Welcome to the first installment of Talkin' Hockey: Coach-to-Coach. Back in the late seventies, when I still had hair and apparently a mustache, I started a statewide hockey publication called Wisconsin Hockey Report and the editor's column I wrote was tabbed Talkin' Hockey.   There are probably a few of you out there that remember that publication. Nearly fifty years later I have decided to bring it back. With so many excellent coaches out there doing great things for players here in Wisconsin, I want to bring you their stories. Can't think of a better way to drop the puck on this than with two NCAA Championship coaches, Mark Johnson and Joe Cranston. I had so many questions and they had so many great answers, that this will be two part interview. Hope you enjoy it!

The State of Wisconsin Girls Hockey

With Wisconsin hockey basking in the light of the NCAA D1 and D3 championships you would expect interest in girl’s hockey to be rising. And according to WAHA’s Womens and Girls Director Robin Bilsborough that is indeed the case. “We have been seeing constant increases in the 6U and 8U female numbers over the last few years,” said Bilsborough. “I believe this has more to do with Grant programs that WAHA has initiated to entice associations to field girl’s teams at younger ages, driving recruitment of female players. Of course, having high visibility programs for our female players to follow is always an important component of retention.”

“I saw it in a big way this year in the camps I put on down in Madison in June,” according to Mark Johnson. “The number of young ladies that we had signed up from ages seven to thirteen is the most we ever had. We had a lot of good times with the kids on the ice and put a lot of smiles on their faces.”

I asked both coaches for their thoughts on the state of girl’s hockey and what needs to be done to keep it moving in a positive direction.

Unsurprisingly, Coach Johnson offered an upbeat and optimistic outlook. “Everything that I see is very positive, numbers, excitement, and families getting an opportunity for their daughters to play the game. I think the state of Wisconsin hockey is in a real good spot. It's got good momentum and I'm really encouraged to see what happens in the next five to ten years.”

“Everything that I see is very positive, numbers, excitement, and families getting an opportunity for their daughters to play the game.

Part of his optimism stems from what he calls the “Olympic bump” that will occur in February with the 2026 Olympics in Milan, Italy. “Usually, after the Olympics are over, you'll see a spike, especially on the female side because kids get exposed to our best players from all the different countries. They get a chance to watch them on TV.”

For Coach Cranston he has the connection to his brother Matt and an inside look at the high school girls’ game in Wisconsin. “My window that I’m always looking through is my brother and the Fusion co-op. That program is growing, but it has to come from the bottom up. You have got to have people who are willing to get out there and recruit and build those U10 teams.”

The Role of the WIAA

When I brought up the role of the WIAA, both coaches chose their words carefully, but honestly. Neither could be considered a fan of the WIAA’s handling of hockey on either the boys or girls side.

Cranston, who was a boys coach at Somerset for eight years, has extensive experience dealing with the WIAA. “I think the WIAA restricts growth,” he said without hesitation. “I remember you and I talking about this thirty-five years ago. They should just be looking across the St. Croix River and use that as their model. I was always frustrated with the WIAA when I was coaching Wisconsin boys. They have these old school guys who have never seen a hockey game telling us what we can and can’t do. Even the fact that they split the state tournament for boys, that is great, but it is still the same amount of opportunities. Four and four with no consolation bracket. It’s frustrating to watch it. They seem to do everything to not grow the sport.”

Johnson expressed similar frustration with the WIAA. He called it “frustrating” that they continue to place people in charge of hockey that have no experience with the game. “They need to be creative,” said Johnson when searching for solutions and “Not always take the easy way out.”  

Their concerns about the WIAA management of hockey are not unfounded. The history between the WIAA and the hockey coaches has been mostly contentious. However, the appointment of LeVar Ridgeway and now Jake Beschta as the new WIAA hockey liaison has proven to be a very positive step in the right direction. They have delivered an optimism and willingness to work with the Hockey Coaches Advisory Committee.

Minnesota Envy

When you live next door to the greatest hockey state in the country, it is difficult to eliminate envy and to resist constant comparisons. The truth of course is that they are many decades ahead of us, and the sport of hockey is deeply woven into their culture. I also believe it is wrong to evaluate success based largely on how many players we move on to the next level. In my opinion it is a similar mistake made by USA Hockey when they funneling so many resources into their top teams instead of investing more in the grass roots community programs.

