Avalanche coach Tony Granato had a big day Tuesday, without being directly involved.
When USA Hockey announced the four-person class of 2008 for induction into the U.S. Hockey Hall of Fame, the group included Granato’s younger sister, Cammi, and three men he knows well.
Cammi Granato and the three former NHL stars — goaltender Mike Richter, defenseman Brian Leetch and winger Brett Hull — will be inducted at a dinner at the University of Denver’s Magness Arena on Oct. 10, the night before DU plays Notre Dame in the Hall of Fame Game.
Granato, the captain of the first Olympic gold medal-winning team in women’s hockey in 1998 and the longtime mainstay of the U.S. women’s national team, will be the first woman inducted into the Hall of Fame, which is located in Eveleth, Minn.
“I’m tremendously honored not only to be inducted in this Hockey Hall of Fame, but to be amongst Brett Hull, Brian Leetch and Mike Richter is really big for me,” Granato said.
Hull, the third-leading goal scorer in NHL history with 741, recorded 1,391 points in a 20-year career that included Stanley Cup championships with Dallas and Detroit.
Leetch and Richter were Tony Granato’s teammates in the 1988 Olympics and with the New York Rangers.
Leetch was an 11-time all-star in 18 NHL seasons, all but one with the Rangers, and won the Norris Trophy as the top defenseman in 1992 and 1997.
Richter won 301 games in a 14-year career as a goalie with the Rangers. He was Tony Gra-nato’s college roommate and teammate at Wisconsin. Richter’s and Granato’s wives also were college roommates in Madison.
