Cammie Aims To Be The Famous Granato

To hockey fans, Cammi Granato’s name is very familiar.

Being the younger sister of San Jose Sharks forward Tony Granato doesn’t bother her. However, as captain of the U.S. women’s Olympic hockey team, she hopes people might soon think of Tony more as her older brother.

“My brother and I joke about it a little more now,” she said. “I always used to be Tony’s little sister.”

Though Granato, 26, has become one of the world’s top women’s players, she’s still relatively unknown in a sport once considered off-limits for women. She’s the highest scorer in Women’s World Championship play with 27 goals and 17 assists in 20 games.

With women’s hockey making its debut as an Olympic medal sport in Nagano, Japan, Granato has reached the pinnacle of her career. Like most, she’s expecting a gold medal match with Canada, which beat the U.S. 4-3 in overtime of the World Championships in April.

“There’s a big rivalry between us,” she said. ” There are bodies flying all over and words exchanged. It’s just pure hockey when we get out there.”