Shark to Get Warm Welcome at Forum

Tony Granato was expecting a battery of tests and maybe a series of lengthy consultations. After all, he was sitting with a doctor at the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minn., and talking about returning to hockey only a few months after career-threatening brain surgery.

“He looked at my charts and said, ‘Do you wear a helmet?’ ” Granato recalled Saturday. “I said, ‘Yes.’ And he said, ‘Go ahead and play.’ He was probably an old-time hockey fan when players didn’t wear helmets.”

Tony Granato is back in the NHL. But he’s wearing teal.

Against formidable medical odds, Granato will take the ice at the Forum tonight for the first time since Jan. 27. That was his final game as a King, against the Anaheim Mighty Ducks, and several hours later Granato was in the hospital because of a blood clot in his brain. Less than a month later, his career seemed over and Granato feared for his life when he underwent brain surgery.

Now, armed with a bit more helmet padding, Granato is a San Jose Shark making an unprecedented comeback. “Seven months ago, I didn’t think there was any chance I’d come back,” said Granato, who signed as a free agent in August. “Nor did I want to. But after the operation, I felt great. I feel 100 percent.”

Granato was talking hours before the Sharks’ opener against the Islanders, so it was difficult for him to think about an emotional return to Los Angeles, especially since he was one of the most charismatic King players off the ice and tenacious and feisty on it. “It’s a double whammy--there’s a lot to be excited about,” he said. “It’s hard to look past tonight [against the Islanders]. But I’m excited about coming back, and I’m glad it’s early in the season.”

He was on the Sharks’ No. 1 line with Bernie Nicholls and Owen Nolan during training camp, scoring one goal and three points in seven games, but is expected to play with Viktor Kozlov and Shean Donovan in the opener.

Apparently he has been asked often whether he will try to hit defenseman Rob Blake. Blake and Granato speak regularly, and Granato was planning to call and congratulate him on his return to the lineup.

“Obviously, I’d rather have him on my side, but I’ll try to [hit him],” Granato said, laughing.