They came out of the cold and snow to pay tribute to Bob Johnson, a man who made life on ice a warmer, sweeter experience.
About 300 people trudged through a snowstorm to attend a memorial service for Johnson, who coached the University of Wisconsin hockey team to national championships in 1973, 1977 and 1981.
"The accomplishments of the man are legendary" said Pastor Robert G. Borgwardt, of Bethel Lutheran Church. "But the one that is most significant is the way he got inside other people and made them bigger than they ever could have been."
Johnson, 60, died last week of brain cancer and was remembered Monday in services in five cities in the United States and Canada.
Known as Badger Bob throughout the hockey world, Johnson coached UW from 1966 until he was named to coach the Calgary Flames in 1982.
In 1987, he became executive director of USA hockey and three years later was named coach of the Pittsburgh Penguins. There, he led the perennially struggling Penguins to a Stanley Cup championship this spring.
The cover of the program distributed at all of the services featured a color photo of a beaming Johnson holding a miniature replica of the Stanley Cup.
Legend Among His Peers
"He achieved legendary status among his peers, from stick boys to owners," said close friend Phil Mendel, who was public address announcer at the Dane County Coliseum during the Johnson years.
The reason he was able to command such respect,. Mendel said, was his "constant updraft of enthusiasm" for hockey and for life.
"Bob was the wind beneath the wings of so many; from the floundering 4-year-olds struggling to keep their skates beneath them, to the hard-bitten pro."
Mendel said Johnson, travelling through Chicago early last August, went to visit his daughter Diane at the Southern Wisconsin Center for the Developmentally Disabled in Union Grove.
Diane, 29, is mentally retarded and has cerebral palsy. Johnson has often visited before, but never without his wife, Martha, Mendel said. His visit came three weeks before Johnson collapsed and was hospitalized.
"Was it a premonition? We'll never know. But she was on his heart," Mendel said.
Former Badgers defenseman Bob Suter, who played on Johnson's 1977 championship team and on the 1980 "Miracle on Ice" Olympic team, said he relished the chance to attend Johnson's hockey school as a 10 year old.
"In the spring, you looked forward to two things, one was summer vacation, and one was hockey school," Suter said. "Coach Johnson would always give out awards at the end of each session, and he made sure everyone got one."
Suter recalled riding along with Johnson and his son, Mark, to Chicago in 1975 to watch Johnson conduct Olympic tryouts. Johnson sat in the back seat, smoking a cigar and working out line combinations.
Suter, then a Madison high school student, mentioned how it was his dream to play Olympic hockey.
"He looked up and said 'Suter, before you worry about the Olympic team, you better make sure you play for Wisconsin,'" Suter recalled.
Among those attending the service were Gov. Tommy Thompson and UW Chancellor Donna Shalala, former players such as Ron Vincent and Terry Kleisinger, current Badger hockey players and longtime Badgers hockey enthusiasts.
Similar services were simultaneously held in Calgary, Pittsburgh and Minneapolis.
Johnson's funeral was held in Colorado Springs, Colo. and UW hockey coach Jeff Sauer was one of the pallbearers. About 1,200 friends, relatives and former players attended the funeral at First Presbyterian Church, including the Penguins, who stopped en route to a game in Edmonton Tuesday night.
Tim McConnell, Johnson's son-in-law, told the Penguins, "No matter how much you loved him, he loved you more."
A picture of Johnson smiling and holding the Stanley Cup was above the casket. Next to it was a black velvet display case containing more than 50 hockey-club pins.
When thinking of the lesson of Johnson's life, Mendel said he
was reminded of Jacob's admonition to his sons in the book of Genesis.
Before a journey to Egypt, Jacob advised them to take some honey.
"That's what Bob Johnson would have each of us do. Just as he did it,"
Mendel said. "Take a little honey with you. In so doing, we will become
the wind beneath the wings of others, just like he was."
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