BY ANDY BAGGOT
UWBadgers.com Insider
MADISON, Wis. -- During regular weekly business hours, the large glass door to the Wisconsin men's hockey office at the Kohl Center is always open.
Literally.
It's a subtle message from new coach Tony Granato to the hundreds of former Badgers players out in the world that they're welcome to stop by if they're in the neighborhood.
That's one of the out-of-the-way places you'll find Granato's fingerprints since he assumed the reins of the program on March 30.
Some others: The introduction of semi-regular luncheons for fans; a concentrated effort to contact all alums dating back to the pre-modern era; and making cosmetic upgrades to the UW dressing room to make it more eye-catching for recruits.
But Granato came back to his alma mater with a much more prominent agenda, one geared toward returning the six-time NCAA champions to their place among the national elite.
That process got a sizable, eye-brow raising bump Friday night. Granato and Co. made their home debut a memorable one by dispatching sixth-ranked Boston College 3-1 before a crowd of 8,028 at the Bob Johnson Rink.
It's a big deal to knock off a club – albeit very young with 13 freshmen – that's won three national championships since 2008.
It's noteworthy when you're above .500 for the first time since the end of the 2013-14 season (2-1).
It's significant when players that experienced victory just 12 times in the previous 70 games look as poised and confident as the Badgers did this night.
"Obviously we wanted to see where we were at as far as a measuring stick at this point in the season," Granato said.
UW opened the season with a non-conference series split with Northern Michigan in Green Bay. Nerves dominated the proceedings, but there was none of that against the Eagles (1-2) and that's expected to be the case again Sunday when the teams finish the series with a 3 p.m. matinee.
"The focus all week was we knew we were playing a top team," Granato said. "We knew it was a game where we had to be at our best."
Wisconsin had some lapses – especially even-strength where impatience and sloppiness led to problems – but sophomore goaltender Matt Jurusik was excellent on the way to 29 shots, the power play clicked twice in eight tries and the penalty-killers were perfect (6-for-6).
"We played pretty confident as a unit of five in the (defensive) zone," junior defenseman Tim Davison said after his two-assist night. "That was nice to see. Hopefully we can build off that."
Granato was hired after back-to-back losing seasons. He doesn't refer to this as a rebuilding process.
"We had a couple down years," he said. "We're in bounce-back phase now."
Some of the best players in Wisconsin history were on hand to see the Granato Era get underway at home.
You had John Newberry, a first-team All-American who had two goals and two assists in the 1981 national title game.
You had Jim Carey, who went on to win the Vezina Trophy as the best goaltender in the NHL with Washington in 1996.
You had Graham Melanson, who holds the program record for goaltenders with 81 victories and 3,850 saves in his career.
Jurusik crossed paths with both of his decorated predecessors and came away better for it. Â Â Â
"It's always cool seeing those alums and seeing those really talented guys that have come through this program," he said. "They're mentors to me. You look up to them and try to emulate what they've done."
The hiring of Granato and his highly regarded staff – associate head coaches Don Granato and Mark Osiecki – made enough of a splash that 1,000 new season tickets were sold.
The crowd gave the coaches a loud ovation when they were introduced before the game and made its presence felt throughout the game.
"They were energized," Tony Granato said. "They were good for us."
But seating capacity for hockey games at Bob Johnson Rink is 15,359 and the public address announcer's voice echoed.
"I would love to have seen more people here," Tony Granato said. "That's a work in progress.
"The people that come, hopefully they liked what they saw and want to come back and tell friends and everybody about some of the things that impressed them.
"Maybe in a few weeks we'll be looking at a much bigger turnout," he said.
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