John Garrett (ice hockey)

John Murdoch Garrett (born June 17, 1951 in Trenton, Ontario) is a retired Canadian ice hockey goaltender and television sports commentator.

Originally selected in the 1971 NHL Entry Draft by the St. Louis Blues, Garrett would instead begin his professional career with the Minnesota Fighting Saints of the World Hockey Association. He would play with the Fighting Saints until the franchise folded, and then signed with the Toronto Toros, and would follow the Toros franchise when it relocated to Birmingham. In the final WHA season, Garrett was traded to the New England Whalers, and would remain with the franchise when it entered the NHL. Garrett would also play for the Quebec Nordiques and Vancouver Canucks before retiring.

John Garrett was involved in one of the oddest scenarios in the history of the NHL All-Star Game. Replacing an injured Richard Brodeur, the Vancouver Canucks only representative at the 1983 All-Star game that year, John Garrett was voted the game’s MVP. After Wayne Gretzky scored four times in the last ten minutes, a re-vote was held and Gretzky was named the All-Star Game MVP. [ Sports Illustrated, p. 11, January 8, 2007 ]

Garrett retired after the 1984–85 season and, after serving as the Canucks assistant general manager for one season, began his broadcasting career in 1986–87. He worked as a colour commentator on CBC's Hockey Night in Canada. Within a few years, he was considered a valuable member of the team and was assigned his first conference final in 1991--his first of eight in a row. In addition to HNIC, he also worked alongside Bruce Buchanan on Edmonton Oilers television broadcasts. He left CBC in 1998 to join the fledgling CTV Sportsnet (now Rogers Sportsnet). He worked as a studio analyst on national broadcasts, as well as the colour commentator for the Calgary Flames games on Sportsnet West. During the 1994 NHL Lockout, he briefly worked for United Parcel Service of Canada in Vancouver.

Since the 2002–03 season, Garrett has served as the colour commentator, alongside play-by-play commentator Jim Hughson, for Canucks games on Sportsnet Pacific. He also works sparingly for Hockey Night in Canada.

References

External links

* [http://www.hockeydraftcentral.com/1971/71038.html Profile at hockeydraftcentral.com]
*hockeydb|1854|John Garrett
*legendsofhockey|18524|John Garrett