Tony Granato

Tony Granato
As assistant coach of the Penguins, October 2011
Born (1964-07-25) July 25, 1964
Downers Grove, Illinois, United States
Height 5 ft 11 in (180 cm)
Weight 185 lb (84 kg; 13 st 3 lb)
Position Left Wing
Shot Right
Played for New York Rangers
Los Angeles Kings
San Jose Sharks
National team  United States
NHL Draft 120th overall, 1982
New York Rangers
Playing career 1988–2001

Anthony Lewis Granato (born July 25, 1964[1]) is an American former professional ice hockey left winger and current head coach of the Wisconsin Badgers men's ice hockey team. He also served as head coach of the United States men's national ice hockey team at the 2018 Winter Olympics. Previously, he also served as head coach of the National Hockey League (NHL)'s Colorado Avalanche, as well as with the Detroit Red Wings and Pittsburgh Penguins as an assistant coach.[2]

Playing career

New York Rangers

Following high school, Granato was drafted by the NHL's New York Rangers in the sixth round, 120th overall, in the 1982 NHL Entry Draft. After a college career at the University of Wisconsin–Madison, Granato made an immediate impact in his first NHL season with the Rangers in the 1988–89 season, leading the team in goals scored (36), which still stands as the team record for goals by a rookie. The following season, in what the Rangers officials (at the time) called "the biggest [deal] in club history", Granato (along with Rangers teammate Tomas Sandström) was traded to the Los Angeles Kings on January 20, 1990, in exchange for center Bernie Nicholls.[3]

Los Angeles Kings

Granato continued to be a prolific goal scorer with the Kings and was a key player in their run to the 1993 Stanley Cup Finals, contributing 17 points over the course of the playoffs.[4][5] During a February 9, 1994, game in Los Angeles, Granato, after receiving a hard hit from the Chicago Blackhawks' Neil Wilkinson, retaliated by hitting Wilkinson in the head with a two handed slash. Granato was subsequently suspended by the NHL for 15 games. As of 2012, this was the seventh-longest suspension in NHL history. On January 25, 1996, Granato suffered a serious head injury in a game against the Hartford Whalers that resulted in a bleeding on the left lobe of his brain.[6] He underwent surgery and although there was speculation he would not play again, he returned to the ice in the 1996–97 season after having been traded to the San Jose Sharks.[7]

San Jose Sharks

Granato returned to the ice in 1996 with San Jose. Due to concerns of further brain injury, Granato wore a specially padded helmet as a precautionary measure.[8] Upon his return to the NHL, he had a productive first season in San Jose registering 25 goals and 15 assists in 76 games. In 1997, Granato received the Bill Masterton Memorial Trophy. However, Granato's productivity steadily declined, with only 59 collective points in his remaining four seasons with the Sharks.[9] He retired as a player after the 2001 season.

Coaching career

Granato joined the Colorado Avalanche as an assistant coach prior to the 2002–03 season. After a sub-par start to the season, the Avalanche fired head coach Bob Hartley on December 18, 2002, and Granato was subsequently promoted to permanent head coach.[10] Despite the slow start under Hartley, the Avalanche went 32–11–4–4 under Granato and captured their ninth consecutive division title (including one title as the Quebec Nordiques). However, they lost in the first round of the 2003 playoffs to the Minnesota Wild in seven games after a 3–1 series lead. In his first full season behind the bench, Granato led Colorado to a 40–22–20 record, finishing second in their division. During the 2004 playoffs, the Avalanche defeated the Dallas Stars in five games in the quarter-finals, but lost to the San Jose Sharks in six games in the semi-finals.

