by Scott DCamp
Sports Editor
Thief River Falls native Bree Johnson has been chosen as the sixth head coach in the history of the Thief River Falls girls hockey program.
A 2000 graduate of Lincoln High School, Johnson played football, hockey and baseball for the Prowlers and served as a team captain for both the football and hockey teams.
After high school, Johnson played two years of junior hockey for the Sioux City Musketeers and Rochester Mustangs of the USHL.
He then enrolled at Concordia College in Moorhead, where he played four years of college hockey and served as team captain both his junior and senior years, before graduating with a major in health education, physical education and a minor in coaching.
Johnson began his coaching career with the Thief River Falls Amateur Hockey Association, helping out a variety of teams. He also coached eighth grade football, seventh grade baseball and served as the head softball coach for Thief River Falls during the 2010 and 2011 seasons.
Johnson left Thief River Falls to accept his first full-time teaching and coaching position at Lake of the Woods School. He taught elementary and high school physical education for six years, while also serving as the district’s head boy’s hockey coach for six years and head girls softball coach for five years.
With Johnson at the helm of the Lake of the Woods program, the Bears won the Northwest Conference title in both the 2015-16 and 2016-17 seasons. Johnson was voted Section 8A coach of the year in 2017.
Now back with the Prowlers, Johnson has set several goals to help the program flourish, including
• establishing a great rapport with players, parents and staff;
• working with TRFAHA to strengthen the foundation of the girls hockey program;
• create an atmosphere that fosters high standards of character;
• compete at a high level within the conference, section and state; and
• create team goals and work together as a family to accomplish them.
Johnson and his wife Lauren have been married for three years and have 2-year-old daughter who is a huge hockey fan.