Garrett, Sportsnet analyst, former goalie, dies at 74

The hockey world was crushed Tuesday by news of the death of John Garrett, a former goalie and beloved Rogers Sportsnet and Hockey Night in Canada broadcaster. He was 74.

“The National Hockey League family is stunned and saddened by the sudden passing of John Garrett, whose astute analysis took fans -- particularly in Western Canada -- inside our game for the last four decades,” NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman said in a statement. “Following a 13-season career as a goaltender in the WHA and the NHL, Garrett moved into the broadcast booth in 1986 and never left, contributing his encyclopedic knowledge and expert insight to national broadcasts on Sportsnet and local broadcasts for the Edmonton Oilers, Calgary Flames, and, for two decades, the Vancouver Canucks.

“On a personal note, I always enjoyed catching up with John when our travels around the League intersected -- as they did one last time on Friday night in Utah, when he broadcast the Mammoth’s first ever home playoff game.  We send our deepest condolences to his family, his friends around the game and his many fans.”

Nicknamed “Cheech” from the comedy team of Cheech and Chong, Garrett played junior hockey in Peterborough, Ontario, detoured briefly through Montreal, then set off on untold adventures through a landscape of exotic hockey homes in the minor pros, World Hockey Association, then the NHL.

The native of Trenton, Ontario played 207 NHL games between 1979-85 for the Hartford Whalers, Quebec Nordiques and Vancouver Canucks with a record of 68-91 and 37 ties, a 4.28 goals-against average, .866 save percentage and one shutout. In the Stanley Cup Playoffs, he was 4-3 with a 4.30 GAA and .858 save percentage.

Before arriving in the NHL with the Hartford Whalers in 1979-80, that franchise joining the NHL from the folded World Hockey Association, he played six seasons with the WHA’s Minnesota Fighting Saints, Toronto Toros, Birmingham Bulls and New England Whalers.

That was after tours of duty with the Kansas City Blues of the Central Hockey League, Portland Buckaroos of the Western Hockey League and Richmond Robins of the American Hockey League.

Garrett traded his pads for a microphone upon retirement in 1985, a popular voice for two decades on Canucks telecasts. He stepped back from that role in 2023-24 but remained on national telecasts, having joined the original Rogers Sportsnet team as an analyst in 1998. Along the way, Garrett unpacked his suitcase of stories for viewers and colleagues, many of whom expressed their sympathies online Tuesday.

Garrett came to goaltending by necessity for an older brother who needed someone to stand in the net and absorb shot after shot. In broadcaster and author Dick Irvin Jr.’s 1995 book, “In The Crease: Goaltenders Look at Life in the NHL,” Garrett recalled being pretty decent wearing ball-hockey pads and being asked to try out for a team in goal.

He liked the idea that, at age 8 or 9, he could play the whole game.

Garrett wore his first mask at age 13, shedding the day’s small leather helmet that barely covered the skull. His early equipment was primitive, but what it lacked in protection it made up for in weight.

“I remember weighing my equipment one time and it was around 45 pounds. I weighed only 150,” he told Irvin Jr.

Garrett was drafted by major-junior Peterborough, guided by late coaching pioneer Roger Neilson. 

He passed up a partial scholarship at Cornell University in Ithaca, New York, part of the deal being he’d have to sweep out fraternity rooms to make ends meet.

Instead, Garrett accepted Neilson’s offer of a full ride at Trent University in Peterborough. With the Junior A Petes in 1969-70 and 1970-71, teammates included future NHL stars Bob Gainey and Craig Ramsey, defensive specialists who rarely allowed quality shots.

His road took him, by loan, to the Montreal Junior Canadiens, a loaded squad featuring the likes of Richard Martin, Gilbert Perreault, Ian Turnbull and Jocelyn Guevremont. The team cruised to the 1970 Memorial Cup championship.

Garrett turned pro in 1971, drafted in the third round (No. 38) by the St. Louis Blues. Shipped to their Central league team, he’d be called up to the NHL team as a playoff backup. And then he was off to the Chicago Blackhawks organization, Tony Esposito and Gary Smith leaving him not even a spot on the end of the bench. 

At age 22, Garrett decided to jump to the WHA, having been drafted by Minnesota. His place in history was yet to come, with the Birmingham Bulls on Dec. 8, 1977.

“Gordie Howe had 999 professional goals and about 10 games went by and he didn’t score,” Garrett told Irvin Jr. “All kinds of media were following Gordie around, waiting for him to score. We played them in Birmingham and Gordie was standing in front of the net. 

“The pass came to him, and one-hopper, and he picked it off about three inches above the ice and nailed it. I got a picture of the play with the puck in the net behind it, and Gordie signed it, ‘Thanks for all the help.’”

Garrett would be off to New England in 1978, then into the NHL with the Whalers absorption, a teammate of Howe for a time. The Nordiques and Canucks followed, along with an emergency role in the 1983 NHL All-Star Game at Nassau Coliseum in Uniondale, New York.

Two days after having been traded to Vancouver from Quebec, Garrett was on the bench when Canucks goalie Richard Brodeur had an eardrum broken by a shot. Brodeur was the only Canucks player on the Wales Conference team and had to be replaced; Garrett was his substitute, four days into his tenure with Vancouver. He allowed only one goal in about 30 minutes in a 9-3 rout. 

With every stop, teammate Lanny McDonald, of the Calgary Flames, would tell the goalie he was closer to winning the car that would go to the most valuable player of the game.

“I’d make a save and Lanny would say, ‘Hey Cheech, you got the tires … the glove compartment … hey, great stop. Now you’ve got the steering wheel,’” Garrett told Irvin Jr.

Edmonton Oilers superstar Wayne Gretzky then went to work in the third period for the Campbell team, scoring four goals in about 13 minutes.

“Lanny comes back to me after each goal and says, ‘Oh-oh, there go the tires … oh-oh, there goes the steering wheel,’” Garrett said. “The next shift, 99 scores again. Now he’s got the hat trick. Then he gets another on his next shift. I mean, he takes four shifts and scores four goals. Guess what? I didn’t win the car,” which was awarded to Gretzky.