After the disappointing playoff loss to the Sharks, Granato was replaced by Joel Quenneville. Granato was reassigned and agreed to stay on as an assistant,[11] holding that position for three seasons. On May 22, 2008, Granato was once again named head coach of the Avalanche after the departure of Quenneville for the 2008–09 season.[12][13] The Avalanche posted a record of 32–45–5, the worst since the team moved from Quebec in 1995, and Granato was fired on June 5, 2009.[14][15]

On August 5, 2009, Granato joined the coaching staff of the Pittsburgh Penguins, signing on as an assistant coach. Granato guided the Penguin's defense (2.49 goals against per game, tenth) and penalty killing (85.0 percent, fifth) to top-ten finishes in the NHL during the 2013–14 season.[2]

On June 25, 2014, it was announced the Penguins would not retain their coaching staff for the 2014–15 season.[16]

On July 15, 2014, it was announced Granato was hired as an assistant coach for the Detroit Red Wings.[17]

On March 30, 2016, it was announced Granato would be the next head coach at his alma mater, the University of Wisconsin–Madison.[18][19]

On August 4, 2017, it was announced Granato would be the head coach for the United States national team during the 2018 Winter Olympics.[20]His team placed seventh competing against twelve other teams. Finishing with a record of 2-2-1.[21]

Season Team Overall Conference Standing Postseason
Wisconsin Badgers (Big Ten Conference) (2016–present)
2016–17 Wisconsin 20–15–112–8–02nd
2017–18 Wisconsin 14–19–48–13–36th
Wisconsin: 34–34–520–21–3
Total:34–34–5

      National champion         Postseason invitational champion  
      Conference regular season champion         Conference regular season and conference tournament champion
      Division regular season champion       Division regular season and conference tournament champion
      Conference tournament champion

Personal life

Granato is the older brother of Hall of Fame hockey player Cammi Granato, and is the brother-in-law of former NHL player Ray Ferraro. Tony and his wife, Linda, are the parents of four children. Tony still has a lot of personal connections to his hometown, Downers Grove. Siblings Don, Rob, and Cammi were influenced by the Chicago Blackhawks and the 1980's Winter Olympics USA gold medal.[22]

Awards and achievements

Award Year
All-WCHA Second Team 1984–85 [23]
AHCA West Second-Team All-American 1984–85 [24]
All-WCHA Second Team 1986–87 [23]
AHCA West Second-Team All-American 1986–87 [24]

Career statistics

Regular season Playoffs
Season Team League GP G A Pts PIM GP G A Pts PIM
1983–84 Wisconsin WCHA 35 14 17 31 48 — — — — —
1984–85 Wisconsin WCHA 42 33 34 67 94 — — — — —
1985–86 Wisconsin WCHA 32 25 24 49 36 — — — — —
1986–87 Wisconsin WCHA 42 28 45 73 64 — — — — —
1987–88 Colorado Rangers IHL 21 13 14 27 36 8 9 4 13 16
1988–89 New York Rangers NHL 78 36 27 63 140 4 1 1 2 21
1989–90 New York Rangers NHL 37 7 18 25 77 — — — — —
1989–90 Los Angeles Kings NHL 19 5 6 11 45 10 5 4 9 12
1990–91 Los Angeles Kings NHL 68 30 34 64 154 12 1 4 5 28
1991–92 Los Angeles Kings NHL 80 39 29 68 187 6 1 5 6 10
1992–93 Los Angeles Kings NHL 81 37 45 82 171 24 6 11 17 50
1993–94 Los Angeles Kings NHL 50 7 14 21 150 — — — — —
1994–95 Los Angeles Kings NHL 33 13 11 24 68 — — — — —
1995–96 Los Angeles Kings NHL 49 17 18 35 46 — — — — —
1996–97 San Jose Sharks NHL 76 25 15 40 159 — — — — —
1997–98 San Jose Sharks NHL 59 16 9 25 70 1 0 0 0 0
1998–99 San Jose Sharks NHL 35 6 6 12 54 6 1 1 2 2
1999–00 San Jose Sharks NHL 48 6 7 13 39 12 0 1 1 14
2000–01 San Jose Sharks NHL 61 4 5 9 65 4 1 0 1 4
NHL totals 774 248 244 492 1425 79 16 27 43 141

Coaching record

TeamYearRegular seasonPost season
GWLTOTLPtsDivision rankResult
COL2002–03 51321144(105)1st in NorthwestLost in Conference Quarterfinals
COL2003–04 8240221371002nd in NorthwestLost in Conference Semifinals
COL2008–09 823245—5695th in NorthwestDid not qualify
Total215104781716———

