Wisconsin has the third most national championships, in Big Ten history, of Men’s Hockey. In the 70’s, they won multiple national championships. I saw them win one in 1990 at Joe Louis Arena. Their last national championship was in 2006 under Mike Eaves. Since then they have had a few good years, but overall they have not done well. The thing that gets to me is Wisconsin is always in the top five for recruiting classes. People would think that should equal good results.
Wisconsin’s head coach is Tony Granato with a record of 101-119-16. Tony has been the coach for the last seven years with only two winning seasons. Granato played at Wisconsin in the eighties and won a national championship durning his time. Everybody was very excited when they made the move from Eaves to Granato, even though Eaves won a championship in 2006.
Tony Granato coached in the NHL at Colorado and owns a carrier record of 104-78-17, which is a very respectable record. When Wisconsin fans heard the hiring, they had a reason to be excited. If he can do that in the NHL, just think what he is capable of at Wisconsin. As we have seen his success in the NHL hasn’t converted to the college game. Wisconsin’s AD, Chris Macintosh, just hired Luke Fickell to coach the football team. If the hockey team doesn’t improve this year, Macintosh will be on the hunt for a new men’s hockey head coach.