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Wednesday, November 8, 2000
Granato adjusts to age, new role
Associated Press
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SAN JOSE, Calif. -- He still looks like Tony Granato -- short
and wiry.
|  | | Granato's grit still has value in San Jose. |
He still plays like Tony Granato -- throwing an overzealous
check, hacking at a defenseman in front of the net, spending plenty
of time in the penalty box.
But Granato has changed, both as a player and as a man. At the
start of what's likely the final season of his 13-year NHL career,
Granato gets fewer shifts and less money from the San Jose Sharks.
His role has changed from that of a top-line star to a teacher.
Instead of scoring on passes from Wayne Gretzky or picking fights
with much bigger players, Granato is providing leadership and an
example to the Sharks' young, talented crop of forwards.
"Your role diminishes, your playing time diminishes," Granato
said. "We've got too many horses here that have to play a certain
amount of time to be effective and productive, and I can understand
that."
Most players wouldn't. But instead of rejecting his reduced
assignment and heading off to squeeze a few more productive seasons
out of his career, Granato has stayed with the team that took a
chance on him after brain surgery changed his life four years ago.
In June, San Jose offered Granato two-thirds of the $1.6 million
that he would have been due this season. After discussions with GM
Dean Lombardi and coach Darryl Sutter about his role, Granato
decided to return.
"Right now I'm looking at it as if this will be my last year,"
he said. "It probably will be, but we'll see."
The 1988 Olympian was one of hockey's top agitators, a fan
favorite and a canny scorer during a productive career with the
Rangers and Kings. Though there's ample evidence his skills haven't
faded all that much, Granato's role with the Sharks is often that
of a fourth-line grinder -- when he's in the lineup at all.
"I realize you can't do everything you could do when you're
27," Granato said. "You've got to simplify your game, you've got
to be a lot smarter, and you've got to help the young guys.
"It's a funny situation, but what you're really doing is
grooming young guys to take your job. If you can accept that as a
veteran player, then you can make the most of it."
It wasn't always this way for Granato, who led the Rangers with
36 goals in his rookie season of 1988-89. He scored a career-high
39 goals for Los Angeles in 1991-92, and hit his career-best with
82 points the next season.
But the Kings gave up on him in 1996, when he had surgery to
remove a blood clot on his brain. At the time, it appeared his
career was over _ even Granato said so. Instead, he recovered so
well that he signed with San Jose as a free agent and scored three
goals in the first game he played against Los Angeles.
Now, at 36, he and defenseman Gary Suter are the oldest players
on one of the league's younger teams.
"He's been great. It's pretty awesome for everybody in this
room to see his work ethic," left wing Jeff Friesen said. "The
guy's 36 years old, and he's coming in in the best shape of anyone.
It's pretty inspiring. He knows how to make sacrifices as a
player."
Injuries, like the torn knee ligament that caused him to miss 36
games in 1998-99, have taken their toll. But last season, Granato
was a frequent healthy scratch for the first time in his career,
and he finished with just 13 points in 48 games.
"Any time you get to a point where you're constantly rehabbing
injuries all summer to get ready for the next season, (retirement)
crosses your mind," Granato said. "But I love the game too
much."
Granato's closest brushes with fame in recent years have come
courtesy of his younger sister Cammi, the captain of the United
States women's hockey team. At one time, the nameplate above
Granato's Sharks locker read "Cammi's Brother."
He isn't sure that coaching is in his future -- "I have enough
trouble getting one guy ready for a game. I don't know about 23" --
although he wants to stay in hockey in some capacity. He and Cammi
have teamed up on hockey teaching clinics in the past, and he
enjoys working with younger players.
At least until next spring, though, Granato is committed to San
Jose.
"I love it here. I made a commitment to the Sharks, and I think
they've returned that commitment to me," Granato said. "Obviously, I'd love to play more and win a Stanley Cup, but this
team is going to win a Stanley Cup, whether it's this year or two
or three years down the road.
"With the talent they have here, they're going to win one. If
I'm not here, I'll still feel part of it because I was part of the
procedure it took to get there."
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