This was all so new, so strange.
Travel is always educational.
The China trip was preparation for next February's Winter Olympics, in Nagano, Japan, where women's hockey will come in from the cold as a medal sport. In the U.S., with only 21,555 registered players, women's hockey exists on the margin of public consciousness, and if the Granato name has a familiar ring, it's only because nine-year National Hockey League veteran Tony Granato plays left wing for the San Jose Sharks. He has scored 30 goals in a season four times in his career, but he is still the second-best player in his family. She's not my sister. I'm her brother.