ohn Harrington is a former hockey coach at Minnesota State University, Mankato and played on the 1980 U.S. Olympic 'Miracle on Ice' team.(Courtesy of MN Soybean)
Great moments are born from great opportunities, and attendees at the 2026 MN Ag Expo will have a unique opportunity to learn from a legendary Minnesota hockey icon about the grit it took to play a role in one of the biggest upsets in sports history.
John Harrington, former Minnesota State University, Mankato women’s hockey coach, will appear at the Mayo Clinic Health System Event Center as one of the MN Ag Expo keynote speakers Tuesday, Jan. 20, 2026. MN Ago Expo is the annual trade show and conference hosted by the Minnesota Soybean Growers Association (MSGA) and Minnesota Corn Growers Association (MCGA).
“We’re really excited to have a hockey icon such as John Harrington join us at MN Ag Expo because hockey, like farming, is such a big part of our culture in our state,” said MSGA Secretary Kyle Jore, who farms in the hockey hotbed of Thief River Falls. “In the summer we grow soybeans and in the winter we play hockey. It’s what we do.”
Harrington should feel right at home in Mankato, where he coached for nine seasons before retiring in 2024. He was previously head coach of the St. John’s University men’s hockey team for 15 seasons and was an assistant coach for the University of Denver. But Harrington’s name is forever etched in hockey lore for his part in the 1980 U.S. Hockey Olympic Team, aka the “Miracle on Ice.” In his role, Harrington notched the assist for the game-winning goal against the Soviet Union during the medal round. Harrington hopes to draw from the lessons he learned on that Olympic team and playing under the late Herb Brooks during his message to farmers at MN Ag Expo.
“We found out that we can be stronger as a group than we could be as individuals, and that’s not just sports – that’s businesses, that’s jobs, that’s everything in life is the ability to work together and be stronger as a whole than trying to do everything by yourself,” Harrington said. “What I learned as a player and as a coach later in life, it’s that you have to be able to count on other people around you and they have to know as well that if we do this together, we can be greater as a group.”
The addition of Harrington is fitting, given the expansion of the MN Ag Expo trade show to the civic center’s hockey arena. Not only will the expansion include more exhibitor booths, but it will also introduce large equipment and implements in the Grand Hall, where the trade show has traditionally been held.
Along with the trade show, MN Ag Expo, which runs Jan. 20-21, 2026, also offers attendees numerous networking opportunities, educational sessions, dynamic speakers, fundraising events and more.
Registration for the free 2026 MN Ag Expo is open now. To register, as well as to see the full agenda and lineup of speakers, visit www.mnagexpo.com.
Source: MN Soybean
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