Johnson offered a more logical view of the situation. “It's human nature to compare things, whether it's girls’ hockey or college hockey, who's got a better set up, who does a better job, who produces more players. I sort of stay in the space of what we can do to give our kids opportunities to maybe excel and maybe get an opportunity to go play college hockey. Instead of trying to compare what they do compared to what we do. For me it's what can we do to give more opportunities.”

When you are building a championship college hockey program in Minnesota’s backyard, just twenty miles away in River Falls, you can’t avoid the comparisons. Cranston’s 2025 Championship team featured twenty-two players from Minnesota, two from Wisconsin and one from California. It is a formula that has a proven track record, but it doesn’t steer Cranston away from Wisconsin players.

“Apples to apples I always want to take a Wisconsin kid,” he admitted. “I took a chance on Ellie Brice (St. Croix Valley Fusion) four years ago. There was nobody in the WIAC that really wanted her. She ended up being a pretty darn good player for me. I took her because she was a great character kid. She worked so hard in the off-season and took advantage of every opportunity to make herself a hockey player. If I can get a player like that from Wisconsin, I will take every one of them.”  

The question then becomes what is making the Minnesota players better than their Wisconsin counterparts? “Obviously they play at a higher level, and their hockey IQ is much higher. You will see a kid in Wisconsin that might have the same talent level as a kid in Minnesota, the kid in Wisconsin is their best player, but they don’t have as good supporting players around them.”

“We like community-based hockey."

That admission is a great argument for the existence of Team Wisconsin, Wisconsin Selects and the improving WEHL programs. They are providing players the opportunity to stay home and supplement their playing experience by playing with and against better competition. Cranston favors the pre-post model of these teams over the year-round AAA programs that steal players away from their hometowns. “We like community-based hockey,” said the 2024 ACHA D3 Coach of the Year. He believes Wisconsin would be wise to adopt a similar policy to Minnesota regarding year-round AAA programs.

The D1 Dream: Player or the Path?

There is no argument that the purpose of amateur sports has taken a draconian shift. It is no longer seen as a physical outlet for kids, as something they do for fun, but a steppingstone to college athletics or beyond. The statistics, not unlike the odds of winning the lottery, haven’t deterred ticket buyers nor slowed the participation in amateur sports. Along the path to that promised land is a myriad of opportunities claiming to enhance your odds. Few of them come without a cost, financially, mentally, socially or physically. It is the jungle of the business of amateur sports.

One of the major sales pitches of many AAA programs is their guarantee of placing their players into college programs. It is an attractive claim for many chasing that D1 dream but can also elevate the stress level and focus of players. The constant awareness about who is watching them can cause anxiety and shift their focus from the team and playing for the love of the game to a selfish, distracted business-like approach to the game.  

It becomes crucial that parents have a full grasp of their child’s mental make-up and their expectations. I have long been a believer that the player, their internal make-up, is more important than the path they choose. I asked Mark Johnson for his thoughts; on which is more important, the player or the path?

“It's probably a mix of both,” began Johnson. “Ultimately it comes down to the drive and the competitiveness and the athleticism and the skills of the individual player. The path, I've seen kids take a lot of different paths.” Johnson sighted the varying paths of Brianna Decker, who attended Shattuck and Molly Engstrom from tiny Siren, Wisconsin and Jinelle Zaugg-Siergiej from Eagle River, who played boys hockey through high school. All went on to play at Wisconsin for Johnson and all were Olympians.  

“I think everybody’s path is going to be different and what's right for your daughter might not be right for my daughter. I can look at my two daughters Mikayla, who played for me at Wisconsin and if I looked at what Brianna Decker did, going to Shattuck, Mikayla didn't have the make-up to do that. I wanted to raise my daughters, and she wasn't, I don't know what the right word is, but she wasn’t mentally ready to leave home as a ninth, 10th or 11th grader. Meghan was similar.”

“Ultimately it comes down to the drive and the competitiveness and the athleticism and the skills of the individual player."

Success at River Falls has brought on a volume of interest from prospective players that Joe Cranston admits is overwhelming. “I literally get probably two dozen emails a day,” said Cranston, “so you think  over the course of a year, well there’s no way I can reply to all of them.” His staff knows early on who they are after and seldom, if ever, does an email inquiry turn into a future Falcon player.

