Johnny Johnson Driven To Revive LZMW Yeti

By Ross Forman
Johnny Johnson – a standout player for the Chicago Mission who won five Tier 1 state championships and a national championship, serving as captain of each championship team – is the new head coach for the co-op LZMW Yeti.

He inherits a team – a mix of players from Lake Zurich, Mundelein and Wauconda high schools – that finished last in the 12-team Varsity Champions League in the IHSHL North-Central Division. The Yeti finished 1-20-1 in the regular season and were last in goals scored (30 in 22 games) and had the most goals against (123).

“We have acknowledged (this) past season and the record. We weren’t hiding from the record, and we aren’t going to dwell on it either. Our goal is to win each day and see how far that takes us,” Johnson said. “Our team (will) play a fast-paced, structured and competitive style. We will be detail focused and a disciplined group. The group is very good and I’m excited for this season. (We have) very good kids who are competitive and want to win.”

Just like Johnson the player. He was drafted into the USHL and went on to play junior hockey in the USHL, NAHL and BCHL — the top developmental leagues in North America. At Norwich University, he wore the “C,” captaining his college team in both his sophomore and junior seasons.

Johnson, 25, who lives in Naperville, is a business development manager at Semmer Landscape. He started coaching hockey camps at age 16 and this fall will be his second full season on the bench, his first at the high school level.

Also this season, he will be an assistant for multiple teams at Hutson Pro Hockey Academy.

Johnson’s coaching style is fun and engaging, he said. “I try to coach the boys how I was coached, with some changes to things I wish were different when I was growing up. My reason for coaching is to give back to the game and the next generation. We want our practices to be hard and competitive so when the puck drops for game time, it’s not much different than our practices.”

Johnson was a forward who praised longtime Chicago area coach Gino Cavallini, his coach for multiple seasons. Johnson said Cavallini was “a great mentor to me growing up and is still a close friend of mine.”

Johnson applied for the Yeti post because “I thought it would be an exciting opportunity to help turn around a program.” He was “thrilled and super lucky” when offered the job.

The Yeti this fall will play “structured, competitive hockey,” Johnson said. “Our goal is to get better every day and to stack days.”

The North-Central Division, featuring defending combined division state champion BG/H/W, along with PREP, Deerfield, Evanston and New Trier Blue, among other perennial powers, “is a good, competitive league,” Johnson said. “We’re excited for this year.”

Jack Kremer is the Yeti varsity assistant. “He will be a great asset to myself and the team,” Johnson said. Kremer played defense at Illinois State University and lives in the Chicago area.