BY ANDY BAGGOT
UWBadgers.com Insider
MADISON, Wis. — The Wisconsin men's hockey team has embarked on some historically significant trips this season, but nothing like this.
At the behest of the Big Ten Conference, the Badgers will play Ohio State at Value City Arena in Columbus, Ohio, on Thursday night before moving on to finish the series at iconic Madison Square Garden in New York City on Saturday night.
The latter piece will be done in union with the UW men's basketball team, which will face Rutgers as part of an uncommon doubleheader at MSG on Saturday afternoon.
The logistics of the Big Ten series are certainly out of the ordinary given that the Badgers have never skated there, but it's a series of back stories that make this journey so unique.
Well before Tony Granato took over as head coach at his alma mater last March, he made a spectacular NHL debut with the New York Rangers in 1988-89, establishing a scoring record that still stands.
Well before Don Granato became an associate head coach alongside his older brother, he played his only professional seasons in Columbus and later made his pro coaching debut there.
Well before Mark Osiecki became an associate head coach at Wisconsin, he not only made appearances with multiple NHL teams at Madison Square Garden, his head coaching career was effectively launched by a decision Don Granato made to take a job in Columbus.
The first order of business, though, is business.
The Badgers (11-8-1 overall, 4-2 in the Big Ten) are getting ready to face their fourth top-10 opponent of the season and second in two weeks.
Fresh off a series split with then-seventh-ranked Minnesota, UW will mix it up with the eighth-ranked Buckeyes (12-4-6, 3-2-1).
"It's another opportunity for us," Tony Granato said. "It gives us another challenge to face a top-10 team on the road."
Ohio State is fresh off an eye-opening series at Penn State, securing an overtime draw and a victory over the then-top-rated club in the nation.
"They're a team that, obviously, if we're going to do well this year, we have to play well against them and have some success against them," Granato said. "It's a great challenge for us."
The itinerary for the series begins Wednesday with a charter flight to Columbus and the series opener the following night.
After the game, the Badgers will charter to Newark, New Jersey, and bus to the Manhattan hotel they'll inhabit with the men's basketball entourage.
UW will practice Friday at the Sky Rink at Chelsea Pier and return home following the game Saturday night.
A Hockey Home in Ohio
The roots of two coaching careers can be traced to the soil in Columbus.
Don Granato had just finished a four-year run with the Badgers — winning a NCAA title in 1990 — when he signed with the newly created Columbus Chill of the East Coast Hockey League in 1991.
The minor-league franchise became legendary, setting a record with 83 consecutive sellouts at the 5,600-seat Ohio State Fairgrounds Expo Coliseum, as well as notorious for its funky promotions and edgy play.
Don Granato, who had 26 goals and 90 points in 103 career games with the Chill, said the team was so popular that fans pulled cars over to get autographs and daytime local TV programming was interrupted to announce a transaction involving Jason Christie, a top scorer and fan favorite.
"That's how big it was," Granato said. "We were like rock stars."
Granato recalled an in-game promotion whereby the winner of a drawing would get a Mercedes-Benz. The kicker was that it turned out to be a 20-year-old car that was wheeled onto the ice belching exhaust.
Granato admits he was naïve about the way things work in minor-league pro hockey. Fights were routine. He recalled getting punched in the face during an intra-squad scrimmage — unlike college, the pros didn't wear shields — and having to go to the hospital with four loose teeth for stitches.
Ironically, the guy who slugged him, Phil Crowe, later became his linemate in Columbus and, ultimately, an NHL teammate of his brother in Los Angeles.
Granato planned to play more than two seasons with the Chill, but fate had other ideas.
He delayed signing a contract prior to the 1993-94 season because he wanted to finish the 12 credits necessary for him to get his degree at UW.
During that semester, Granato was skating and training with the Madison Capitols — the precursor to the current U.S. Hockey League entry — when former UW teammate Rob Andringa abruptly stepped down as coach of the Caps. Granato was asked to take over on an interim basis, fully intending to resume his playing career.
But the same week Granato was taking his final college exams came word that Green Bay had been awarded a USHL expansion franchise. Granato was subsequently offered a chance to run his own show for the first time and he took it.
Two Clark Cup championships later, Granato accepted an offer to return to Columbus and coach the Chill, which he did from 1997 to '99, compiling a record of 72-54-14.
The Chill suspended operations in 1999, effectively paving the way for the Columbus Blue Jackets to be introduced as an NHL expansion franchise.
Before Granato left Green Bay he recommended to club officials that they give Osiecki, his good friend and former high school and UW teammate, his first job as a head coach.
Osiecki promptly led the Gamblers to a Clark Cup title in 2000 before becoming an assistant under former Wisconsin coach Mike Eaves from 2004 to '10.
Osiecki spent three seasons in Columbus as head coach at Ohio State before becoming a minor league assistant coach with Rockford of the American Hockey League. That gave way to his current role.
NHL Roots in the Garden
Speaking of roots, the second leg of this Big Ten series takes us back to square one for Tony Granato. His 26-year career in the NHL — 13 as a player and 13 as a coach — began in the Big Apple.
Granato was a sixth-round draft pick of the New York Rangers in 1982 who played 119 games in the NHL before being traded to the Los Angeles Kings in 1990.
A 24-year-old newlywed fresh off a stint with Team USA in the 1988 Winter Olympics, Granato made an instant impression in New York. He accounted for 63 points — including a club record of 36 goals for first-year players that still stands — on the way to finishing third in voting for NHL rookie of the year.
Granato recorded his first NHL point (vs. Vancouver), goal (vs. Quebec) and hat trick (four goals vs. Pittsburgh) at Madison Square Garden.
"I was treated very well there," Granato said of his time with the Rangers. "I loved playing in the Garden."
Granato played alongside former UW goaltender Mike Richter and Olympic teammate Brian Leetch in New York. By the way, Leetch was the Calder Trophy winner as top rookie over Granato.
"I've got a lot of great memories," Granato said. "I loved it. I'm looking forward to seeing some friends when we do go back there."
Granato has already retraced some of his career footsteps as coach of the Badgers this season.
An October trip to upstate New York to face St. Lawrence and Clarkson brought Granato close to Lake Placid and his time at Northwood Prep School.
A November trip to Denver enabled Granato to reconnect with his NHL stints as coach and assistant coach with the Colorado Avalanche.
A December trip to Michigan brought Granato in touch with his time as NHL assistant coach with the Detroit Red Wings.
Granato grew up in suburban Chicago, his family had season tickets for Blackhawks games at the old Chicago Stadium and he made his NHL debut there, so his favorite arena experience as a pro is fairly obvious.
He said MSG is "close to the top" along with the old Montreal Forum, Maple Leaf Gardens in Toronto and the soon-to-be-razed Joe Louis Arena in Detroit.
"It's a phenomenal place," Granato said of Madison Square Garden. "So many major sporting events have happened there. I would venture to guess that not a lot of our guys have been in that building."
Don Granato said he's been to MSG as an NHL scout for Toronto and Vancouver, while Osiecki played there for Calgary in 1991 and Ottawa in 1993.
"Very special for our group," Tony Granato said.