The path is one of the things that Cranston takes careful note of as they look at potential players. He still believes that loyalty to your hometown team and friends is important. While it isn’t absolute, it is something he and his staff highly value. Many times the AAA experience is seen as the best route to the next level. For Cranston, it can be viewed as a red flag. “We’ll take an occasional AAA kid,” he said, “but almost like they are a AAA kid for the right reasons. If you are doing things for selfish reasons, you’re not going to play for me.”

It is a stand that you probably won’t find to be common among college coaches. It is hard to argue with his success rate. “We were recruiting two of the best players coming out of North Dakota a couple of years ago,” recalled Cranston. “They were juniors, and they both came and visited, and we had a good shot at them. They both jumped ship and went to another school as seniors. When those kids do that, they’re doing that obviously for themselves, I just look at the kid that does that, and I immediately know, that kid is more concerned with themselves, than with all their friends, and everybody who worked their butt off volunteering to make them the player they are. So, we scratch them off our list.”

While Cranston has his red flag list, he also has a green flag list. “When we’re looking at a kid, they have to be that type of kid that makes everyone around them better. Not showboating around. I just want a kid that works hard, loves the game and has a high level of compete and just respects everything. Those kids stand out.”

Cranston’s Falcons are widely known for their blue-collar work ethic and ability to wear opponents out. The team’s weekly no puck practices are legendary in the college circuit. It is part of the reason why the Falcon’s recruiting process is not necessarily focused on the “best” players available. Statistics mean little in comparison to a player’s grit and compete level. Cranston is famous for saying “You’re only as good as how hard you work.”

The Falcons have made a name for themselves in developing players. River Falls has had the D3 Player of the Year, the AHCA Laura Hurd Award, three of the past four seasons: 2022-Callie Hoff, 2024-Maddie McCollins, 2025-Bailey Olson. High school records and accolades don’t drive Cranston’s recruiting process. “Maddie McCollins wasn’t even an honorable mention in the conference for freshman, sophomore, or junior year,” said Cranston following the 2024 season. “Right now, she’s the best hockey player in the country.”

Cranston has high praise for his head recruiter, assistant coach, Jim Walsh. “Walsh does 95% of our recruiting and he is fantastic.” Cranston believes many D3 colleges are hesitant to recruit players as early as they do. Many future Falcons commit as early as the end of their sophomore season. The June 15th D1 contact date doesn’t affect their recruiting process. “We don’t wait,” said Cranston, “, Jim Walsh does the opposite, he says I want to talk to every kid on my list before a D1 talks to them. Many of those kids could play D1, but they chose not to. I trust our process, and we have had a lot of success.”

Parental Advice

As a high-profile college coach Johnson gets many questions about the correct path to a division one program. He had a few words of advice for parents who become too involved in the process. “I can't say to a family of a ten- or twelve-year-old, if you do this if you do that and go over here, then you're going to get a division one scholarship. That wouldn't be accurate because every kid's mindset is going to be a little different. I think ultimately, it's not mom or dad that’s going to win that race to wherever they want to go. It comes down to the player and what she wants to do. I think as parents we can give opportunities and then at the same time we must take a step back.”

"I think ultimately, it's not mom or dad that’s going to win that race to wherever they want to go. It comes down to the player and what she wants to do. I think as parents we can give opportunities and then at the same time we must take a step back.”

The volume of hockey camps, clinics and specialized instruction is overwhelming. Parents often feel the intense pressure to keep doing more because more is better. Johnson warns parents of getting caught up in that fear of their child falling behind and exercising common sense. “I think as parents we are looking for tools and sometimes, we must take a backseat and say does this make sense, is this going to help and is there a purpose to it. And if it's going to help and there's a purpose to it then OK, we can do it.”

Very often those tools he talks about come with a steep financial burden. Johnson acknowledged, “Obviously the expense of the sport has become a big factor.” Whether it is the “elite” training programs available or the lure of AAA, or Tier I programs the price can become too exorbitant for many families. Both coaches offered those players the assurance that if they are very good, they will be found. “If you are a good enough kid, they will find you,” said Cranston. Johnson agreed, “Yeah if you're good enough somebody's gonna see you.”

