Granato was the captain of the U.S. women's hockey team that won a gold medal in the 1998 Winter Olympics. She is the younger sister of former NHL player and former Colorado Avalanche head coach Tony Granato, and a graduate of Providence College. Granato played hockey for the Concordia Stingers of Concordia University in Montreal, Quebec, Canada, until CIAU added more restrictive rules on non-Canadians. In June 1997, New York Islanders general manager Mike Milbury extended an invitation to Granato to attend Islanders training camp. Granato eventually declined.