The Capitals have hired Jim Johnson as their new assistant coach, the team announced on Tuesday night, replacing Bob Woods.
Johnson, 49, was a teammate of new coach Dale Hunter for two seasons in Washington. He will work with the team’s defensemen, the role Woods played under former coach Bruce Boudreau. Johnson was an assistant coach for the Tampa Bay Lighting in 2009-10, a wild season in which he began the year as associate head coach at AHL affiliate Norfolk. That remains his only professional coaching experience.
The Lightning fired AHL head coach Darren Rumble on Jan. 16, 2010 and promoted Johnson. But on Feb. 24 the organization tried to switch Johnson’s role with NHL assistant Wes Walz, who was promptly fired when he refused to report to Norfolk. At the time, according to a story by Damien Cristodero in the St. Petersburg Times, Johnson had led the Admirals to a 13-2-2 record and its penalty kill (86.9 percent) ranked third in the AHL.
Looking to improve his NHL team’s penalty kill, Tampa Bay general manager Brian Lawton promoted Johnson without consulting his coaching staff. That led to friction with coach Rick Tocchet. With four games left in the regular season, Johnson returned to Norfolk to help with a late playoff push. His final record that season in the AHL was 15-5-0-2 – though the Admirals ultimately missed the postseason.
Johnson, a defenseman, played parts of three seasons with the Caps from 1993-94 through 1995-96. He had a 13-year NHL career that included stops in Minnesota, where he was a member of the 1991 Stanley Cup runners-up, Pittsburgh, Phoenix and Dallas. The New Hope, Minn. native played college hockey at Minnesota-Duluth. After retiring, Johnson spent four years with the Phoenix Coyotes as a consultant to the general manager, broadcast analyst and an assistant coach. He has also served three times as a U.S. National Junior Team Assistant Coach at the IIHF World Junior Championships.
Woods, 43, spent two years as the head coach at Hershey, succeeding Boudreau, and led the Bears to a Calder Cup championship in 2009. He has been on the NHL staff since the start of the 2009-10 season.
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