Tony Granato, Wisconsin’s fifth head coach since 1966, spent six season at the helm of the Badgers from 2016 through 2022.
The U.S. Hockey Hall of Famer earned a pair of Big Ten Coach of the Year honors and added the 2021 Big Ten title to his resume. He also coached numerous Badgers to the NHL, including 2021 NHL All-Rookie Team defenseman K'Andre Miller, as well as 2021 Hobey Baker Memorial Award winner Cole Caufield, who helped the Montreal Canadiens reach the Stanley Cup Final in his first season as a pro.
Granato led the Badgers to a 20-15-1 record in his first season at the helm after the program won just 12 of 70 games the previous two seasons. Named the 2017 Big Ten Coach of the Year and a finalist for national coach of the year, he saw his team reach the Big Ten Tournament championship game and finish second overall in the conference. Six Wisconsin players received All-Big Ten honors, including Big Ten Freshman of the Year Trent Frederic, while sophomore captain Luke Kunin became a second-team All-American during his season under Granato’s tutelage.
Granato accepted a new challenge for the 2017–18 season and served as head coach of the U.S. Olympic Team that finished seventh in the 2018 Olympic Winter Games in PyeongChang, South Korea, falling a shootout short of reaching the medal round.
Having come to Madison directly from an assistant coach position for the Detroit Red Wings, Granato spent 13 NHL seasons as either a head coach or assistant coach, a year after retiring from a 13-year NHL playing career.
The Wisconsin alum was 72-33-17 during his first head coaching stint with the Colorado Avalanche, which included the Northwest Division title in 2002-03 and a runner-up finish in 2003. He owns a 102-78-17 coaching record with the Avalanche when including his 2008-09 season at the helm of Colorado.
The Downers Grove, Illinois, native spent three-plus seasons as an assistant coach with the Avalanche, before five seasons with the Pittsburgh Penguins (2009-14). During his time in Pittsburgh, the Penguins collected at least 101 points in each of his seasons and won a league-best 36 games during the 48-game campaign in 2012-13. The run included three division titles.
Teams Granato served as head or assistant coach posted winning records in 12 of his 13 seasons in the NHL.
Granato also served as an assistant coach for the 2014 U.S. Olympic Team, where he coached former Badgers Ryan McDonagh, Joe Pavelski, Derek Stepan and Ryan Suter, among other of the world’s star skaters. The team finished fourth.
A four-time 30-goal scorer in the NHL, Granato was originally picked in the sixth round, 120th overall by the New York Rangers in the 1982 draft. In his first season in the NHL, during the 1988–89 campaign, Granato put up 36 goals, which still stand as New York’s record for rookie goal scoring. His 63-point effort that season got him a spot on the 1988–89 NHL All-Rookie Team.
Granato skated for the New York Rangers, Los Angeles Kings and San Jose Sharks during his 13-year playing career. He helped the Kings reach the 1993 Stanley Cup Final, playing alongside Wayne Gretzky. He tallied six goals and 17 points in 24 playoff games during the run to the Cup Final. That same year, he recorded a career-high with 82 points (37 goals, 45 assists), one season after posting a career-high 39 goals.
After a serious on-ice injury early in 1996, Granato returned to the ice the following season after a trade to San Jose and played in the 1997 NHL All-Star Game. He went on to win the Bill Masterton Memorial Trophy following that season in 1997 for his dedication to hockey.
A member of Team USA at the 1988 Olympic Winter Games, Granato tied for second on the team with eight points, including seven assists for the seventh-place Americans. The seven assists are tied for third all-time for Team USA at one single Olympics. His three assists in a game on Feb. 13, 1988 against Austria are tied for second on the all-time list, one off the team single-game record.
The 1988 Olympics marked Granato’s sixth appearance at a major international event for Team USA. He played for the Americans at the 1983 and 1984 International Ice Hockey Federation World Junior Championships, and skated at the 1985, ’86 and ’87 IIHF World Championships. He skated in a seventh major international event for Team USA at the 1991 Canada Cup.
A two-time All-American for the Badgers, Granato was a finalist for the 1987 Hobey Baker Memorial Award after his 73-point senior season. In addition to serving as the Badgers’ captain during the 1986-87 campaign, Granato was named the WCHA Student-Athlete of the Year and the team’s Spike Carlson MVP award winner. A member of the UW Athletics Hall of Fame, he finished his Badger career as the school’s fourth-leading scorer with 220 points, ranking third with 100 career goals.
Granato and his family have strong ties to Wisconsin as his brother and former UW associate head coach, Don, skated for the Badgers (1987–91). A second brother, Rob, also skated for UW (1992–94), as did cousin Kevin (1997–2001). Granato’s sister, Cammi, is in the Hockey Hall of Fame as one of the greatest women’s hockey players in history. She was recruited to play soccer at Wisconsin before Badger women’s hockey began, but instead went on to star with the Providence women’s hockey program in the early 1990s. She dropped the ceremonial first puck before the inaugural game of Wisconsin women’s hockey in 1999 at the Kohl Center.
Tony and his wife, Linda, are the parents of four grown children, including Michael, Nicholas, Dominic and Gabriella.
Granato completed his degree during his first year as UW head coach, graduating in 2017 with a bachelor’s degree in human development and family studies.
