automatic placement arrangements for Brandon graduates with an Australian team or association. About a dozen more arrived during the Eighties. [3]