Johannson honored at Stars & Stripes Showdown

PLYMOUTH, Mich. -- To feel the love for Jim Johannson and appreciate his impact on USA Hockey, all you had to do was look around Sunday.

There were 37 players on the ice at USA Hockey Arena in suburban Detroit, wearing "JJ" over their hearts where "USA" normally would be, and Minnesota Wild defenseman Ryan Suter came even though he wasn't playing while rehabbing an ankle injury. Among them were 26 alumni of USA Hockey's National Team Development Program and 21 first-round NHL draft picks.
Detroit Red Wings coach Jeff Blashill, University of Wisconsin coach Tony Granato, New Jersey Devils coach John Hynes and New York Rangers coach David Quinn were behind the benches. Other former colleagues from the United States -- and Finland and Sweden -- were amid the standing-room-only crowd of 3,890.

All for the Stars & Stripes Showdown to raise money for the Jim Johannson Legacy Fund and the college fund of his 2-year-old daughter, Ellie, after he died unexpectedly of heart disease at age 53 on Jan. 21.
"Really emotional," Red Wings center Dylan Larkin said. "A lot of people are still sad. It's a huge hole in a lot of people's lives, and all I could think about was, there's one person missing. But I knew he was there at the game, and he'd be real proud of what's going on today."
Johannson, a two-time Olympian, joined USA Hockey in 2000 and rose to assistant executive director of hockey operations, overseeing everything from assembling national teams, to launching the American Development Model, to moving the NTDP from Ann Arbor, Michigan, to USA Hockey Arena in 2015. With a warm touch, he did whatever he could do give the players a good experience and grow the game in the United States.

"He was really the face of USA Hockey for the elite-level players," USA Hockey executive director Pat Kelleher said.
The United States rallied around his memory at the 2018 IIHF World Championship. After each game and practice, the players and staff passed a hard hat to someone new to share a Johannson story. Larkin came up with the idea for a charity game, helped organize it with USA Hockey officials and recruited fellow NHL players. The last part wasn't difficult.
"When you heard this game was happening, it's a no-brainer," Wild forward Zach Parise said. "Everyone out there, JJ had a huge impact on their career and their lives. It's, 'Tell me when and where the game is. I'll be there. I'll make sure we're there.' I think just the turnout of the players says a lot for the impact that he had."

Kelleher said: "The fun part of this is, there's guys out here that Jimmy had to cut from teams in the past, but I think just the way he treated every player, even if they didn't make a team, they had respect for him. They might have been a little mad at him at the time, but they had respect for him and understood what he was doing."
The players stood on the blue lines, listened to the national anthem and watched a video tribute to Johannson. The captains -- No. 1 NHL draft picks Patrick Kane of the Chicago Blackhawks and Auston Matthews of the Toronto Maple Leafs -- presented flowers to the Johannson family, and little Ellie dropped the puck for the ceremonial face-off.
Then it was like an NHL All-Star Game. New York Islanders forward Anders Lee picked a corner. Matthews roofed one. Columbus Blue Jackets forward Cam Atkinson deked on a breakaway. Kane roofed one. Parise scored. The goals kept coming until Kane's Team Blue defeated Matthews' Team White 14-9.
"Jimmy'd be proud, because he wanted to have the camaraderie," said Johannson's brother, John. "He wanted people proud of wearing the USA jersey, and that's what that building was full of today. I think he'd tell you that it was kind of his life passion kind of proven out today, that these guys come back. I wish it was for a different cause. You know, we all do. But what's happened has happened, and he'd want it to go forward and be better."

Afterward, Johannson's wife, Abby Tompkins, held star-shaped red and blue balloons and Ellie, who was asleep on her shoulder. Not only will Ellie have money for her college fund, she will have photos and stories of this day.
"JJ was so proud of Ellie," she said. "I think he was the proudest father I've ever, ever seen. So it's really, really special that they would want do something to help Ellie. I think more importantly, while she may not remember this day perfectly, looking back she'll have the opportunity to know a little bit more about what a special person her father was."
Main photo courtesy of USA Hockey