Originally published February 21, 2010 at 5:47 a.m., updated February 21, 2010 at 5:47 a.m.
Erik Johnson’s awkward encounter with a Swiss forward in the first period of the opening game for the United States team in the Olympics Tuesday caused Blues fans to let out a collective gasp. The fear of losing the future of the franchise to another serious knee injury appeared very real.
“’For a moment there, it just kind of scared me,” admitted Johnson, who reached for a puck in the air and was slammed into, causing the two players to fall resulting in a blow to his surgically-reconstructed knee that he compared to a chop block in football.
As he skated back to the bench, he saw the doctor who performed the major surgery on the knee two summers ago. The doctor told Johnson it was just a tweak.
“I’m pretty thankful it wasn’t serious,” the 6-foot-4, 236-pound defenseman said.
Johnson went back to his full-bore ways, rushing up into the play, shooting the puck and playing solid defense as Team USA defeated the Swiss. Two days later, he had two shots on goal and played very effectively again as the home boys disposed of a defiant Norway team.
Johnson and his 2-0 Team USA teammates enjoyed a couple of days off before Sunday night’s preliminary showdown with Olympic favorite Canada. Their stunning 5-3 victory will now give them more time off, as they advanced to the medal round games. The young Americans who many haven’t taken seriously just might be in a position to make some serious noise.
Erik Johnson is enjoying the Olympic experience.
The 21-year-old Johnson is thoroughly enjoying the experience of representing his country on the Olympic stage, a dream come true. His great uncle, Ken Yackel, helped the U.S. Olympic hockey team win a silver medal at the 1952 Olympics in Oslo, Norway, so the bloodlines are good.
“I always had that drive and desire to be in the NHL and eventually being an Olympian,” said Johnson. “That was what I was always wanting to do in my head and nothing else mattered except making it in the NHL and making an impact. That’s just what I was geared toward and how my mind was growing up. I stopped at nothing to get there.”
As a youngster growing up in Bloomington, Minn., Johnson spent hours every day whacking tennis balls against the wall of his family’s garage with a hockey stick. The story reminds one of how a young Al MacInnis honed his fearsome slap shot back in his native Port Hood, Nova Scotia by blasting thousands of slapshots off the wall of the family’s barn.
“I always liked it,” he said. “I always knew that’s what I wanted to do ever since I was seven or eight years old. My parents would say, ‘Go do your homework,’ and I’d want to go play outside in the garage and shoot tennis balls and stuff like that.”
Parents helped start Johnson on hockey path
Bruce and Peggy Johnson played an integral role in Johnson’s formative years, committing to shuttling Johnson to and from games and practices. They watched him develop. They made sacrifices of time and finances to make sure he could realize his dream of becoming a hockey player.
“I wouldn’t be here without them,” he said. “I remember when I was five or six years old as a Mite…my dad would get my equipment put on for me and tie my skates. He would never carry my bag, because you always hate to see parents doing that.”
Johnson speaks fondly of those days of how supportive and inspirational his parents were to him.
“Whenever I had a good game, they’d always say I played great. Whenever I had a bad game, I wouldn’t hear anything,” he said. “They’d still say I played well. They were so supportive and never got down on me, never forced the issue to play hockey. It was all up to me. They let me follow my dream.”
The dream came true in 2006 when the Blues drafted him first overall in the NHL Entry Draft. After spending a year with the U.S. Olympic Development Team, Johnson showed great promise as a rookie in 2007-08, playing 69 games for the Blues and scoring five goals and 28 assists for 33 points.
The journey stalled a bit in the summer of 2008 when he suffered a serious knee injury falling from a golf cart during a team outing. Reconstructive surgery forced him to miss the entire 2008-09 season, but he came back strong this season.
In the Blues’ first 31 games, Johnson was an offensive force, scoring 21 points. He went through a lengthy scoring drought, failing to score a goal in 31 games. He was benched for a game by former Coach Andy Murray, but since Davis Payne took over behind the bench on Jan. 2, Johnson’s game has come back strong.
Erik Johnson hopes he can help the U.S. return from the Olympics with a medal.
In recent weeks, his offensive contribution improved. In the Blues’ last game before the Olympic break, Johnson scored an important goal in a 5-3 victory over the Washington Capitals at Scottrade Center. He has six goals and 29 this season. When reporters asked him about the long scoring drought, Johnson patiently explained that points don’t necessarily reflect the state of a defenseman’s game.
“Points can mask how you are playing,” he said. “You can get a bunch of points and not be playing the way you want to. You can’t really dwell on the point side of the game. You just have to keep playing. I think the offensive side is coming back to me a little bit. I welcome that.”
