Women's hockey has face: Cammi Granato

Published Friday, April 4, 1997, in the San Jose Mercury News  

Women's hockey has face: Cammi Granato   BY MIKE GUERSCH
Mercury News Staff Writer  

Cammi Granato and her brother were sweating hard underneath their 
heavy hockey gear one day last February, just as they did hundreds of 
times when they were kids.

But this was not some frozen pond in Downers Grove, Ill., and this was 
not one of those countless pick-up games where Cammi would play with 
Tony and the boys from the neighborhood.

This was the Molson Centre in Montreal, home of the Canadiens, and on 
this day Cammi and Tony, a forward with the Sharks, were the subjects of 
a photo shoot for a Sports Illustrated story. The photographer tried 
pose after pose, trying to get them in the right place at the right 
time.

Cammi Granato is in the right place at the right time for women's 
hockey. Scan the list of women playing for the United States this week 
at the world championships in Kitchener, Ontario, and only one name is 
recognizable to the average hockey fan: Granato.

She is the hook who could draw people in when watching the Olympic 
Games in February, when women's ice hockey is a medal sport for the 
first time. She has the name. She has the talent -- as evidenced by her 
two goals Thursday in a 10-0 victory over Sweden. That combination makes 
her the most important person in her sport, someone who could spark 
Olympic dreams in girls watching the Nagano Games. 

``Cammi's the one right now,'' said Les Lawton, her coach the past 
three seasons at Concordia University in Montreal, and a former Canadian 
national women's team coach. ``Cammi's the role model, and she's going 
to be the one under the most pressure when it comes to the Olympics.

``She's really going to be scrutinized, but she can handle it. She's 
been preparing for it for years, and she's going to be a great 
ambassador for the game.''

Granato, 26, has been preparing for the role all her life, though she 
may not have known it until a few years ago. Family time was hockey time 
for the Granatos, and when she wasn't practicing with her four brothers, 
she was competing as the lone girl in boys leagues.

``Nothing fazed her,'' Tony said. ``All those years she had to dress in 
a different locker room, being different, it didn't matter. When she was 
out there playing, you couldn't tell she was the only girl on the ice.''

``I never realized I was unique until junior high,'' Cammi said. ``I 
started feeling a little self-conscious then, and I was aware then that 
all the parents on the other team were talking about me.''

They were probably talking about her ability. In 1990, when she was 20, 
she made the U.S. national team in the inaugural women's world 
championships. She has been on the roster since and is now the team's 
top scoring threat and one of the best players in the world.

``Once she gets inside the blue line she can score from almost 
anywhere,'' Lawton said. ``She can play a physical game, too (although 
body contact is illegal in the women's game). A lot like her brother. 
She has that in-your-face Granato-type of attitude.

``There are some players who do certain things better than her, but 
overall she's as skilled as anybody out there.''

The only time Cammi's confidence cracked was when Tony underwent brain 
surgery in February 1995. 

``It was the scariest point of my life,'' Cammi said. ``I never felt so 
helpless. He was the oldest kid and always the strongest. It was so odd 
for all of us to see him not in control at all.''

She still gets nervous watching Tony play, but she understands why he 
could not quit hockey when the doctors gave him clearance to play.

``He has such drive, such a work ethic,'' she said. ``He just amazes 
me.''

Using those Granato family traits, it soon will be Cammi's time to 
amaze everybody. Tony, who played on the 1988 U.S. Olympic team in 
Calgary, can't wait to watch his sister walk in the opening ceremonies 
in Nagano, Japan. He can't wait to watch her introduce the world to 
women's hockey and maybe become an Olympic hero in the process.

``It'll be one of the biggest highlights of my life,'' Tony said.

``If I'm going to be a spokeswoman, I can accept that role,'' Cammi 
said. ``I enjoy talking about the sport, and I have experience with 
that. But I also don't want to get caught up in any hoopla. I want to be 
focused on beating the Canadians.''

Some people will look at Cammi Granato and women's ice hockey as little 
more than a curious sideshow next February. But from the first time she 
lined up against a hockey team full of boys, she has taken the sport she 
loved seriously.

And she might be rewarded with a gold medal in Nagano.