Notebook: Johnson waiting to learn his role

The Norfolk team bus had barely hit the highway on Monday when Jim Johnson's phone rang. Four hours later, the Admirals' head coach jumped off the bus and boarded a plane to head for Tampa as the bus continued on to upstate New York.

The call Johnson received came from Lightning general manager Brian Lawton, who promoted Johnson to assistant coach with Tampa Bay to replace Wes Walz, who was let go after declining an offer to assume Johnson's head coaching duties with Norfolk, Tampa Bay's American Hockey League affiliate.

The team bus dropped Johnson off at the Philadelphia airport.

"On the bus I got the call, and they asked me if I could get on a flight and get in here and that's what I did," said Johnson, a veteran of 829 NHL games with five teams from 1985-98. "I got dropped off in Philly and flew in here."

What Johnson's role will be is still yet to be determined.

Lightning coach Rick Tocchet was not happy about the change to his staff without being consulted, and after two days of practice, Johnson has yet to join the team on the ice. Instead he has been watching video of recent games.

"I've got to think of different ways (to integrate Johnson) right now, because since I've been here, I've had new coaches fairly frequently," Tocchet said. "It takes chemistry and we formed a really good chemistry here, so I have to find a way to best implement him to make the staff move on and the team. I'll come to that and figure some ways out, but my energy right now is on those 23 guys in the room and those guys deserve my full attention."

In the meantime, Johnson - who led Norfolk to a 13-2-2 record after taking over as head coach on Jan. 16 - said he will do whatever is asked of him.

"That's what I'm here for, is to help these guys and if there is anything they are looking for, I'll look at film, I'll give them opinions," Johnson said. "Ultimately it's his decision, and I'm here working for Rick Tocchet and that's what I'm going to listen to, what Rick wants me to do."

The Lightning have four more practices - including two today, one in the morning and another in the afternoon, before play resumes on Tuesday at home against Philadelphia, and it's unclear when or if Johnson will skate with the team.

"We sat down (Thursday) for about a half-hour, went over some system stuff and he asked me to take a look at some film," Johnson said of a meeting with Tocchet. "I'm going to watch more film and get back to him with stuff that I see. And if that helps Rick, that's great, that's what I want to do."

JANUS JACKED: G Jaroslav Janus might miss out on the biggest hockey game in his country's history tonight. The Slovakian netminder is scheduled to be on a plane around the 9:30 p.m. opening faceoff between Canada and Slovakia in the semifinals of the Olympics.

Whether he is able to find a WiFi spot, look on his phone for updates or a television in the airport terminal, he will desperately be seeking the result.

"That is going to be very big for Slovakia and everyone is pretty excited for it, to be one of the top four countries in the world right now," Janus said. "It will be about 3 a.m. (in Slovakia), but I'm pretty sure people will wake up and watch that game and then talk about it at work."

The 20-year-old, voted the top goaltender at the 2009 World Junior Championships, was recalled from Norfolk to serve as the backup in the absence of Antero Niittymaki, who is in Vancouver with Finland for this afternoon's semifinal against the United States.

And despite facing a monumental task of trying to take down the heavily-favored host country, Janus likes Slovakia's chances.

"I hope we can beat Canada, we have a really good team, we play well defensively and we can score goals," Janus said. "I'm pretty excited for this game and I'm pretty sure we can beat Canada, we have confidence."