'I knew we had to win this year': Tony Granato not surprised by his departure from Wisconsin men's hockey program.
MADISON – Tony Granato has coached hockey at various levels for two decades.
He wasn’t surprised to be relieved of his duties as the Wisconsin men’s hockey coach
“Based on the end of last year, I knew we had to win this year,” he said. “As a coach you know that is the ultimate way of being graded, by the record in the standings. When it’s not what is expected, that is always a possibility.”
On Monday, Wisconsin Director of Athletics Chris McIntosh announced that Granato would not be retained as coach. After McIntosh’s press conference at the Kohl Center, Granato met with reporters and shared his thoughts on the decision as well as his plans for the future.
The announcement came two days after UW completed a 13-23 campaign that included a last-place finish in the Big Ten. It was the Badgers' second straight losing season and the fifth in seven years under Granato.
He spent seven seasons on the job, compiling a 105-129-16 (.452) overall record and a 65-87-13 (.433) mark in the Big Ten.
“I can be thankful and grateful for my time here and tell you have much fun I had,” he said. “I wish it went better from the win part of it. Lots of good thing to remember from the experience and that is what I’ll take with me.”
Granato delivered news during Monday morning meeting
Granato was informed of the decision during an 11 a.m. meeting with McIntosh. Granato then had time to meet with his staff, captains and finally the entire team to share the news. He said the team meeting was the hardest part of the day.
His take on the group was that they didn’t see this coming.
“I think it caught them by surprise despite all the stuff that was being thrown out there in the last 12 months,” he said. “They wanted to ignore it. They want to try to think that it’s not going happen.”
Granato was given a reprieve after the last season when the Badgers dipped to a fifth-place finish in the Big Ten one year after winning the conference title and qualifying for the NCAA Tournament.
Despite the anticipation of a redemptive season, Wisconsin started slow, losing its first six Big Ten games and going 1-9 in league play during the 2022 portion of the season. The Badgers improved in the second half, splitting series with five ranked teams, but from game to game lacked consistently high play.
The team finished at or near the bottom of most offensive statistics and allowed the most goals in the league. In Big Ten games UW’s minus-1.58 scoring margin was the by far the league's worst.
Despite those struggles, the Badgers ranked second in the league in average home attendance (7,855)
“What I think is special here is there is still a lot of support from the community,” Granato said. “I think there are things I think we can do better to reconnect that part of it. There’s opportunities now since the rules have changed with the NIL stuff, so I think there are new opportunities to explore to recreate that.”
Granato hopes to share insights with new coach
Granato, who started for the Badgers from 1983-87 and played in the NHL for 13 seasons, said he hoped to have an opportunity to talk with the new coach to share his opinions on what he thinks needs to change or improve for the program to improve. He declined to share specifics, saying that information would be for whoever takes over the program.
“I want this program to succeed,” he said. “I want this program to win immediately, so I will do whatever I can moving forward.”
Granato also wants to continue to coach. He has been coached at various levels of the NHL and U.S. Olympic program during the past 20 years.
“I love coaching. I love being part of teams,” he said. “This won’t slow me down or make me lose the passion of what I have to be around teams and players and the sport. What I will do next, I don’t know. (The coaching change) happened a couple of hours ago, but I will always want to be part of a team.”
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This article originally appeared on Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Tony Granato not surprised by firing as Wisconsin men's hockey coach
