John Harrington is best known locally as being the former coach for MSU women's hockey but has had an extensive hockey career beyond that.  

As a player, Harrington was a standout prep athlete at Virginia (Minn.) High School and starred with UMD from 1975-79. He gained fame as a member of the 1980 U.S. Olympic hockey team that captured the gold medal at the Winter Games in Lake Placid, New York. 

After some time on the U.S. National team and coaching at the University of Denver, he returned to Minnesota as the head coach of Saint John's. Harrington guided the Saint John's University (MN) Johnnies to a 241-142-31 (.620) record over 15 seasons, including five MIAC regular season titles, 13 MIAC playoff appearances and five NCAA tournament appearances.  Harrington's 15 years at SJU is the longest tenure of any hockey coach in school history. 

After a brief coaching hiatus, he returned to college coaching when he was named Head Women's Hockey Coach at Minnesota State University on May 18th, 2015.