Wisconsin Hockey Reportedly Hires Tony Granato
Wisconsin hockey has reportedly filled their coaching vacancy hiring Tony Granato.
Tony played over 800 games in the NHL after a 3 three career at Wisconsin before becoming a coach. He spent three seasons behind the bench in Colorado and has been an assistant with the Penguins and most recently the Red Wings.
It's rumored his brother Don and Mark Osiecki will be part of the staff as well. Don is the current coach of the USNTDP team in nearby Plymouth and Osiecki is a former Eaves assistant and OSU coach.
If all rumors are true these are three great hires. An A+ execution of the coaching search as the three are well known around circles as brilliant hockey minds.
http://www.uscho.com/2016/03/27/sources-wisconsin-preparing-to-name-ton…
March 27th, 2016 at 12:23 PM ^
soon he'll be joining him
March 27th, 2016 at 12:28 PM ^
March 27th, 2016 at 12:41 PM ^
Their roster sucks too many small guys and not enough guys who are willing to go out and hit someone. They all look like their out for an afternoon men's league game with all the cute plays. Blash's system sucks and its on him when the team looks un motivated.
It's not non-sense the team gets our worked out husstled all the time. They don't win puck battles for 50/50 pucks they don't forecheck hard at all. Teams break the puck out with ease against Detroit. You win in this league with size and speed, team speed and Detroit plays painfully slow as a team. Nyquist, Tatar are highly overrated, none of them win battles they don't convert their chances at a high rate and their awful in their own zone. They aren't hard to play against.
Detroit hockey cliche: they aren't tough enough...The only time that may have been valid was when trap defenses were all the rage and the first team to score two goals usually won...and we still got to the Stanley cup Finals...The problem pure and simple with this team is poor play on the blue line and the lack of a dominant scorer. Larkin or Mantha (been very impressive) may grow into that, but we have no answers for the D yet.
Lidstrom was able to mask our blue line problems for a long time. Our D had been going down ever since Rafalski retired. The blame should go to Ken Holland because he was unable to sign Suter and had no back up plan. None of the guys in Grand Rapids have really developed and that goes back to Holland's poor drafting of d-men. Also, instead of playing the kids he signed guys like Colaiacovo and Commodore.
Sent from MGoBlog HD for iPhone & iPad
That happens when you hit 37. Players age much quicker now than the days of the "clutch & grab era". I actually think Pavel has done a decent job for his age. Zetterberg on the other hand, has never been the same since that back surgery. He looks real slow out there.
March 27th, 2016 at 10:27 PM ^
a 90 point producing player on this team. They had more telent those years and they were tougher. I don't expect Dats to go grind and muck pucks out of the corner right now but I do expect other players to do that. The team doesn't have the same amount of telent at all I totally agree with you. But those teams had solid players thoughout the wings have some solid pieces that may be playing minutes they shouldnt be but guys like Richards should have never been acquired, Big E should be playing in the AHL and Mike Green for all the great plays he sets up gives up just as many. My point is they lack elite talent so usually you'd think you would have to out work people and they don't they looked like an AHL team skating against Pittsburg. They got out worked when they are fighting for a playoff spot. Glenny is the only solid role player they have night in and night out. The scorers on this team don't score and they haven't improved at all. I never once said they had more talent. I said they USED to haveELITE talent and OUT WORKED people. Right now they lack talent and they don't out work anyone.
Rafalski was great due to Lidstrom. I wouldn't say they are light years better than Kronner he's pretty good but comparing him to perhaps the greatest D man of all time isn't fair. Holland the last 6 years has done an awful job of making this team. Blash doesn't get them ready to play and that combo is why they are missing the playoffs this year. I think it's time for Holland and Blash to go. The personal is bad. The fact that Datsyuk and Z are 1st line still and no young player is threatening for their job is a major problem.
Hitting is overrated in the new NHL. You need speed and guys that can score. We have speed with our young guys like Larkin and Athanasiou, but we lack scoring ever since Holland let Hossa walk and Franzen got injured. If you look at the goal scoring, a rookie leads the team with only 21 goals. Nyquist had back to back 28/27 goal seasons and now he only has 16. Also, it's obvious that Pavel and Z are on the downside of their career. At some point we just have to accept that all good things come to an end. It was a hell of a run, but I'm actually looking forward to rebuilding and watching a younger team with guys like Larkin, Mantha and Mrazek leading the way.
March 27th, 2016 at 12:29 PM ^
March 27th, 2016 at 12:31 PM ^
I was fortunate to meet and skate with Cammi and Tony Granato a few times as a kid and had a great impression of them. That's not going on much, but they did command a lot of respect with people I had more opportunity to be around.
