TSN hockey analyst Mike Johnson grew up in the Toronto area, but he has some Montreal roots.
His mother, Wendy, is from Montreal and grew up is Rosemère. Wendy and her husband, Ron (who is from Moose Jaw, Sask.), attended Game 1 of the 1972 Summit Series at the Forum — which Canada shockingly lost 7-3 to the Soviet Union.
“At the time, my mom was pregnant with my sister (Jennifer), I think,” Johnson said. “They were at that game together.”
Johnson’s parents were married in Montreal and it’s where his sister was born. Johnson, 51, was born in Scarborough, Ont.
Johnson played 11 seasons in the NHL, including one with the Canadiens in 2006-07. He was never selected at the NHL Draft after playing four years at Bowling Green State University, where he earned a finance degree.
He signed with Toronto as a free agent after graduating from university in 1997 and made his NHL debut with the Maple Leafs the same year. He played four seasons with the Leafs before stints with the Tampa Bay Lightning — where Martin St. Louis was his teammate — Phoenix Coyotes, the Canadiens and the St. Louis Blues.
Johnson is now one of the best hockey analysts in the business. As I noted in a column I wrote about Johnson on Thursday, he’s articulate and isn’t afraid to call things as he sees them on the ice with players and officials. He also has a great sense of humour, and it’s obvious he’s having fun doing his job. He makes it feel like you’re watching the game with a buddy who played in the NHL.
After having a 30-minute phone conversation with Johnson on Thursday to talk about his job, his time with the Canadiens and Maple Leafs, his relationship with St. Louis, whether he’d have interest in an NHL management job (possibly with Toronto), I figured I’d devote this week’s Stu’s Slapshots notebook entirely to Johnson in a Q&A format.
He’s a very interesting man to talk with and I hope you enjoy the Q&A.
On why he wasn’t drafted:
“I wasn’t drafted because I wasn’t very good (chuckles). There’s no bitterness. I would not have drafted me, either. It was not an upsetting decision. I went to school to go to school and hockey was a means to an end and it led to an education. I guess at some point in my final season it sort of became apparent I was going to have a chance. But I did not grow up in high school or even through my first three years of university even aspiring to play in the NHL because it was so far gone. It was like aspiring to go to the moon. Like, I’m never going to do it, so why would I think about it? I was just having a good time.
“In my second or third year (of university) I was like: ‘Maybe I could play East Coast league for a year just to have the experience or maybe I could go to Europe before I get into my real world on Bay St. or whatever.’ It wasn’t probably until November of my final senior season where I’m like: ‘OK, I guess I’m going to have this chance’ — and I did.”
Was he expecting to have a career in finance instead of hockey?
“One hundred per cent. That’s what I wanted to do my whole life. In high school that’s what I thought I would do and that’s what I prepared to do and that’s what I fully intended to do. I was planning my life around having a regular Wall St. kind of job.”
How did he end up in the NHL after not getting drafted?
“I guess what helped me is that I was a free agent, in the end, because I was able to pick a crappy team to play for. Everyone was like: ‘You chose Toronto because you live there?’ I’m like: ‘Bull.’ I guess that was a perk, but no, I chose Toronto because they were no good and they needed right-wingers. That might have been the best decision I ever made because they were no good and they did need right-wingers and it seemed to work out.
“My first coach was Mike Murphy before Pat Quinn took over from him. And Murph was great to me, he played me a ton. But he and his assistant at the time was Mike Kitchen and they both told me after I retired: ‘The reason you got to play so much wasn’t because you scored, it was because we could play you if you weren’t scoring.’ And so I guess that’s sort of what got me started in the NHL is that I was smart enough defensively and aware enough that if I was not scoring in that particular moment — which you don’t always do in the NHL, when you’re young or maybe ever — I could still help the team.
“I killed penalties my whole career and I could play at the end of games. I could play against the other teams’ good players as well as trying to score all the time. And so I think maybe that sort of awareness was something I was good at, I guess. And I guess I was a good enough skater. Because when I got to the NHL I was weaker and I wasn’t as aggressive and all the rest of it, but the game was not too fast. It wasn’t too fast for my legs and it wasn’t too fast for my head. And I guess that sort of stayed with me throughout my career.”
Has that high hockey IQ helped him in his career as an analyst?
“Maybe (chuckles). I guess so. Doing what I do now we all sort of see the game through the prism of the way that we played it. So if you were a tough guy, then you probably see the value in being an agitator and those kind of players. If you were a super-skilled guy, you see the game and the value through those guys.
