Joel Johnson, the former U.S. Olympics head coach from White Bear Lake, has resigned abruptly as St. Thomas’ women’s hockey coach in the wake of undisclosed incident following a 4-1 loss Friday at Bemidji State.

Johnson did not coach the Saturday game and resigned on Tuesday.

“While I cannot comment on the specifics of the incident itself, I can confirm we immediately started an investigation after concerns were brought to our attention following Friday night’s game,” St. Thomas vice president and director of athletics Phil Esten said in a statement.

“We hold all our coaches to the highest standards consistent with university values and convictions,” Esten added, “and prioritize the experience and well-being of our student-athletes.”

Johnson, who led Team USA to a silver medal in the 2022 Games, was just beginning his fourth season with the Tommies and resigned on the heels of a three-game losing streak.

Assistant coach Bethany Brausen has been named the team’s interim head coach.  Johnson did not immediately return a request for comment.

The Tommies are 5-8-1 overall and 2-7-1 in the Western Collegiate Hockey Association. They’re scheduled to play No. 1 Wisconsin this weekend in Madison.

Johnson was a Gophers associate head coach on track to become the U.S. OIympics coach when he was hired by St. Thomas to guide the Tommies as they made the leap from NCAA Division III hockey to top-level Division 1 in June 2021.

Brausen was the team’s acting head coach while Johnson coached the U.S. team at training camp in Blaine and in Beijing that first year, in 2021. The Tommies went 5-27-1 that first season; since then, they’re 23-63-3.

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