Granato’s Recovery Going Well

The single suggestion that King forward Tony Granato underwent brain surgery three weeks ago rested atop his head--a baseball cap covering a six-inch scar curling above his left ear.

And while his hair is slow in returning, Granato’s quick wit and winning smile have made a full comeback, as evidenced in a brief meeting with the press on Wednesday at the Forum, one of the shining moments in an all too depressing season.

First and foremost, Granato has his health again and a loving, supportive family. Everything else is secondary.

“It’s been a pretty long month and a half,” said Granato, who was accompanied by his wife, Linda, and Neil Martin, the vascular neurosurgeon who performed the procedure on Feb. 14 at UCLA Medical Center in Westwood.

“I wish I was in the other room getting ready for the game, hopefully, I’ll get that opportunity again.”

About all he has been able to do lately is take brief walks, but he is considered fit enough to visit the Angels in spring training at Tempe, Ariz., today. And Martin has been pleased with Granato’s recovery from the start.

“It [the prognosis] is excellent now,” Martin said. “Tony has always been one step ahead of schedule.”

Still, it remains unclear whether Granato, 31, will be able to resume his playing career.

“That’s a good question and it’s been a little bit of unchartered territory right now,” Martin said. “There’s testing three, six months down the line. And then it’s going to be up to Tony and the consultation of his physicians.”

Said Granato, who wants to return to hockey: “Of course I do, but right now I just have to worry about being 100% physically and mentally. I’m well on my way to that. When the time comes, after future tests and if I’m doing well, if I get that opportunity, I’ll talk with Dr. Martin and we’ll make that decision then.”

It may not be quite as easy for his wife Linda to watch him play again.

“I have a hard time watching hockey [now],” she said. “I think I’d be really nervous.”

Granato began experiencing severe headaches shortly after he was checked and slammed headfirst into the boards at Hartford on Jan. 25. The increasing severity of the headaches and some memory loss caused him to check into the hospital in the early morning hours on Jan. 29.

For the Granatos, the most troubling moment leading up to his eventual surgery for removal of a blood clot came on the night he woke up and went to get some medicine for his headaches.

“That was pretty scary,” he said. “Some Christmas cards were all out, and I was having a hard time remembering people who had sent us Christmas cards. She [Linda] started asking me some questions and we went to the hospital.”

Injured King defenseman Rob Blake, who, along with Eric Lacroix and his entertaining magic tricks, has been helping baby-sit Granato’s four children, said that was the worst night for his teammate. Said former teammate Rick Tocchet: “He blacked out and didn’t remember half the guys on the team’s names and didn’t remember their wives.”

Said Martin: “It was a condition that was potentially life-threatening. With increasing headaches, it was on the threshold of a major problem. If another few days had passed, it would have been much more serious.”

If Granato continues to improve, Martin said he could resume working out in three months. “I’m taking it easy for at least another month, no exercise, taking naps and relaxing,” Granato said. “The last two weeks I really do feel back to 100% mentally.

“It’s tough. The worst part was worrying about my family. . . . I’ve been trying not to think about hockey.”

Nevertheless, almost everyone in the hockey world has been thinking about Granato’s well-being, as well as his friends on the Angels and pro golfer Craig Stadler.

Stadler sent a limo to Granato’s house and the King player spent a couple of hours at the recent Nissan Open.

Former King teammate Wayne Gretzky called him the night before the operation and told Granato about his father Walter’s successful brain surgery.

After the procedure, Colorado General Manager Pierre Lacroix visited him in the hospital and brought an Avalanche jersey, signed by the entire team.

To help ease the fears of his four young children, Granato did not have his entire head shaved, not wanting to scare them. And he had his two older boys, 6-year-old Michael and 4-year-old Dominic help trim a couple strands of his hair.

Granato truly feels fortunate.

“I appreciate being at home on the couch watching the kids all day, that I have my family and friends who mean everything,” he said.

“Sure it’d be great to come back and play hockey. I love playing hockey and I always have, but it ranks way behind family and friends.”