BY ANDY BAGGOT
MADISON, Wis. — To fully appreciate the glorious view Emily Engel-Natzke has of her world right now, you must also stand with her during a moment of sorrow.
The two are defining. They are inseparable. They are enduring.
Engel-Natzke made headlines earlier this month when she burst through a glass ceiling to become what is believed to be the first female video coach in the professional hockey ranks.
After four years as the associate director of operations and video coordinator for the Wisconsin men's hockey program, she was hired by the Hershey Bears of the American Hockey League to do something she's dreamed about since she was a sports-loving kid growing up in Colorado.
Shortly after Tony Granato was hired to coach the Badgers in 2016, he and his brother Don, a former UW associate head coach, met with Engel-Natzke and asked about her professional intentions.
"I told them I wanted to be a video coach in the NHL," she said. "I think I kind of expected them to laugh a little bit, but they both just looked me and said, 'OK, absolutely. We'll help you get there.'"
Both Granatos can appreciate that goal and mindset. Tony played 13 seasons in the NHL and coached there for another 13. Don, meanwhile, left his brother and his alma mater after one season to become an NHL assistant coach with the Chicago Blackhawks. He has since moved on to a similar position with the Buffalo Sabres.
"That's awesome," was Tony's reply to Engel-Natzke's career path. "The workload we're going to throw at you will help you be ready for that."
Engel-Natzke is now one step closer to working in the premier hockey league in the world. The Bears, one of the oldest franchises in pro hockey with roots dating back to the 1930s, are the top minor-league affiliate of the Washington Capitals.
Getting to the top of the mountain is a matter of Engel-Natzke doing exactly what she's done throughout a career that began with a degree in cinematography and film/video production from Colorado in 2013.
"Just hard work," she said. "Learn from the best."
Engel-Natzke, 29, will show up ready to assist Hershey coach Spencer Carbery and his staff having been tested this year in ways that might be hard to imagine.
Not long after the Badgers had their 2019-20 season end in March, Engel-Natzke learned her parents, Tom and Maggie of Madison, had contracted COVID-19.
"They were both very sick at the same time," Emily said.
Emily Engel-Natzke (center) and her parents, Maggie and Tom
Maggie had migraine headaches, nausea and a high fever for days. Tom, meanwhile, battled severe fatigue and shortness of breath.
According to her mother, Emily has always been an "old soul" whose maturity belied her age.
"She took over and did an amazing job," Maggie said of her youngest child. "I don't know what we all would have done without her."
Engel-Natzke recorded every conversation with physicians and forwarded that to family members, including her older brother, Mike, in Switzerland, and close friends so everyone knew what was going on.
In one sense, Engel-Natzke was prepared for the moment. She had spent four years working at the Boulder (Colo.) Community Hospital, checking patients into the emergency room and coordinating bed placement when patients were admitted.
"She's very strong and she just knew — she and my son — just knew they had to go on and be the strong ones and kind of navigate the medical field in a way that they never have before," Maggie said. "It was truly amazing to hear the questions that she asked.
"We leaned on each other. When faced with something like this you don't have a choice. You either sink or swim and she chose to swim. She did it very eloquently and very well."
Maggie was heartened by the way Granato and his staff — associate head coaches Mark Osiecki and Mark Strobel, director of operations Shane Connelly, athletic trainer Andy Hrodey, equipment manager Nate LaPoint and strength and conditioning coach Jim Snider — had her daughter's back. There were multiple check-ins daily. Granato also brought meals to Emily and her wife, Spencer.
"They've been amazing with her," Maggie said. "They took her under their wings, both professionally and personally."
One night, Tom was having trouble breathing, so he called 911 and texted his sleeping wife that he was headed for the emergency room at the VA Hospital in Madison. Their next phone conversation was their last. Tom died April 10 at the age of 64.
Emily was especially close to her father, an avid sports fan who watched his daughter compete in soccer, basketball, roller hockey, karate and football — she placed third in the regional Punt, Pass and Kick competition — growing up.
"Most kids get up and turn on cartoons (on TV)," Maggie said. "Emily would turn on ESPN.
"She knows about every sport. My husband was a sports nut as well, but she could keep up with what he knew at a very young age."
Hockey became Emily's favorite. She was a huge fan of the Colorado Avalanche during their run to the Stanley Cup in 2001. Coincidentally, Tony Granato began his NHL coaching career with the Avs in 2002 and was employed there through 2009.
"I see a lot of her dad in her," Granato said. "You could tell he was very proud of her and very excited about who she's become."
Engel-Natzke navigated the family crisis while continuing to show up at the Kohl Center coaches' room to work. There were good reasons for that.
"One, she wants to make her dad proud," Granato said. "He's an inspiration and always will be to her. I also think the work part is her way of not sitting around and missing her dad all day.
