Hall-of-Famer Cammi Granato on Her Career and the Future of Women in Hockey
- Updated: October 21, 2020
(Photo credit: Seattle Kraken)
Women’s role in hockey is becoming increasingly prevalent, and for good reason.
The opportunities to play on the professional and Olympic stages have ultimately paved the way for more women taking on full-time roles from the broadcasting booth to administrative and executive positions with teams and leagues. Until last year, however, no female had ever held a scouting position in the NHL.
Enter Cammi Granato.
Photo credit: Getty Images
A pioneer of women’s hockey, Granato’s career in hockey has resulted in a long, decorated resume which includes an Olympic gold medal and enshrinement in the Hockey Hall of Fame. These days, Granato is very busy in her role with the expansion Seattle Kraken. As a matter of fact, in 2019, Granato was hired as a scout by the new team. With the hire, Granato made history, becoming the first female scout in NHL history.
I recently had the honour of speaking with Ms. Granato about her role as a pioneer in women’s hockey as well as the future for women in the sport. We began with how she’s enjoying her current role with the Kraken.
“I love my role with Seattle,” Granato beamed. “It’s an incredible organization to be a part of. I feel my experience of playing at a high level and my overall understanding of the game is what I can bring in my role.”
While her career in hockey has spanned over three decades, it was only in recent years when Granato began to fully appreciate the impact she had as a pioneer for women in hockey.
“I don’t think I really fully understood the idea of being a pioneer when we were playing in the 90’s,” the Downers Grove, Ill, native admitted. “But, looking back now I understand the impact it had on the game. When the 2018 US Womens’ team won gold, many of those players were inspired by our 1998 team. It put a real path in place for young female hockey players to achieve their dreams.”
While she wasn’t a part of Team USA’s gold-medal winning squad in Pyeongchang, Los Angeles Kings scout Blake Bolden felt the effect of Granato’s role in women’s hockey. Thanks to the Hall-of-Famer, Bolden not only enjoyed a successful career as a player but has since embarked on her own scouting career, following Granato as the second female scout in NHL history.
“This is a domino effect to what will continue to happen in the future,” Bolden told me earlier this fall in regards to women’s evolving role in hockey. “Cammi was the start in this role, and there are so many roles that women have the credentials to fill. All it takes is a little trust. We are becoming more and more open, and that can only be a great thing.
“I can only say that I am privileged to live in a time where this change in hockey culture is happening before my eyes.”
As for Granato, arguably her most celebrated achievement is the one she shares with fellow trailblazer, Angela James.
In 2010, Granato and the former Team Canada forward were both inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame, officially marking the once-overshadowed recognition of women in the sport with permanent entry into hockey’s Holiest shrine.
“It was a huge honor, Granato reflected. “For my whole life to that point, I was continually having to prove that I belonged in what was thought of as man’s sport. Being inducted was validation that women’s hockey was being accepted in this prestigious shrine of hockey players, right alongside the men.”
In regards to her current role with the Kraken, few are more deserving of it than Granato.
“Sport teaches a multitude of lessons that you can take with you in all different parts of life,” the 49-year-old explained. “For scouting, I think my experience in the game for all those years, playing and watching so many games at a high level, has made it a very natural position to take on.”
From Hockey Hall of Fame induction to more roles in hockey that were once exclusive only to men, the presence — and impact — of women in hockey is becoming increasingly stronger. Women’s place in hockey will only continue to grow, leaving Granato confident for the future.
“I think [women’s role in hockey] is moving in the right direction,” the Hall-of-Famer stated. “Over time, you will see more women in positions that were typically thought of as male-only roles.”
Photo credit: Chris Young /The Canadian Press
She may be too modest to celebrate her place in hockey but Cammi Granato has nonetheless put her stamp on a once-male-dominated sport with no plans of slowing down.
In July 2018 at the inaugural IIHF Women’s Ice Hockey Workshop in Copenhagen, IIHF Women’s Committee Chairwoman Zsuzsanna Kolbenheyer revealed that, at that juncture, there were nearly 200,000 women playing hockey across the world, improving a growth of 17.64 percent in eight years. In 2010, there were just over 170,000 women playing the game globally.
As of July 2020, there are 209,966 registered female players across the 81 nations with IIHF memberships. 81.69 percent (171,540) of those players, however, are in the United States and Canada, meaning that there remains room for significant growth in Europe and the rest of the world. Over time, though, look for those numbers to improve. After all, if the vast increases in numbers thus far is any indication, there is plenty of reason to be optimistic for the future of women’s hockey outside of North America, both short- and long-term.
Photo credit: The Hockey News/Hockey Hall of Fame
Coming from an accomplished hockey family — one of her brothers being Kings legend Tony Granato — to being married to former NHLer and current analyst Ray Ferraro, it would be an understatement to suggest that hockey is a significant part of Cammi Granato’s life. Moving forward, though, her work as a scout with the Seattle Kraken will help further set the tone for women in hockey and their collective impact on the game.
Once a male-dominated sport, hockey has made waves becoming increasingly inclusive and it is wonderful to see, filling the most ardent of fans with immense pride.
Even if she won’t take any time for it, we celebrate Cammi Granato’s role in hockey and the paths she has helped pave for younger generations of women to succeed in the sport.
From the sheer quality on the ice to the knowledge and expertise away from it, women’s presence in hockey is essential and only makes the game exponentially stronger with it.
Cammi Granato is the epitome of this.
Here’s to the greatest game in the world and here’s to, with the assistance of Ms. Granato, solidifying said moniker by opening its doors wide open for women everywhere.
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