Granato to be new Wolves coach

By Patrick Kissane | Jul 26, 11:02 AM

Don Granato is rumored to be the next Head Coach of the Chicago Wolves. Granato won the Louis A R Pieri Memorial Award in 2001 while at the helm of the Worcester IceCats. He has generally been associated with the St. Louis Blues organization. Granato was at the helm of the IceCats in 2005 when he was diagnosed with Hodgkins Lymphoma, a form of cancer that spreads in the lymph nodes.

The cancer was defeated with chemotherapy at Loyola University Medical Center and a second round as part of a trial called Stanford V. Granato told the Peoria Journal Star's David Eminian "Chemo is hard. I was sick to my stomach every moment, every day, couldn't look at food."

"I thought I was going to die," Granato told the Journal Star.

Granato says he was cheered when "he looked at his Peoria championship ring, and (read) the single word Granato and the team chose to have engraved on its side panel: 'Relentless,'" Eminian wrote.

"I looked at the ring and there was that word, and it's what I needed," Granato said. "When you are fighting for your own survival, you discover how much you have to live for."

Granato led the Green Bay Gamblers to back-to-back national championships in the USHL in 1995 and 1996. He led the ECHL Peoria Rivermen to the Kelly Cup in 2000. St. Louis named him to be the first head coach of the AHL Peoria Rivermen, but removed him prior to the 2005-6 season, due to his illness. He was offered a scouting job with the organization instead.

With other members of his family, he runs a hockey camp based at Seven Bridges Hockey Rink in Woodridge, Ill. aimed at developing women's hockey skills. The Granato family is deep into the hockey world. His sister, Cammi Granato, is the all-time leading scorer in women's International tournament games. She captained the Gold Medal US Team at the Nagano 1998 Winter Olympics. Tony Granato, his brother, is the head coach of the Colorado Avalanche. Rob Granato was a captain on the University of Wisconsin hockey team. The Chicago Wolves and the Granato Hockey Clinic did not return calls seeking comment.

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