Deep history, similar vision keeps Badger coaches in sync
December 08, 2016 | Men's Hockey, Andy Baggot
For Granatos, Osiecki, transition to working together to lead Wisconsin has been seamless
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BY ANDY BAGGOT
UWBadgers.com Insider
MADISON, Wis. — When Tony Granato assumed the reins of the Wisconsin men' hockey program seven months ago, one of his stated joys was that he'd finally get a chance to be on the same bench with his closest confidants.
Granato, younger brother Don and close friend Mark Osiecki have all coached at a variety of levels over the last 20-plus years — pro, college, juniors or international — and along the way they've leaned on one another for ideas, logistical guidance and emotional support.
But the three had never joined forces for a game, much less a season, prior to teaming up at their alma mater.
So with the start of Big Ten Conference play and the unofficial halfway mark of the regular season bearing down, now seems like a good time to see how that aspect of their partnership is working.
"It's been really smooth," Tony Granato said.
"As far as the dynamic, we all have our sense of objective and are very focused on those objectives," Don said.
"It's been seamless," Osiecki said. "Obviously we have our ups and downs and we certainly have our disagreements, but we come out of it on the same page so quickly because we see things so similar."
When the Badgers (7-6-1 overall) face Michigan (6-7-1, 0-2 in the Big Ten) on Friday and Saturday at Yost Arena in Ann Arbor, Michigan, the three coaches will follow a script that's been in place since their inaugural season as co-workers began Oct. 1.
Tony is primarily responsible for making forward line changes, while Osiecki coordinates the defensive pairs.
Don, conspicuous by the hockey-centric white board he has on the bench, is usually the first voice that players hear when they return to the bench from a shift.
"He's doing the corrections with the forwards as they come off the ice, so he's got a lot of communication with the players," Tony said.
"I'm just trying to watch the game and get a feel of the systems that we had in pre-scout," Don said. "Is it working? Is it not working? What adjustments might we have to make?"
Tony, who spent three years as a head coach in the NHL and 10 more as an assistant, said he prefers having his two associate head coaches on the bench with him.
There was a time during his two stints as an NHL head coach in Colorado where one of the assistants was situated in the press box communicating via electronic head set. The idea being that the view from above was more detailed.
"We can see enough from the bench," Tony said.
Granato noted that equipment manager Nate LaPoint is in electronic contact with a support staffer — typically volunteer goaltending coach Jeff Sanger or video coordinator Emily Engel — for feedback on potential challenge calls.
"I like it this way," Tony said. "I think we're comfortable doing it."
Speaking from experience, Don Granato likes his role on the bench.
During his five seasons as head coach with the National Team Development Program, a high-profile aspect of USA Hockey, Don said he had two assistants on the bench whose duties enabled him to focus on the flow of the game.
"I like that," he said. "I actually like watching the game for adjustments."
In addition to making corrections as needed and providing instant feedback to the players, Don is keeping everyone focused on the next shift while helping to manage morale on the bench.
According to Tony, he and Osiecki direct defensive zone faceoff plays, while Don prepares them for the offensive zone. All three have input on the power play and penalty killing units.
"It's nice," Don said. "I don't have to call out line changes and nice for Tony because he can watch matchups and the idea of line combinations, the power play and rotations after that."
The brothers were centers and captains during their UW careers. Tony went on to play 13 seasons in the NHL, while Don took a quick, deep dive into coaching at the junior and pro levels. Their shared knowledge and instincts drive in-game conversations.
"Donny and I are communicating on forward lines (and) if we need to make an adjustment (in personnel or combination)," Tony said.
"I'm getting the lines ready and looking for matches, either ones we're trying to stay away from or match up against."
Osiecki was a no-nonsense defenseman with the Badgers whose six seasons in the pros included 93 games in the NHL. During a previous stint as a UW assistant, from 2004 to '10, he earned a reputation for not only landing top blue-line recruits, but sending them capably on to the NHL.
"Mark will come down and say, 'What do you think about changing (defensive) pairs?'" Tony Granato related. "I'll say, 'You've got a better feel for those things.'"
Osiecki said the task of matching the right lines with the most compatible defensive pairs is a work in progress. So, too, is the process of determining the makeup of those pairings in terms of chemistry.
"A lot of moving parts with that," Osiecki said.
Sometimes those parts have to be reassembled in the middle of a period.
"I think we're locked in," Osiecki said of each coaches' in-game duties, "but we have some conversations for sure. We're bouncing different things off of each other all the time."
These strategic discussions go back decades to when Don Granato and Osiecki were teammates at Burnsville (Minnesota) High School and then at Wisconsin. A third voice was added in earnest when Tony Granato began coaching in 2002.
"We share so many things in common and we trust that," Don Granato said. "Tony, Oz and I would sit in a room and argue like crazy about certain things. But at the end of the day there's no argument because we all know it's all about winning. It's all about being the best.
"We always voice our opinions — discuss and state our case for why we'd do this or why we'd do that. They might sound like arguments, but they're really not. They're discussions with a level of intensity that's kind of fun."
It all comes back to a unique sense of respect, compatibility and awareness.
"I know exactly what Mark's going to do and I know exactly what Donny's going to do," Tony said.
To the very best of their abilities.
