Joel Johnson to be new Tommie women’s hockey coach

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Coach Joel Johnson coaches the University of Minnesota as they host St. Cloud State University in a Nov. 17, 2017 WCHA matchup at Ridder Arena, in Minneapolis. Joel Johnson has been named as the new coach for the St. Thomas women’s hockey team, becoming the third coach in the program’s history. (Photo courtesy of Jim Rosvold/Gopher Athletics)

Joel Johnson has been named as the new coach for the St. Thomas women’s hockey team, becoming the third coach in the program’s history, St. Thomas Athletics announced Monday.

Johnson replaces former coach Tom Palkowski, who coached the Tommies for 14 seasons before the athletics department announced that he would not return for the team’s inaugural Division I season.

“Through our national search that spanned an impressive pool of candidates, it became clear that Joel is the right individual to lead our women’s hockey program, now and into the future,” St. Thomas Athletics Director Phil Esten said in a statement. “He epitomizes what it means to be a Tommie as a relationship-focused servant leader that develops his student-athletes both on and off the ice.”

Johnson comes to St. Thomas from the University of Minnesota, where he spent the last 11 seasons as Associate Head Coach for its women’s hockey team. He also was an assistant coach for the Gophers from 1999 to 2004. Johnson helped the Gophers gain six national titles and 11 Frozen Fours during his time there.

In between his two stints with the Gophers, he led the Bethel University men’s hockey team to its only MIAC championship and only NCAA playoff appearance, and was the only men’s hockey coach at Bethel to have a winning record throughout his time leading the team.

Johnson also currently serves as the interim head coach of the United States women’s national hockey team, and has served in a number of capacities with USA Hockey in the past 11 seasons. He was the assistant coach for the women’s national team from 2018 to 2020, helping them win gold medals at the 2018 Four Nations Cup and the 2019 IIHF World Championships. He also headed a number of under-22 and under-18 national teams from 2014 to 2018.

Johnson looks forward to continue building upon the “great foundation of success” of the St. Thomas women’s hockey program.

“I believe St. Thomas is uniquely positioned to attract and develop the very best student-athletes not only from the Twin Cities and greater Minnesota, but from across North America,” Johnson said in a statement.

Justin Amaker can be reached at justin.amaker@stthomas.edu.