Sue and Greg Johnson both grew up in Green Bay, Wisconsin but didn’t find each other until they had completed college and werebeginning their careers inWest Bend, Wisconsin. Both were skaters as youngsters. Greg had dreams of one day playing college hockey, whereas Sue simply enjoyed the recreational side of skating. Sue was the only member of this couple that made money skating, when she worked part-time in the winter as a “parkie” for the Green Bay Parks and Recreation Department.
After high school, Sue enrolled at the University of Wisconsin – Stevens Point, where she pursuedmajors in elementary education and library science. Greg received his under-grad degree from the University of Wisconsin – Green Bay, thenmoved to Milwaukee to attended dental school at Marquette University. Heeventually completed a pediatric dental residency at Children’s Hospital of Wisconsin in Milwaukee.
A few years after they first met in West Bend the couple had married and gotthe opportunity to move to Fairbanks. They jumped at the chance. Little did they or anyone else realize the impact they would have on girls’ and women’s hockey in the Interior over the next couple decades.
Sue explains the early stages of their involvement, “Like many families, we were pulled into the hockey world when our kids (Andrew and Anna) showed an interest in the sport. At the beginning, we joined other parents on simple tasks such as shoveling snow from the rink at Pearl Creek elementary school. After a few years with FAHA, Andrew moved to the Arctic Lions and Anna moved to the Icebreakers, which was in its infancy at the time.”
“We felt we could make a bigger contribution to the Icebreakers program, so we dedicated most of our volunteer time to them. Initially, we focused on fund-raising activities such as running the concession stand at the Patty Center, conducting an annual sale of ham and crab (which was a LOT of work) and organizing a raffle for airfare and game tickets to a Vikings-Packers football game. Our Green Bay connections came in handy for that one. Soon, I began handling the books for the Icebreakers and Greg started coaching with Mark Weber.”
In addition to coaching their own team, Greg and Mark spent considerable time developing opportunities for all Icebreakers teams and players. Greg elaborates, “We helped with coordinating practice sessions, summer camps and travel for players wanting to participate in showcase tournaments. We also scheduled trips for our teams of older girls to play games in college hockey towns throughout Minnesota, North Dakota and Wisconsin and later the East Coast. We won our share of games on those trips, but the wins and losses were secondary to the campus visits and meeting with college coaches and admissions staff. Everybody benefited from those visits. The girls had their eyes opened to possible schools they had never before considered. The college coaches had the opportunity to watch our players and make their pitch without having to tap into their recruiting budgets. It was a win-win situation.”
Fairbanks hosted the Pacific District girls’ and women’s tournaments in 2004. The Johnsons joined many other parents in helping to make that first ever event a success. “We organized a 3-on-3 mini-tournament, snow-machine rides on the Chena and an unforgettable fireworks display,” Sue recalls.
Greg explains how they filled another niche, “Part of the Ice Breakers’ mission is to provide more in-state options for female hockey players. Girls’ hockey was growing in Fairbanks, so the strategy was working. The Icebreakers had gone from two teams to six teams. By this time, we were doing pretty well with the introductory and intermediate players, but not all of the better players from the area had a team to play on. With support from many local hockey families, the Icebreakers promoted the TeamAlaska concept. TeamAlaskawas designed to bring together top players from throughout the State to compete in highly competitive tournaments throughout the country. These teams had tremendous success and more importantly gave individual players a chance to demonstrate their talent in front of college recruiters.”
Past Ice Breakers President Lynn Thompson extolls the accomplishments of the couple, “Greg and Sue have been and continue to be key factors in the success of girl’s hockey in Fairbanks. Their considerable efforts have given girls opportunities they would not have had otherwise.”
A second significant way to grow girls’ hockey in Fairbanks was to create a high school team, which became known as the Arctic Bears. Again, Sue and Greg were deeply involved, but they emphasize that many families contributed to the effort. The program has been a major force on the girlshigh school hockey scene since its inception, winning multiple State championships.
The final step in promoting female hockey in Fairbanks was the creation of a women’s hockey team at UAF at the “club” level. Greg recalls the birth and development of that program, “Mike MacDonald and I sat down with Athletic Director Forrest Karr in 2009 to work out the details. Thanks to Scott Vockeroth’s leadership in the early years, the team did well on the ice. With girls hockey programs expanding throughout Alaska there was an interest for many of these young women to play collegiate hockey within the State. Unfortunately, the downturn in the State’s economy came at the worst possible time for the program to make the jump from club level to varsity level. We’re pleased that Luther Brice has taken over the coaching reins and can hopefully help the program make that next step forward.”
We’ll give the last word to Scott Vockeroth, the man who coached the UAF Women’s team for several years, “Between the Alaska Icebreakers, Team Alaska, Arctic Bears and the UAF Women's Hockey Club, there's not an aspect of women's hockey that Sue and Greg weren’t heavily involved in. Their commitment to the growth and development of local female hockey players (no matter their skill level) is proven in the success of those programs. The environment the Johnsons fostered enabled coaches to focus on the development of individuals and teams, without concern about outside factors. Each coach was allowed to establish their own philosophy to coach the team as they saw fit. You can feel how passionate Greg and Sue are about the hockey experience and that feeling was contagious as a coach. It made you strive to be the best coach you could be. There is one stand-out characteristic the Johnsons share. They care deeply about providing the best environment for women's hockey players of all ages and skill levels.”
The Johnsons have accomplished their goals in the hockey world and have earned the respect of players, fans and coaches.