The trio discusses the college hockey experience and how it develops leadership skills and has a positive impact on athletes long after they transition away from playing hockey.

Cammi Granato and AJ Mleczko were teammates on Team USA that won America’s first gold medal in women’s hockey at the 1998 Winter Olympics in Nagano, Japan.

During their time together, Granato and Mleczko were roommates on the road and spent a lot of time on buses, talking about everything and anything, but especially their college hockey experiences. Years later, that was the inspiration for On The Bus With Cammi & AJ, a podcast featuring two trailblazing women sharing inspiring stories of those in the sports world & beyond!

Prior to the start of the 2021-22 college hockey season, Granato and Mleczko welcomed former NHLer, Cammi’s big bro, new grandpa and Head Coach of Wisconsin Badgers Men’s Ice Hockey, Tony Granato, on the bus.

Granato and Mleczko have recorded some great episodes in the past, but this one is something special.

Tony, a former NHL player, assistant and head coach, and Olympic player and head coach, captained the men’s hockey team at the University of Wisconsin before reaching the NHL, and he just completed his sixth season coaching his alma mater. He joins sister Cammi and AJ to talk about his college experience, how the recruiting process has changed, how important it is to have a locker room full of leaders, individual players growth, differences coaching at the college and professional levels, the benefit of the student athlete experience, and more.

This 55-minute video was part of the College Hockey Inc. Virtual Coaching Clinic, put on by The Coaches Site. This episode was recorded when Cammi Granato was still a member of the scouting staff for the Seattle Kraken, she’s now assistant general manager with the Vancouver Canucks. Many know Granato as the former captain of the U.S. women’s hockey team that won that aforementioned gold medal in the 1998 Winter Olympics. A member of the International Hockey Hall of Fame, the US Hockey Hall of Fame and the Hockey Hall of Fame, Granato also won an Olympic silver, nine medals at the IIHF World Women’s Championships and seven 4 Nations Cup medals.

Co-host AJ Mleczko had an impressive nine-year playing career before being inducted into the USA Hockey Hall of Fame and Harvard Hall of Fame. She has since become a renowned hockey analyst having covered five Olympics with NBC Sports. Mleczko has also covered hockey for Turner, New England Sports Network (NESN), Universal Sports and the NHL Network.