One of the most decorated players in the National Hockey League considering the last thirty to forty years has been Tony Granato. The left winger played in the NHL from 1988 to 2001. During his prominent career, he played with teams including the New York Rangers, Los Angeles Kings, and San Jose Sharks.
He also found incredible success in the coaching department and coached both NCAA and NFL teams. Granato commenced his coaching career and served as an assistant coach of the Colorado Avalanche. He served as the head coach of the Avalanche from 2002-2004.
From 2005 to 2008 he once again took the position of assistant coach of Colorado. He was once again the head coach of the same team from 2008-2009. From 2009 to 2014 he was the assistant head coach of the Pittsburgh Pirates.
In 2014 he was also the assistant head coach of Team USA and then became the assistant head coach of Detroit Red Wings from 2014 to 2016. Granato was also the head coach of the Wisconsin Badgers Men Hockey team; his alma mater.
The @NHL_On_TNT has famed figure Tony Granato joining them in studio on a special Hockey Day In America broadcast today. Here's his intro earlier, complete with discussion of his family and his return to broadcasting after a non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma diagnosis. pic.twitter.com/Cfw8E7w0ta
— Awful Announcing (@awfulannouncing) February 25, 2024
Here's Tony Granato talking about his chemotherapy treatments and how his family grew up with hockey, and how they got particularly into USA Hockey around "The Miracle On Ice." pic.twitter.com/gLyZyH5M8I
— Awful Announcing (@awfulannouncing) February 25, 2024
For the next two seasons, he also led Team USA as their head coach. He was also twice awarded the Big Ten Coach of the Year. Granato recently joined NHL’s TNT Face Off studio on special Hockey Day and shared his journey after he was diagnosed with non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma diagnosis.
Granato also delved into a discussion about his family as well. His older sister is Hall of Famer and one of the most prominent women"s hockey players, Cammi Granato who was awarded the Lester Patrick Award in 2007. She was also inducted into the IIHF Hall of Fame in 2008 and also into the Rhode Island Hockey Hall of Fame in 2018.
His brother Don Granato is a former NHL player and is the head coach of the Buffalo Sabres. He further shared how he and his siblings were inspired by the Chicago Blackhawks and the 1980 Winter Olympics USA gold medal.
He shared, "I feel good. I hate to downplay chemo, because chemo is chemo, and it knocks you down pretty darn good. I’ve been fortunate with the side effects, with the obvious [pointing to his lack of hair], there are others. But for the most part, once you get through the chemo, you just kind of build yourself back up between the chemo weeks, and today, I feel great."
Granato is steadily recovering and is moving ahead despite facing such difficulties. He also returned to NBC Sports Chicago Blackhawks broadcast last month.
