Coaches
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Steve Johnson - stevej@fargoforce.com
Head Coach/General Manager
Steve Johnson's USHL coaching career actually started in Fargo, when the Fargo-Moorhead Bears hired him for the 1995-96 season. He would be recognized as the USHL coach of the year while leading The Bears to 28 victories that year. The team was disbanded the following season and the Lincoln Stars hired Steve as their head coach and general manager.
It didn’t take long for Steve to find success in Lincoln, leading the Stars to a 40-13-1 record and a Clark Cup Championship in the 1996-97 season, his first with the team. This would be the start of an 11-year run with Steve behind the bench. His teams dominated the regular season winning 30 or more games nine times. Steve would find post season success as well leading the Stars to another Clark Cup Championship in 2002-03 and three Anderson Cups in 2002-03, 2000-01 and 1999-00.
Coach Steve has been recognized as USHL coach of the year three times, including back-to-back years in 1999-00 and 2000-01. He is only the second coach in league history to retain that title two consecutive years. Over his 12 year USHL coaching career Steve has compiled a record of 433-206-48 and is currently fourth all-time in career wins.
In his playing days, the Grand Forks native won a national championship while skating for University of North Dakota. Steve’s career stats over four years at UND consisted of 191 points over 153 games played. Steve would take his game to the professional ranks, spending three seasons with the Vancouver Canucks organization of the National Hockey League.
Click here to view Steve Johnson's video profile
Byron Pool - byronp@fargoforce.com
Associate Head Coach
Byron Pool was Head Coach of the Bismarck Bobcats for the last 2 seasons after leading the Bobcats to the '08-'09 Central Division Title in his first campaign behind the bench. Byron won the '09-'10 National Junior A Tier 2 Championship in his 2nd and final year with the Bobcats.
Prior to joining the Bobcats, he was head coach and general manager of the Quad City Express in the Central States Hockey League. Byron attended Colgate University from 1996-2000 where he was a four-year letterman for the Red Raiders and graduated with a B.A. in History. Before college, he played his junior hockey in the Saskatchewan Junior Hockey League with stops in North Battleford, Minot, and Flin Flon where he was captain of the hockey team. Following his college career, Byron played three years with the Corpus Christi Rayz and one year with the Indianapolis Ice of the Central Hockey League. Byron, and his wife Kay, reside in the Fargo-Moorhead area.
Mark Pivetz - markp@fargoforce.com
Assistant Coach
This will not be the first time Mark has worked with the Johnson brothers. Mark’s first coaching job came as an assistant to Chad who was with the Helena Gold Rush of the American West League. He would later make the move to the Lincoln Stars where he would assist Steve for three seasons. Mark was a part of Lincoln’s Clark Cup Championship team in the 2002-03 season.
Mark played four years as a defenseman at the University of North Dakota totaling 50 career points over 145 games played. He was also a part of the 1996-97 National Championship team.
