U.S. hockey GM Johannson dies unexpectedly

Longtime USA Hockey executive and U.S. Olympic men's hockey general manager Jim Johannson died unexpectedly Sunday at age 53, shocking the sport less than three weeks before the start of the Pyeongchang Games.

Johannson died in his sleep at his home in Colorado Springs, according to USA Hockey. His death came in the midst of the most high-profile role in his career: putting together the U.S. men's Olympic hockey team without NHL players going to South Korea, a position he relished after doing so at several world junior and world championships.

"He had a couple of the greatest days of his life at USA Hockey recently to be able to call all these guys that never thought in their lives they'd play on a U.S. Olympic hockey team, and he got to tell them that they realized a dream," USA Hockey execute director Pat Kelleher said by phone. "I think that meant as much to Jimmy as it did to any of the players."

With the NHL out of the Olympics for the first time since 1994, Johannson was excited about putting together a 25-man roster that would include "25 great stories." He picked Tony Granato as coach and on Jan. 1 unveiled a diverse roster made up of players from European professional leagues, the American Hockey League and the NCAA.

Johannson was proud of the unheralded roster, one that will now try to capture a gold medal for him. It's unclear who would be in charge of choosing any potential injury replacements if needed. The U.S. opens on Feb. 14 against Slovenia.