A change to the Kings broadcast team this week on the road!
Regular TV Analyst Jim Fox will not be on the trip. In his place will be another former Kings forward in Tony Granato!
“I’m excited, I’ve always felt that, ever since I left the organization, that there was still a relationship with somebody and in most cases, a lot of the people that were still involved in the organization, with Luc being the President, Blakey being there for such a long time, Jimmy Hiller now coaching and lots of other guys along the way,” Granato said. “There’s always been a connection, it’s felt like. Even though I wasn’t a part of the organization officially, it still felt like there were still enough ties there that it was still part of your life. It’s nice to be re-joining [the Kings] in a different capacity, a different role and to do these games will be very exciting.”
Back in September, as the Kings announced their broadcast schedule, it was announced that Granato would be one of a few analysts who would join the broadcast crew for select games. By Fox’s choice, he expressed a desire to scale back his schedule a bit when he could. We saw Ray Ferraro join the team in the analyst role for games in Canada earlier this season and we’ll see former Kings forward Jarret Stoll do a few games as well, beginning in January. This week, it’s Granato’s turn. He’ll be on the Kings telecast this week with John Kelly on play-by-play for all three games.
Kelly and Granato are very familiar with each other, from their time together in Colorado where Granato was the Head Coach and Kelly the play-by-play broadcaster.
“The other thing that’s really exciting is working with John Kelly,” he said. “John and I were together in Denver during the years I was working with the Avalanche. There’s not a more classy, more exciting guy to have a chance to be in the booth with. Bob Miller and Nick Nickson would have been pretty cool too, but to have a chance to work with John will be really exciting.”
As a player, Granato is still in the Top-20 all-time in Kings history in goals. He was a part of the organization’s most successful season outside of 2012 and 2014, as a forward on the 1992-93 team that played in the Stanley Cup Final. Granato is a member of the United States Hockey Hall of Fame as a 2020 inductee. He was an NHL All-Star in 1997, the same year he won the Bill Masterton Trophy and he was named to the league’s All-Rookie Team in 1987. Granato also found some success as a coach in Colorado, winning a round in the 2004 postseason. Since his coaching career at Wisconsin came to a close in 2023, Granato has done broadcasting work with the Chicago Blackhawks and NHL Network and he now adds the Kings to that resume as well.
The Kings are an organization that remained special to him long after he left. Certainly seems to mean something to him to return in a broadcasting capacity.
“There’s definitely something unique about LA and a lot had to do with that run [in 1993],” he said. “A lot had to do with the players that I was able to play with for a long time. I was in LA longer than any other organization, I spent six and a half years there as a King, all enjoyable ones. I think of the teammates, I think of the run to the finals, coming close to winning that Stanley Cup. Having the chance to play with Wayne, Marty, Luc, Kelly, Dave Taylor, I could go on and on with the great players and people I was able to be teammates with. You always feel that connection when you come that close to winning……it was such a pleasure to be on that run with them, the fans, the excitement that team brought to LA was a pretty special group. That certainly is one of my fondest memories as a player.”
Granato will be on all three games this trip, beginning tomorrow evening in Dallas. The Kings then move on to Florida and Tampa Bay, with all three games broadcast on FanDuel Sports Network.
More from Granato below in a conversation from All The Kings Men, as he was the guest on the show this past week. Granato spoke at length about his time with the Kings, his battle with cancer a few years back and his career as a player, coach and broadcaster.
