We are 14 games into this years World Championship, and we’ve got two Michigan Wolverines playing in the tournament. Max Pacioretty and Jack Johnson are representing Michigan wearing red, white, and blue.

Through 2 games, Jack has scored 3 goals and leads the team in time on the ice by over 10 minutes with 48 minutes. He’s also the captain…

Max has also played in two games and has one goal and three assists, leading the team with 4 points!

Johnson currently plays defense for the Columbus Blue Jackets and Pacioretty is a forward with the Montreal Canadiens.

Way to go guys! Keep up the great work! Through two games they have beaten France 7-2 and Canada 5-4 in OT with JMFJ scoring the game winner in OT.

Go USA! Go Blue!

Jack Johnson

To be a “Michigan Man” you have to be a lot of things…leadership is one of those qualities.

Jack Johnson, former Michigan hockey player, was named captain of Team USA at the World Championship. This is the second time he has been given the honor.

Jack was traded from the LA Kings to the Columbus Blue Jackets earlier this year. He had 8 goals and 16 assists for the Kings through 61 games and 4 goals and 10 assists through 21 games with the Blue Jackets.

Congratulations, Jack! Good luck!

A Buckeye?

If you guessed a Buckeye, you were right! The Columbus Blue Jackets were aware that JMFJ’s favorite football player growing up–not team, but player–was none other than Ohio State Buckeye Andy Katzenmoyer.

Katzenmoywer played linebacker for the Buckeyes–and was the first true freshman to ever play that position. That’s a pretty impressive feat. He also won the Dick Butkus Award in 1998, which is given to the top linebacker in high school, college. and professional levels.

He was drafted by the New England Patriots in the first round of the 1999 Draft and winning a Superbowl with them in 2002.

Here is a link to the video on BlueJackets.nhl.com: http://video.bluejackets.nhl.com/videocenter/console?catid=702&id=168484

Highlights of the video include:

• JMFJ being surprised at practice by Katzenmoyer!
• JMFJ has one of Katzenmoyer’s jersey’s up in his room
• “It took me a minute to realize who that was…It made my day. I was shocked.”
• “I was always fans of indivudal players, even in hockey. I was a middle linebacker in pop warner wearing number 45 (Katzenmoyer’s number).”

One of the great things about living in Ann Arbor and having Comcast television is getting the CBC channell–Canadian Broadcasting! This means lots of funny television shows and access to some great hockey.

For the second week in a row, a Michigan hockey player was a featured guest on After Hours, a segment during Hockey Night In Canada. Last week it was Max Pacioretty and this week, Jack Johnson.

Jack spoke for about 13 minutes about his career, friends, family, and The University of Michigan.

At the 3:50 mark he answered a question about why he Tebowed after a goal he scored back in January.

At the 4:40 mark he begins his explanation about the Michigan vs. Ohio State rivalry being one of the best and included his picks on the NCAA Tournament. He didn’t have Michigan winning, but he thought they would go farther than they did (actually make it past the first round)!

At the 5:30 mark he gives reasons as to why he picked playing in college over jumping straight to the NHL after he was drafted.

“I had always wanted to go to Michigan. You only get four years to go to college and I wasn’t ready to pass that up.”

At the 6:45 mark he talks about his Dad dancing in the stands at Yost!

8:15 he is asked about Ann Arbor hosting the Winter Classic

8:52 he talks about his reponse to L.A. Kings GM Dean Lombardi’s remarks last year about his career at Michigan.

“Shot at my entire being as a person. I don’t regret one second of my time at Michigan, and if I could go back and do it all over again I would.”

11:18 he gives his favorite hockey memory of playing for Team USA.

Watch the video and enjoy it–Jack is a great person to interview.

Former Michigan Wolverine Jack Johnson scored to put the L.A. Kings up 3-1 over the Washington Capitals in the 2nd period of Monday nights game.

During his celebration at the 43 second mark, you can see him Tebowing…

The game ended in a 5-2 win for the Kings. Their next game is Thursday, January 12th against the Dallas Stars.

Through 43 games this year, Jack has scored 6 goals and has 11 assists. He is tied for the lead in points among defenseman with Drew Doughty with 17. He is in the lead for more goals by a defeseman (3 more than Doughty) and is 6th on the team overall.

Many players have come up through the ranks of college hockey while playing for Big Ten schools. They just haven’t played in the Big Ten Conference, because up until recently, it didn’t exist.

Michigan, Michigan State, and Ohio State play(ed) in the Central Collegiate Hockey Association while Minnesota and Wisconsin play(ed) in the Western Collegiate Hockey Association. Beginning in 2013-2014, the Big Ten schools including Penn State will form the Big Ten Hockey Conference for its inaugural season.

I’ve had the opportunity to interview a current NHL player who played college hockey for each team (excluding Penn State since they obviously don’t exist yet!). This is the first in a five part series of their thoughts about the Big Ten Hockey Conference, how it will change college hockey, and their time at their respective schools.