“For me, in my career, I did play defensively. I was also the leading scorer on a team, I was on the power play. I sort of did everything up and down the lineup at different points in my career. And maybe that has helped. Essentially, my job is to sort of explain what’s happening and why. And, really, the why and maybe the analytical nature of my mind — both on and off the ice — I always want to understand why? That’s a common question in my world, why is that happening? — no matter what we’re talking about. And maybe that has helped a little bit, I hope.”
On what he remembers about his one season with the Canadiens in 2006-07, during which he posted 11-20-31 totals in 80 games with the team missing the playoffs after finishing 10th in the Eastern Conference with a 43-34-6 record:
“I wanted it to be more than one season (chuckles). Yeah, I wanted to come back. I would have stayed there much longer, but it didn’t work out that way.
“I remember my family was excited about me playing in Montreal. My mom is from Montreal, my parents were married there, my sister was born there. My mom was from Rosemère. So it was a bit of a homecoming. I have aunts and uncles and everything there, so that was exciting.
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“I was happy to play in a place where hockey matters again after being in Arizona, which I loved and I had great success there. But it was neat to be back in a traditional hockey market. I had a great time. It was odd that I was sort of new to the team, but felt close to a lot of those guys very quickly. I remember me and Radek Bonk were attached at the hip the whole year. We could not shake each other. We both wanted to get to a scoring line and we both got there.
“When I think about my career there are losses that sting more than others. But there’s not a lot of times you look back and say that one really stays with you because you do the best you can and the results come when they come and whatever’s going to happen. But we lost Game 82 of that year to the Toronto Maple Leafs in a game we only needed to get to overtime to make the playoffs and we were up 5-3 in the third period and we lost it in regulation. I remember that because of all the 700 games I played, that’s the single regular-season game loss that sticks out clearest, the worst. I hate that game. It stays with me because I wanted that playoff experience in Montreal and to see what we could have done.
“But I loved it. I really wanted to come back and they wanted to go a different direction. But I would have played there as long as I could.”
Why wasn’t he able to stay in Montreal, instead signing as a free agent with St. Louis?
“(General manager Bob Gainey) wanted something different, he wanted to get more physical. He went and signed Tom Kostopoulos — and that’s apples and oranges. We’re not the same kind of player. So you didn’t replace me, you just went in a different direction.”
What was the difference between playing for the Leafs and the Canadiens?
“They have their similarities. I played when social media was just sort of starting, so maybe that factors into it, but I almost felt like there was more media around in Montreal than Toronto and there’s more scrutiny in Montreal than Toronto. So all those people who say Toronto’s so hard to play in, I’m like: ‘No, it’s not.’
“The people pay attention (in Toronto), but I don’t think it’s different than any other place. The greatest difference, I think, from the experience of playing in both places — and I’m not just pandering to you because I’ve said this before — both are historically great franchises. I’m from Toronto and grew up with my dad taking me to Toronto Maple Leaf games. I don’t know if they were my favourite team or not, but I was around them a lot. The second I walked in the Montreal dressing room — the second! — you could feel the history and the legacy of the Canadiens and the players who have played there more than I ever felt — ever! — in my years in Toronto. And that includes the four years I played there, the time growing up there and I played in the last game at Maple Leaf Gardens, so I was involved in some historical stuff. And it never carried the weight that the Montreal Canadiens and their players and their history carried.
“I think that’s the coolest part of Montreal. You can’t escape it and you don’t want to.”
On having St. Louis as a teammate for one season with the Lightning in 2000-01:
“Marty was a fourth-liner and was killing penalties. He came over from Calgary and was the lowest-paid player in the league. I think he was making like $220,000 Canadian or something. It was wild.
“I remember when he showed up and I knew of Marty from college when he was the best player in university (at the University of Vermont). Him and Brendan Morrison (at the University of Michigan) were the two best players (in the NCAA) the four years we were at school together.
“I remember thinking (St. Louis) doesn’t get played like he’s the best player (with the Lightning). He doesn’t get the opportunity. But two things sort of stood out. One was his relentless drive and pushing of himself. Even in games where he might be on the fourth line and play 10 minutes, you could feel him burning for more out of himself, out of his opportunity, out of the team. A team that he didn’t play a big role on initially and he was still demanding of everyone and everything around him — in a good way, in an inspiring way. I was like: ‘OK, that’s unusual for a 24-year-old fourth-liner who was just on waivers, who was 5-foot-7 in an era where 5-foot-7 was hard to come by.’