Both coaches warned that while they are looking at athletes, they are also looking at you as parents.

“Oh absolutely, when we recruit a kid, we recruit the whole family,” declared Cranston. “When we see a kid we like, the first thing we do is talk to the coach. The second question we ask is how the family is. And if they say certain things (laughs), ok we’re moving on. Usually if it is a good kid, it is a good family. The apple never falls too far.”

We always tell players, somebody is always watching, well parents you should heed that same advice.

“We were at a game a couple of years ago,” described Cranston, “and I asked the Athletic Director who are those three dads. And he told us and we went scratch, scratch, scratch. There is no way I want those dads at Hunt Arena. A lot of times you will be watching a goalie, and you will watch the mom or dad, usually the dad behind the goalie, going nuts and filming and sending hand signals. That’s a kid not going to be playing hockey for me.”

The process is working for Cranston, “We don’t ever have an issue with a parent.”

The college hockey recruiting process can be a stressful game of cat and mouse due to its high-stakes nature, restrictive NCAA rules, and the difficult decision athletes must ultimately make. For many student-athletes, the competition for roster spots and scholarships can be extremely stressful. In the case of a highly successful D3 program like River Falls, many of the players on their radar may also be holding on to the dream of playing at a D1 school. Often this process will boil down to choosing a school like River Falls where you will likely be in the hunt for a National Championship, or a D1 school that has yet to find its way into that same conversation.

“D3 is a tough sell,” admitted Cranston. “That D1 thing is by far the biggest obstacle, because every kid growing up, that is all they are fed. Many of the girls we call, don’t even know who River Falls is, and they live thirty miles away from us.” Parents and players get so laser focused on that D1 goal that they can lose sight of the journey at hand, warned Cranston, “It’s becoming all about tomorrow, not today.”

For Johnson, he sees the same obsession with the D1 dream and again encourages parents to guard against putting undue pressure on their kids. “You get back to that stigma where you as a parent, I ultimately want what's best for my son or daughter and I have to take a backseat to whether that may be at a division one or division three level.”

“But you know I'm not going to change people’s minds because egos and pride jump in there."

When parents get so overly involved, when the D1 label becomes more important than the experience ahead, one of the best coaches in the country knows he can’t change the course. “But you know I'm not going to change people’s minds because egos and pride jump in there. So, if I can go to work or I'll be around people and tell my friends, hey my daughter is playing division one--OK so what does that mean? I don't know what it means.”

With his son Chris and daughter Meghan both having played at D3-Augsburg University in Minneapolis, Johnson has a clear perspective on both the D1 and D3 levels and knows both experiences are invaluable. “When Chris went to Augsburg, I was excited about the opportunity that he might have there,” Johnson said. “He needed to strengthen up some of his game and he was able to do that. He was captain for a couple years and an All-American. I mean friendships, and things that he got out of those four years at Augsburg were priceless. Could Chris have gone division one? He probably could have, but he had a great experience and that's what I was excited about. Johnson continued, “Not everybody's going to get to Wisconsin, but that doesn't mean that you're a failure or you've missed out on something. Because you might be well suited for a division three school or division one school somewhere else and have a great career and a great experience.”

Johnson has great respect and admiration for the D3 experience. “Joe obviously has some really good players and really good teams and has had a great amount of success,” Johnson noted. “I remember going to watch Chris, who ended up coaching seven or eight years at Augsburg. I used to go over and watch a bunch of those division three games and man they were fun to watch. I mean good players competitive, big, strong, fast.”

I always told our high school players if you want to play beyond high school there is a place for you. Comparing the perks of playing D1 vs D3 will be lopsided, but the experience, the journey, the investment in each game and practice will be much the same. It is important that parents allow the athletes to drive and as Coach Johnson recommended, you get in the backseat. In the end when the options are weighed, it will have been the work ethic, dedication and character of your athlete that will be the determining factors. You should be truly just along for the ride.

NEXT UP:  COACH-to-COACH: Mark Johnson & Joe Cranston-PART II  I continue my journey into the minds of the two highly successful coaches to gain their thoughts and perspectives on the Transfer Portal and Perseverance, Team Drama and Accepting Your Role and LaBahn Arena and the State Tournament.