With four Breeders' Cup starters, the NHL's Johnson is hoping one will light the lamp

ARCADIA, Calif. – ARCADIA, Calif. – He’s known for his defense on the ice, but when it comes to horse racing, the Colorado Avalanche’s Erik Johnson dishes out plenty of assists.

He has TVG on in the players’ lounge before games. He’s named one horse after a teammate – Gabriel Landeskog, the Avalanche captain – and promises more. He’s an ambassador for the Breeders’ Cup, using social media to promote the sport. And of the 20 horses he has in training in various partnerships, four have made it into Breeders’ Cup races this weekend, enabling him to outfit his teammates in hats with the names of those horses.

Owing to having a full-time job this time of year, though, Johnson won’t be able to be here at Santa Anita to watch his horses in person. But the schedule worked out so he can at least watch the races in which he has action on both Friday and Saturday before he has to head to the rink to prepare for games those nights, at home Friday against Dallas, then in Arizona on Saturday.

“I’m bummed I can’t go, but at least my races are early enough in the day that I can watch at home on Friday and the hotel on Saturday,” Johnson said.

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Johnson, whose stable name is ERJ Racing LLC, has War Beast in the Juvenile Turf and both Comical and Lazy Daisy in the Juvenile Fillies on Friday, and Bowies Hero in the Mile on Saturday. A fifth potential Breeders’ Cup runner, Landeskog, was entered in the Sprint for Saturday but was withdrawn on Tuesday.

Even with that setback – “It happens,” Johnson said Tuesday – Johnson said he couldn’t have imagined having this kind of success this year.

“I don’t see how I could top this year,” he said. “It’s crazy. It’s pretty amazing. At the beginning of the year, I was just hoping to win a couple of stakes. I know how difficult it is, having been in the business. It’s a testament to the horses, and all the people involved.”

Three of his Breeders’ Cup runners are with trainer Doug O’Neill. Bowies Hero is trained by Phil D’Amato. O’Neill’s brother Dennis as well as David Meah and Doug and Katie Cauthen are among those who have helped him acquire his runners.

“It’s a lot of luck, and working with people you trust,” Johnson said.

Johnson, 31, is a native of Minnesota, but has relatives in Southern California and first attended the races as a teenager at Del Mar. But it wasn’t until years later that the racing bug really hit him. With the disposable income from a lucrative contract, Johnson made his first foray into ownership as part of a couple Team Valor partnerships.

His interest ramped up after meeting the O’Neill brothers and their primary client Paul Reddam, who happens to be a huge hockey fan; the Detroit Red Wings are his team. Reddam brought Johnson along to the 2016 Kentucky Derby the year Reddam-owned Nyquist – named for NHL forward Gustav Nyquist, then with the Wings – won.

Johnson’s interest in racing is at its peak during the summer, when he spends much of his off-season at Del Mar. Once hockey season starts, “I can’t follow it as much, but I try to keep up by reading the Form and other publications,” he said. “It’s a passion.”

Those on the Avalanche have taken notice. When Johnson – who won a silver medal with the United States hockey team in the 2010 Winter Olympics – reported for training camp in September for his 13th NHL season, his coach, Jared Bednar, pulled him aside and said, “I heard you were owner of the week one week at Del Mar.”

Landeskog asks for updates on his namesake. “He gives me a hard time that we gelded him,” Johnson said.

Another teammate, the outstanding forward Mikko Rantanen, is one of several players “asking me to name a horse after them,” Johnson said.

“They like it,” he said. “They give me a hard time sometimes. But I tell them, ‘All you do is play Fortnite.’ ”

Johnson’s biggest racing wins this year came at Saratoga, when Comical won the opening-day Schuylerville – a race he attended – and at Keeneland, when Bowies Hero won the Shadwell Mile. Those who follow his Twitter account (@6ErikJohnson) have been getting updates on his horses as the Breeders’ Cup nears. Earlier this year, Johnson sold 15 percent of Lazy Daisy to MyRacehorse, which offers microshares in racehorses, and said he had “15 to 20 Avalanche fans tweet me that they bought into Lazy Daisy.”

“It’s good exposure for the game,” Johnson said. “I’m trying to expose as many people as possible.”

He doesn’t score that often on the ice, but in this endeavor, Johnson is definitely achieving goals.