One of the people I was lucky enough to be around a bit more was Chris Chelios, who would make a great addition moving behind the bench next season IMO.
/csb
March 28th, 2016 at 11:49 AM ^
The most gutless player I've come across in decades of playing/following hockey.
Thankfully not one shared by the Wings (or Hawks, USA Hockey, the Hall of Fame...).
March 27th, 2016 at 12:37 PM ^
Every Wisconsin alum I talked to couldn't understand why Mike Eaves for the most part ignored Illinois talent.
The Granato brothers are both from Chicago, so I'm sure that's going to end.
"Every Wisconsin ALUM"
MgoBloggers always have to drop the "Alum" card. I guess MgoBlogg posers just don't talk to "fans"
LOL
Keep me OUT of your fantasies!
March 28th, 2016 at 12:44 PM ^
March 27th, 2016 at 12:39 PM ^
Dynamite hire. Good for the B1G!
March 27th, 2016 at 12:48 PM ^
March 27th, 2016 at 12:56 PM ^
I think they've found themselves in a position similar to their last coaching search. They finished 10-23-4; goaltender is gone, half the blueline is gone, two of their top goal scorers from a team that couldn't score are gone.
Who would want this job?
March 27th, 2016 at 12:57 PM ^
I'm surprised they didn't fire him as soon as the season ended. They can't seriously be considering bringing him back yet again....right? It's year 4 and they've shown absolutely no sign of improving over there
Anastos: “Yeah, but we have some older kids coming in. We’re not getting to the point where we’re starting to be able to be more patient (in when we bring in a recruit). … To answer your question about North Dakota, I thought it would take a good eight or nine years to be able to get ourselves in a position where you’re competing for those most elite prospects, and you can build the depth in your roster. Because here’s the challenge — building the depth in your talent pool to overcome early departures. And that’s something you try to plan for, but you can’t. ... That’s a lot to overcome with where we are today. That takes time.
and all it is is hopeless ramblings to try to make an excuse for why he's doing a poor job. Doesn't even make sense. You need two full roster turnovers to make an impact? ok guy
He was the lone Dan Bylsma assistant I liked. He was always good with the forwards and I think he coached the Power Play in Pittsburgh.
0-15 record at home for the season that year lol
We were lucky to draft Datsyuk and Zetterberg in the late rounds, but you can't count on that. Look what happened to former powerhouse teams like the Avalanche and Devils. The new top teams all have something in common, top 5 draft picks on their team. Chicago with Toews and Kane, Pens with Crosby and Malkin, Lightning wth Stamkos and Hedman, Kings with Doughty, Capitals with Ovechkin. Rangers and Blues are the only Cup contenders that don't have that.
Seems like a small coup to get Osiecki to be an assistant for him. Looks like Wisconsin should be back soon enough - good news for the Big Ten and for us
Oz and Don Granato were each in the running for the head coaching job. To land Tony as head coach with those two as assistants was a coup for Alvarez/Richter. Alvarez had to pull of something like this to prove that he was invested in men's hockey after watching it decline for the last few years under Eaves. He depended on his Development Program connections to recruit well enough early, won a national title and played in another title game a few years ago, but he lost some key assistants, couldn't bring in the same level talent and the program went into a spiral.
An interesting sidenote to this is Mark Johnson. He starred for UW and the Miracle on Ice team in 1980, his dad Bob Johnson was a legendary Badger coach, and Mark is now the coach of UW's very succesful women's team, which plays before great crowds in its own arena on campus.He is very popular.Mark was interested in the men's job when they hired Eaves and spoke to Alvarez during this search as well. It probably took a home run hire like the one they pulled off to avoid some second guessing within the fanbase, Anything less and the new coach is thought of as only the second best option within his own athletic department.
This hire was beyond the most optimistic expectations. Hopefully the program will be back on its feet quickly.
A great get for us would be Norm Bazin from UMass Lowell. He is an excellent coach who has done very well in a short period in the east, which is very competitive. He is an alum of UMass Lowell so it will not be easy to get him, but UM can throw resources his way that he can only deam about. He is rather young as well, which is a plus.
For what it's worth, Avs fans generally do not think highly of Granato. He had a good, but not great record with the Avs, but he definitely underachieved. Especially in 2003-04, where they had a ton of talent (that was the year Selanne and Kariya went to the Avs), but finished 2nd in their division and bombed out of the playoffs in the second round.
Who knows how he'll translate to college hockey, but it seems like a pretty good hire to me.
great hire for them. Red Wings assistant coaching staff will probably look pretty different next year.
March 27th, 2016 at 10:33 PM ^
Sent from MGoBlog HD for iPhone & iPad