BY ANDY BAGGOT
UWBadgers.com Insider
MADISON, Wis. — During four distinguished seasons with the Wisconsin men's hockey team, Tony Granato accounted for two hat tricks.
One came vs. Illinois-Chicago on Nov. 15, 1983.
The other came vs. Northeastern on Dec. 28, 1984.
Both performances came during victories and both allowed Granato to reach the coveted 100-goal plateau for his Hall of Fame career, but the hat trick he authored Wednesday figures to be more memorable if not more impactful.
In the process of being introduced as the newest head coach of the Badgers, Granato will unveil a remarkable three-man staff that includes his younger brother, Don, and their close friend, Mark Osiecki.
"It was more than I could dream for to get all three of those guys," said Barry Alvarez, the UW director of athletics.
All three were considered prime, worthy candidates to be the next head coach of the Badgers.
All three are decorated UW alums and former captains.
All three have vast chunks of pro coaching experience on their resumes.
All three have strong reputations among their teaching peers.
All three have had the same dream — to coach together — and all three now share the same objective:
To return the six-time NCAA champion Badgers to their place among the national elite after consecutive losing seasons.
"To me, it's the Dream Team," Alvarez said.
Tony, a center for the Badgers from 1983 to '87, has been coaching in the NHL since 2002, most recently as an assistant with the Detroit Red Wings.
"When this came about that we could all be together, I was ecstatic," Tony said. "It was a situation that I wanted to be part of."
Don, who played center for UW from 1987 to '91, worked in the American Hockey League and East Coast Hockey League before settling in with the prestigious U.S. National Team Developmental Program since 2011.
"It was more than I could dream for to get all three of those guys," Alvarez said.
"Tony's the one guy who could get both of us," Don said. "I couldn't possibly stay here and pass up that opportunity."
Osiecki, a defenseman for the Badgers from 1987 to '90, was an assistant at UW under Eaves and a head coach at Ohio State prior to becoming an assistant coach with Rockford of the AHL in 2013.
"It's a perfect fit for Donny and I to go in and all of us work together," Osiecki said. "I can't believe how much fun we're going to have walking into the Kohl Center."
Tony Granato will receive a five-year contract, while his brother and Osiecki agreed to three-year deals.
Alvarez had all three men on his list of candidates to replace Mike Eaves, who was dismissed earlier this month after a 14-year run that included an NCAA title in 2006 and a runner-up finish in 2010.
Alvarez initially approached Tony Granato to get his analysis of the program and got strong feedback on his two staffers as well as UW women's hockey coach Mark Johnson.
At one point, Alvarez asked Tony Granato why he didn't have an interest in the opening. Granato didn't have an answer, which got his juices flowing.
"Once he started getting nudges from myself and maybe others he realized how big this would be for everybody," Don Granato said of his brother.
Tony Granato, 51, told Alvarez that his interest in the job would be tied to his ability to have his brother and Osiecki come with him. That led to a pair of phone calls.
"We knew we've always wanted to coach together, so there was no conversation," Don said.
"With an opportunity like this, once Barry expressed an interest in Tony being a lead candidate, it was like, 'Go get the job.' If you're his guy, don't worry about anything else. Let's just do it.' "
Don, 48, has spent the last five years working with elite-level teenagers with an eye toward someday returning to the NHL. He had a brief run as an assistant with the St. Louis Blues in 2005-06.
"I don't want to leave here," Don said of the NTDP headquarters in Ann Arbor, Michigan, "but this is too good to turn down."
Osiecki, 47, said he spent a night mulling the opportunity. After all, working with the Chicago Blackhawks, one of the elite NHL franchises, offers a path to being a head coach in the pros.
"For me, there wasn't any convincing," Osiecki said. "Number one, it's Wisconsin. Number two, the athletic department. At the top of the heap is who I would be working with.
"The people you're working with and for is so important. When you look at that, it's an absolute slam dunk.
"It was a difficult decision. That being said, it didn't take long for me to make a decision because of the people I'd be working with."
"The people you're working with and for is so important," Osiecki said. "When you look at that, it's an absolute slam dunk."
Of course, Don Granato and Osiecki spoke, too.
"We always talked about coaching together at some point," Granato said. "That's been kind of a dream of ours as well because we've been so close for so long."
Don Granato and Osiecki have known each other since the mid-1980s when they met at a summer hockey camp. They later played at Burnsville (Minn.) High school for Osiecki's father, Tom, and won a NCAA title with the Badgers in 1990.
Osiecki said he met Tony in 1985 and was smitten on multiple fronts.
"I wanted to be a Badger when Tony came and skated with us my junior year in high school," Osiecki said. "Tony comes in and skates with us and has a Badger hockey bag and wore all the gear. I wanted to be a Badger from that day on."
Osiecki and Tony Granato share a love of fishing — their families have cabins near Eagle River — hockey and coaching.
"I consider the Granato family an extended family of mine," Osiecki said. "It feels very, very comfortable."
During his time as an assistant with the Badgers from 2004 to '10, Osiecki cultivated a reputation as an extraordinary recruiter, especially of defensemen.
Perhaps the best example of that was the 2007 NHL Entry Draft when Wisconsin had three players chosen in the first round, including center Kyle Turris and defensemen Ryan McDonagh and Brendan Smith.
Three years later, McDonagh and Smith anchored a UW blue line corps that ultimately saw all six front-liners reach the NHL.
Don Granato, who survived a bout with Hodgkin's disease in 2005, worked with Osiecki when the latter was chosen to coach Team USA in the 2014 World Junior Championships.
Tony Granato said he has spent his entire NHL coaching career bouncing ideas off his brother and Osiecki, especially during his separate stints as head coach of the Colorado Avalanche. A bond of trust and affection has been created.
"Within the industry, we rely on each other more than anyone else," Don Granato said.
"I appreciate their opinions," Tony said. "I've used what they've given to me from a learning standpoint on different things along the way."
Tony Granato said he views his two assistants as head coaches.
"That's how they act," he said. "That's how they understand the game."
Perhaps, but everyone has a role to play.
"Barry went after the right guy," Don Granato said.
"I'm there to help and do whatever I can to support Donny and Tony and the whole hockey staff," Osiecki said.
"I look at it as working with two outstanding people. We're in for the right reasons and we want to make Wisconsin hockey go. That's the only thing that we're looking it."
Osiecki suggested he would oversee the UW defensemen, while Don manages the forwards. Their primary job upon arriving in Madison is restocking the cupboards.
"We need to get players in," Tony Granato said. "We need to get out and be seen and make sure we're finding the next Joe Pavelskis and Suters and Chelioses. That's what we'll be doing as soon as I'm done (in Detroit). We'll probably be on the road a lot this summer."
Don Granato had a warning about his brother, known for his feisty disposition as a player all the way back to his days skating for the Badgers before sellout crowds at the Dane County Coliseum.
"He's every bit the competitor you saw on the ice 30 years ago as a coach," Don said.
Another day, another hat trick.