See also

References

  1. ↑ Tony Granato on IMDb
  2. 1 2 Ryan Van Bibber (April 2, 2012). "Penguins Assistant Coach Tony Granato And Flyers Head Coach Peter Laviolette Fined By NHL". SB Nation. National Hockey League. Retrieved May 28, 2018.
  3. ↑ Steve Springer (January 21, 1990). "Nicholls Goes to Rangers : Kings: They get right wingers Sandstrom and Granato for third-leading scorer in NHL. McNall, Vachon say it will improve defense". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved May 28, 2018.
  4. ↑ "1992-93 Los Angeles Kings Roster and Statistics". Hockey Reference. Retrieved May 28, 2018.
  5. ↑ John Hoven (May 11, 2012). "1993: Looking back at the LA Kings vs Toronto Maple Leafs". Retrieved May 28, 2018.
  6. ↑ Lisa Dillman (January 31, 1996). "Head Injury Puts Kings' Granato Into the Hospital". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved May 28, 2018.
  7. ↑ Tony Lewis Granato Retrieved May 28, 2018.
  8. ↑ Tony Cooper (September 11, 1996). "New Shark Survived A Scare / Granato suffered severe head injury". SFGate. Retrieved May 28, 2018.
  9. ↑ Tony Granato NHL. Retrieved May 28, 2018.
  10. ↑ "Hartley fired by Avalanche". Deseret News. December 19, 2002. Retrieved May 28, 2018.
  11. ↑ "Granato will return to assistant job". ESPN.com. ESPN. Associated Press. July 8, 2004. Retrieved May 28, 2018.
  12. ↑ "Granato named head coach". avalanche.nhl.com. May 22, 2008. Archived from the original on January 17, 2009. Retrieved May 28, 2018.
  13. ↑ "Granato introduced as head coach of Avalanche". avalanche.nhl.com. May 22, 2008. Retrieved May 28, 2018.
  14. ↑ Terry Frei (June 3, 2009). "Granato gone as Avs clean house". Denver Post. Retrieved May 28, 2018.
  15. ↑ Adrian Dater (June 3, 2009). "Ex-Avs coach: "Nature of the Game"". Denver Post. Retrieved May 28, 2018.
  16. ↑ Bill Roose (July 15, 2014). "Granato brings passion to Wings' staff". Retrieved May 28, 2018.
  17. ↑ Kyle Kujawa (July 15, 2014). "Red Wings hire Tony Granato as assistant coach". Detroit Red Wings. Retrieved May 28, 2018.
  18. ↑ "NCAA Hockey: Wisconsin announces head coach Tony Granato and staff". NCAA.com. March 30, 2016. Retrieved May 28, 2018.
  19. ↑ "Badgers pick Wings assistant Granato as hockey coach". Detroit Free Press. March 30, 2016. Retrieved May 28, 2018.
  20. ↑ "Tony Granato to coach US men's hockey at Olympics". FOX Sports. August 4, 2017. Retrieved May 28, 2018.
  21. ↑ Mary Clarke (February 21, 2018). "USA men's hockey's failure to medal in Olympics is unsurprising, but frustrating". SB Nation. Retrieved May 28, 2018.
  22. ↑ Chris Kuc. "U.S. men's hockey coach Tony Granato: 'I still have a lot of Illinois in me'". Chicago Tribune. Retrieved May 28, 2018.
  23. 1 2 "WCHA All-Teams". College Hockey Historical Archives. Retrieved May 28, 2018.
  24. 1 2 "Men's Ice Hockey Award Winners" (PDF). NCAA.org. Retrieved May 28, 2018.
Awards and achievements
Preceded by
Jan Erixon		 Steven McDonald Extra Effort Award Winner
1988–89 NHL season		 Succeeded by
Kelly Kisio
John Vanbiesbrouck
Preceded by
Gary Roberts		 Bill Masterton Memorial Trophy Winner
1997		 Succeeded by
Jamie McLennan
Preceded by
Red Berenson		 Big Ten Coach of the Year
2016–17		 Succeeded by
Steve Rohlik
Sporting positions
Preceded by
Bob Hartley
Joel Quenneville		 Colorado Avalanche head coach
2002–04
2008–09		 Succeeded by
Joel Quenneville
Joe Sacco
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