On New Year’s Eve Johnson learned he’d been selected to the U.S. Olympic Team.
“I called my mom and dad a couple of close buddies and shared the news with them,” he said. “They were all really excited…as excited as I was. It’s just a thrill for my entire family. It’s something that I take a lot of pride in.”
The decision to pick Johnson wasn’t difficult for Team USA General Manager Brian Burke, who is also the general manager of the Toronto Maple Leafs. Recently, while in St. Louis, Burke was asked what he likes about Johnson.
“What do I like about him? That’s easy…everything,” said Burke. “The sky’s the limit for this young man. I think the people in St. Louis are aware of what a complete player he is, but I think the hockey world’s going to see that now. He’s big, he can skate, he’s a great kid. He’s got a hard shot. What do I like about him? Everything.”
In the weeks that followed, Johnson talked to Keith Tkachuk and Eric Brewer about what to expect from the Olympic experience.
“I got a chance to pick their brain,” he said. “It’s nice to have some guys who have been there and done that.”
Johnson appreciates how Team USA legends Tkachuk, Mike Richter, Brian Leetch, Bill Guerin and Doug Weight pioneered the latest era of Olympic hockey featuring NHL players.
“I remember watching all those guys play,” he said. “They had such a great team for so many years that they were still talking about making the team this year. Following those guys and watching their careers is what probably stuck out most for me.”
Meeting some legends
Last summer, Johnson also got a taste of the time when amateurs competed, specifically, the 1980 Miracle on Ice team that included so many Minnesota-born players. At that Olympic Orientation camp in Chicago, Johnson got to hear the highlights of the most glorious moment in sports history from the likes of Mike Eruzione and Jack O’Callahan.
Johnson is aware that this is the 30th anniversary of that achievement.
“If we could do something like that, your name would go up in history of American hockey and Olympic hockey,” he said. “You’d make your country proud and you’d make everyone proud who was affiliated with you. It would be a really monumental occasion and something people will remember forever.”
During his two weeks in Vancouver, Johnson’s support group entourage features 12 friends and family members. Johnson hasn’t disappointed anyone. He and Blues and fellow Team USA teammate David Backes have figured prominently in the victories over Switzerland and Norway.
But Johnson knows this is only the beginning. The victory over Canada only increases the pressure on the home-country team to bring home the gold medal, a pressure that the Americans do not have to face. After pummeling Norway 8-0 in the first round, Canada needed a shootout to overtake Switzerland Thursday night. And the Russians, who many picked as Canada’s opponent in the final game, lost to Slovakia.
“They’re going to have the most pressure on them, for sure,” he said before departing for Vancouver. “So we’re the underdogs and fly under the radar. We like it that way.”
Now that he’s competed in the early games, Johnson has modified his view a bit. He sees how every country has its own pressure, its own rooting section. He acknowledges that Canada is still in the biggest pressure cooker, but…
“In a short tournament like this, anything can happen,” said Johnson, noting that it’s taken a couple of games to figure out the flow and the system required to compete at a high level. “We know there are huge expectations on Canada, but at the same time we have big expectations for ourselves and pressure from the whole country. You’re playing for the United States, not just hockey and your team. I think every country is feeling its own pressure.”
Johnson knew ahead of time what it would take to beat Canada, and that was exactly what happened. He cited the energy and physical game that forwards Backes, Chris Drury and Ryan Callahan bring and how they were at their best in shutting down what he terms a “star-studded cast” employed by Canada.
“We know Canada is such a great team and very skilled and we know they’re going to come hard,” he explained. “We just have to be physical and try and take them off their game a little bit.”
The other important factor was that Team USA was able to get off a lot of pucks in traffic in front of Canada goaltender Martin Brodeur.
“If he can see the puck, he’s going to save it almost every time,” said Johnson. “If we can take care of those areas, we’ll have a good shot for sure. We’re going into the game and this whole tournament to win. It’s going to be tough…it’s not going to be easy, that’s for sure.”
Johnson seems to be thriving on the pressure of these games. He compares it to the atmosphere of the Stanley Cup playoffs.
“I haven’t had a chance to do that yet,” he said.
To quote the late, great U.S. Olympic coach Herb Brooks prior to the 1980 gold medal game against Finland at Lake Placid, “This is your time.” Johnson knows and understands those words very well.
“There’s no bigger stage than the Olympics,” he said. “It can’t get any better than this.”
Contact Globe-Democrat.com sports writer George Csolak at gcsolak@globe-democrat.com
Comments
Use the comment form below to begin a discussion about this content.