“There was that and then he’s uniquely built. When you see him in equipment you think: ‘Oh, he’s just short.’ And then you see him in gym shorts and you’re like: ‘Oh, my God! He’s built like a fire hydrant. He’s so strong.’ So when you would play against him in practice — even before you saw what he did in games — I was like: ‘I can’t corral this guy. I can’t get my hands around him because he’s so strong and shifty and lower centre of gravity.’
“We went out to dinner about eight guys one night and Marty wasn’t with us that night. We were just shooting the breeze. He had been on the team for about three weeks. We were talking about him and how good he was. He was just playing a small role and we were like: ‘Is he the best small player you’ve ever played with?’ And were were all like: ‘Yeah, he is.’ All of the stuff that made him great you could see it almost immediately. He just needed more time for the coaches to kind of get over the biases of his short height to give him the opportunity.
“I think he went in there and said: ‘Listen, Steve Ludzik (the head coach), put me with Vinny (Vincent Lecavalier) and Richie (Brad Richards). Let me play and I won’t let you down. Just give me a chance. What do you have to lose? We’re in last place. Just give me a look.’ And then he gets his look and he never looked back. He was off and running.”
“Torts (John Tortorella) took over (as head coach) and then Torts and Marty and Vinny and Richie had this sort of triumvirate relationship together where they all were alpha guys, all different personalities. And once they figured it out — especially Vinny and Torts — they sort of all brought out the best of each other and they were all really good for each other. I think all those things sort of came together. The team got better, he got an opportunity and was playing with good players. But Torts and Vinny and Brad Richards and Marty all had a real unique sort of relationship between all of them and each other that brought out the best in them.”
On St. Louis now coaching the Canadiens:
“I think it was the second press conference I went to with Marty (as coach) and he’s very eloquent with his phrasing and how he explains things and thought provoking and I really appreciate that out of anybody. But I didn’t see as much of that when he played (chuckles). It was more sort of fire and brimstone and some swear words and very passionate, but less composed and not a great orator. I told him: ‘Marty, you could not be more like a coach. I don’t know where this guy came from, but it’s beautiful. I love to listen to you talk.’
“I saw some of that stuff and I thought he’s got a chance (to succeed as a coach). He’s smart enough and it matters enough and he’s good enough that he’s got a chance to be good and he’s become really good.”
Would he have any interest in also becoming a coach?
“No. No. I don’t have the patience for that. Coaching’s hard. Everything in the NHL is hard, but coaching is a grind. It is a time commitment that people don’t appreciate. It’s not just charters and lobster tails. It’s 14-hour days and living and dying with things that are out of your control. No. Management, yes. Coaching, no.
“I popped into the coach’s office after the Tampa game (on Tuesday, which the Canadiens won 4-1 over the Lightning) because it was my last Montreal game (this season) and I just wanted top say goodbye and good luck. Vinny was in there and we’re joking around and I said: ‘This is the difference in our lives. Vinny, you look like you should be modelling for Hugo Boss … you look unbelievable because you’re a consultant (for the Canadiens) from Florida. You see what happens when you become a head coach? Look at Marty’s hair … he’s got so much grey in it he doesn’t know what to do with himself.’ And then I pointed at Kent (Hughes) and I say: ‘You become a GM and look what happens to his hair. It disappears.’
“It’s not easy. It’s a challenge to do that.”
Would he have any interest in an NHL management job, possibly with the Maple Leafs after they fired general manager Brad Treliving on Monday?
“Yeah. I get asked this occasionally. I say: ‘I love what I do now and I’m not necessarily looking to leave it. But I would be curious, yeah.’
“Sure, if Keith Pelley (the president and CEO of Maple Leaf Sports & Entertainment) called me we would have a conversation and I think I could make a presentation as to what I would do if I was offered a role in that capacity. I’ve always sort of been curious as to what that would feel like and the challenge of whether I could be good at it. I’d like to think I would be, but you never know until you try it. I’m at the point now where my daughters are older and out of the house and you’re more mobile, which is part of the challenge.
“One of the things I didn’t like about playing was the uncertainty of your future. I struggled with that. I didn’t have any trade protection, so you kind of always felt on edge — whether it was good, bad or whatever. And there’s an element of management that has that as well. You’re sort of at the mercy of the team and the owner and everything else, so that is a bit different.
“But, long story short, yeah. I would be curious to see what that would look like, sure.”
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