"There's days where she comes in and she's down. We have a quick, little talk about it. 'You want to go home? No, I want to stay and get to work.'
"I really have a place in my heart for how she's handled the whole thing. I know every day she comes in, what it must feel like to miss her dad. But she's definitely making him proud."
Engel-Natzke, who played club hockey at Colorado and has officiated youth and high school games in the Madison area, began building her resume in 2013 when she served as video coordinator for the U.S. National Women's University Team as it competed in the world championships. A series of coveted assignments with USA Hockey followed.
Her time at Wisconsin began in 2013-14 when she spent one season as video coordinator for the women's basketball team. The following year she worked with both the men's and women's hockey teams. She began to concentrate on the men's side after Granato took over.
Engel-Natzke's in-game routine starts with making sure TV feeds are coordinated properly. She sits away from the rink with her laptop computer, identifying plays for clips that the coaches will pore over during intermission. She knows that Osiecki will want a breakdown of scoring chances for and against, Strobel will want anything related to the power play and Granato will want a variety of scenes. She's also the contact person for the coaches in the event they want to lodge a challenge to an official's decision regarding goals or off-sides.
After the game, Engel-Natzke assembles clips to be sent to each player's iPad, as well as more segments for the coaches.
"I think of myself as an extension of the coaching staff," she said.
Engel-Natzke describes herself as a "computer tech nerd" who loves the family aspect of being part of a team.
"I love being in the rink," she said. "I love being around the game, being with a team as a small family. For me, it's the perfect fit."
A sign of her growth, Granato said, is her intuition and her knowledge of the game.
"She's very confident in herself and has a great understanding of what needs to be done," he said. "When she sees something, she recognizes it and points it out. She's brought stuff to me without me asking."
Granato also lauded Engel-Natzke for her willingness to expand her administrative horizons by reaching out to alums and arranging presentations for recruits.
"In the past year I've seen her blossom and settle into it," Granato said.
"I couldn't have done it without those guys," Engel-Natzke said of Granato and his staff. "They knew what it takes. They've all been there. They knew the workload. They knew the types of things I'd have to do. They gave me those things to do and more.
"They pushed me in the best way possible. They gave me a lot of work; things I wasn't used to doing. It was really hard for me, but they pushed me. I needed that push at times to keep me on track."
Engel-Natzke said she's most excited about the prospects of a fresh start.
"It's obviously bittersweet leaving Wisconsin because I love Madison, I love the school, I love the team and the coaching staff, and I love the boys," she said. "But it's a new opportunity with more room to grow."
Granato has ushered players and assistant coaches to the NHL since taking over the program at his alma mater, but the idea of helping a woman get there is not new to him. His younger sister, Cammi, is a scout for the new NHL franchise in Seattle, this after a Hall of Fame international career. He's also seen some of his sister's contemporaries and followers — Kendall Coyne-Schofield, Haylee Wickenheiser, Florence Schelling and Meghan Hunter among them — carve out paths to the men's pro level.
Hunter, the newest director of administration for the Chicago Blackhawks, is a former record-setting winger for the UW women's program.
Engel-Natzke's hiring was announced the same week Kim Ng was named the general manager of the Florida Marlins, a first for Major League Baseball.
More than one media outlet put "Engel-Natzke" and "pioneer" in the same sentence, prompting a smile.
"It's kind of a big responsibility," she said. "Not that I wasn't prepared for it. I guess maybe I wasn't expecting it.
"I just hope I'm the first of many and not one every season. I hope there's more and more to the point where it's not a story anymore.
"I think it's kind of incredible to be compared to those women. It's really an honor to be put in that same conversation."
Maggie Engel is looking forward to seeing her daughter clear-cut a new trail.
"I think it's something she can wear well," she said of Emily. "She's not letting it go to her head by any means. She knows she's got a job to do and prove herself. But I think she feels good that women are finally getting into sports in places where they should have been for a long time if they were qualified."
Engel-Natzke will begin writing the next chapter of her life with a hole in her heart. She said she felt her father's influence throughout the hiring process, keeping her calm and focused.
"Making sure the best thing happened," she said.
"It was amazing because this has been her dream since she was a kid, really," Maggie said of her daughter. "To see her work hard, put the time in and get rewarded with a job like this, we should all be so lucky to be in a job that we love and is our passion."
Emily said her dad would have celebrated by going online and buying a Hershey Bears T-shirt and cap.
"He would have been so happy and proud," she said.
There's a lesson in all this, Maggie said.
"Life is short," she said. "Don't waste time on the little things. If you pursue your dreams they can come true.
"It's hard. It's bittersweet. But my husband would be over the moon. We all kind of think he had something to do with it."