First up is Jack Johnson of Michigan. Jack played for the maize and blue for 2 years (2005-2007). In 74 games he scored 26 goals and had 45 assists while playing defense.

Johnson was drafted in 2005, third overall by the Carolina Hurricanes. In 2006, he was acquired by the Los Angeles Kings and signed with them three days later, leaving Michigan.

He was on Team USA’s 2010 Olympic team recording 1 assist in 6 games.

So far this year for the LA Kings, Johnson has scored 3 goals and has 2 assists and is averaging over 23 minutes per game of ice time. The three goals he has scored were all game winners!

During Alumni Weekend at Michigan in August, I was able to ask Jack what he thought he thought about the new conference.

I think the big ten conference is awesome. I think putting all of the best teams in the country in one conference is going to make the league stronger. Putting all of the traditional powerhouses together, I think is great. We didn’t get to see Wisconsin or Minnesota enough. I think its fun. I think it’s great for Michigan. I think it’s great for the other schools.

Stay tuned for our next, much longer interview with an Ohio State player–can you guess which one?

Thursday, Steve Kampfer, of the Boston Bruins and Michigan Hockey alum brought the Stanley Cup to Yost Ice Arena! Fans waiting to see the cup started lining up around 10 am for an 11 am Cup arrival time.  The Cup was placed in locker room number 2, and after paying $10 for a photo with the cup (the money went to Mott’s Childrens Hospital) you were able to meet Steve and Stanley!

After getting your photo taken and receiving an autograph, you walked through the other side of the locker room and out to the ice where you could watch former Michigan players Chris Summers, Jack Johnson, Kevin Porter, Matt Hunwick, Mark Mitera, and one other wolverine complete skating drills.

Jack Johnson

The new giant scoreboard had photos of Kampfer and a congratulatory message displayed.

It was great to finally see the Stanley Cup in person and touch it! One of these days I’ll make it to the Hockey Hall of Fame and just sit nex to it while I admire all of the names that are lucky enough to grace the Cup.

The verdict is still out as to whether or not Steve’s name will be on the Cup. He didn’t play any games during the playoffs and only played in 38 games this year with Boston. According the NHL rules, a player must play in at least 41 games or one game in the Stanley Cup Finals.  A team can petition the Commissioner to put a players name on the cup if “extenuating circumstances prevented them from being able to play”.

Steve was hurt April 9th while playing for the Bruin’s AHL affiliate, Providence Bruins. He was cleared to practice near the end of the playoffs, but did not see game action.

It was a lovely afternoon. Thank you, Steve, for sharing your day with us! Go Blue!

Jack Johnson participated in the Michigan alumni hockey game on Friday, August 5^th. As always, he had a smile on his face while playing at Yost Ice Arena and tried to score on multiple attempts! He found the back of thet net a lot during his 2 years at Michigan: he played in 74 games, scored 26 goals and had 45 assists.

Jack is well known on campus and around the United States by his nickname JMFJ—just guess!  In the 2010 Olympics in Vancouver, he was part of the silver medal winning Team USA.

Jack is entering his sixth season as a defenseman with the Los Angeles Kings and just signed a 7 year contract extension this past January!

The only thing that has changed in Jack’s career would probably be the fact that he no longer gets nervous before he takes the ice for games.

“Not anymore. Only a few nervous games, but usually after the first shift I’m good. First game at Michigan, first NHL game, those are couple off the top of my head.”

His pre game routine is pretty normal for a hockey player.

“Pre game skate, have a pre game meal, I take a nap. If I’m tired I take a nap if not I lay around watching tv till it’s time for the game. If it’s a Saturday college football, if not whatever I can find.”

Jack is lucky enough to play a sport that allows him to catch the first Michigan football game of the year at the Big House in person before he has to leave for training camp. Once a Michigan Man, always a Michigan Man.

In his free time, Jack likes to collect cars.

“I’m a car guy. I like collecting cars, driving cars.”

Right now he has two Ferraris he drives every chance he gets.

It’s always nice to see the local guys show up for the alumni event. It’s even more special when they come every year like Jack.

See you next year!

We’re down another man!

Jack Johnson became the 2^nd Michigan hockey alum to be kicked out of the playoffs when his Los Angeles Kings team was beaten by the San Jose Sharks in overtime on Monday evening in a crucial game 6.

JMFJ as he is affectionately called by his fans (and Mom) had 5 points during the series—1 goal and 4 assists. He didn’t spend any time in the penalty box and was a -2.

His playoff stats were on par with how he played during the regular season. Jack played in all 82 games. He scored 5 goals and had 37 assists and was a -21 for the year.

I’d say get your golf clubs out, Jack, but I know you’re not much of a golfer and you get bored when people talk about golf. So I hope you enjoy your offseason and come back to the Kings in the fall full of energy for a new year. I’m looking forward to seeing you around Ann Arbor and in August at the alumni game.

Shoutout to Kristina & Erika–I know you ladies are taking this hard!!