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Tony Granato ’83, Hockey Hall of Famer
BY STEVE REED
From the moment he stepped on the Olympic Arena ice as a junior at Northwood in 1981, it was clear that Tony Granato ’83 was a special player and leader. Nearly 40 years later, his election to the U.S. Hockey Hall of Fame this past September capped a career in hockey both legendary and still thriving. Before I get to Tony’s accomplishments with Wisconsin, three NHL teams, and our Olympic program, it seems appropriate to recount some memories of his time at Northwood.
From the days of Jim Fullerton and Charlie Holt (Northwood coaches, who, along with goalie Mike Richter ’85, are also U.S. HoFers), Northwood had one of the strongest prep hockey programs nationally, allowing us to recruit many exceptional players. By the time Tony arrived, future NHLers such as Tom Mellor ’68, Tom Songin ’73, Chris Nilan ’76, and Jay Miller ’79 either had arrived in or were working their way toward the NHL, making it easier for our coaches to expand recruiting beyond New York and New England.
In 1981, we recruited Andy Otto ’82, a Chicago native and future Clarkson All-American, at the Capital District Tournament run by Northwood parent, Jim Salfi. Andy mentioned he had a buddy, a pretty good player, named Tony Granato. We did some research, but when he stepped on campus, we had no real sense of the impact he would have on our program. I remember my only observation of his first practice under Coach Glenn Thomaris ’73: How the hell does he play with a stick that short? I got smarter after he’d played about ten games — this was a dominant player, a ferocious competitor, and, most of all, a natural leader.
In the two thirty-game seasons that followed, Tony scored about 160 points, and even as we played very strong college JV squads (Clarkson would bring an entire varsity unit down to test us), Tony never let anyone on the team think that anything but a win was acceptable. In his second year, Tony brought in another friend, Frank Provenzano ’83. I remember Tony telling me in my office “Frankie can really shoot. I will be dishing off a lot to him this year; he is going to get a scholarship.” All those things were true and resulting in my winning a substantial bet. At one Clarkson game, I made a friendly waiger on the result, a dinner for four at one of Placid’s top restaurants, with the Clarkson head coach, Bill “Flapper” O’Flaherty. With NWS down 2-1 with a couple minutes to go, Kermit Salfi ’83 tied it up on a breakaway. Early in overtime, Tony made a pretty pass to Frankie, and I was on my way to getting even fatter. Tony by then was one of the country’s top recruits, prized enough so at least one state’s governor called him to
