Garrett retired at the end of the 2022-23 season after over 35 years in the broadcast booth.
Garrett retired at the end of the 2022-23 season after over 35 years in the broadcast booth.
Few people have as much experience in hockey as John Garrett. The beloved Vancouver Canucks colour commentator retired at the end of the 2022-23 season after over 50 years as both a player and in the broadcast booth. In speaking to THN recently, "Cheech," as he is known, opened up about not just his career in the broadcast but about retirement and the current Canucks season.
As mentioned, Garrett retired at the end of last season after over 35 years as a colour commentator as well as a studio analyst. Now 72, the former Vancouver goaltender is enjoying some time off and even had the chance to head down to Florida to watch some MLB Spring Training this year. As Garrett explains, while he misses the crew he worked with for years, it was time to step away and move on to his next chapter.
"It's been different," said Garrett. "I can't say that I don't miss doing the games, but that being said, 35 years broadcasting and 15 years playing during the winter, your winters are completely taken up. This spring, my wife and I went for a month to Dunedin and watched the Jays spring training. It was so nice. And I did 10 games this year and it was enough to keep my hand in it and make me pay attention to the league and see what was going on, but it's the camaraderie. You miss Dan Murphy, John Shorthouse, and Greg Shannon, and then the broadcasting crew that I worked with in Vancouver for so many years; I missed that. That being said, the travel was starting to, as you get older, the time zones and these five-hour flights and things you start to feel it a little more. That side, I don't miss, and I've enjoyed my time off."
One aspect of NHL broadcasting that is often not thought about is how much time is spent on the road. This usually means missing family events or holidays as the television broadcast crew travels with the team and is at the mercy of the schedule. As Garrett explains, the ability to spend time with his family has been a major positive since retiring.
"Last year, I did 88 games, and you're busy all the time. Even when you're home, you've got a game you got to go down early, you've got to do all your stats and all the stuff. It's busy, and holidays, Christmas, New Year's, Thanksgiving, all those things that, for 50 years, I've missed. My daughter's birthday is in March, and I missed her being born because back then. Paternity leave, are you kidding? Well, you should have planned it better. That was the line they gave you. This year, because I'm only doing 10 games, I got to be home for Thanksgiving. I got to be home for Christmas and New Year's. I got to go to spring training. I was home for my daughter's birthday. Mother's Day I'll be home for Mother's Day, that kind of stuff that you miss. And now I can sit back and say, well, okay, yeah, I'll be here."
For the last decade, Garrett has created a unique partnership with Canucks play-by-play broadcaster John Shorthouse. They had a great partnership and added a level of entrainment to the broadcast that made games exciting regardless of the score. According to Garrett, while he still interacts with the games when watching from home, it is mostly questioning the players rather than responding to his old partner.
"Not so much talking to Shorty (Shorthouse) but talking to the players. Shorty and I had often said, wouldn't it be nice if you could have the all-honest broadcast sometime and just go crazy and say exactly what you felt? You know, I played for 15 years, and there's no such thing as a perfect game. The thing with being in the broadcast booth is you expect the perfect game. You're up there, and you can see it, and you can see everything develop, and you see how the plays are developing. The players are so good and are so fast, so talented and now that you expect the best when you don't see the best, then you say, Oh man, what were you thinking?"
One way Garrett and Shorthouse connected with fans was by talking about food. During these on-air conversations, ketchup was often mentioned, with subsequent photos posted of Garrett eating different items on the road with the condiment. This ultimately led to Garrett signing a ketchup bottle for a fan at this year's Western Canada Sports Collectors Convention, which, as he explains, was the first time he had ever signed a bottle.
"No, that's the first ketchup bottle. When I announced my retirement last year, the flight crew on Air Canuck gave me Cheech-Chup. They had labels made and gave me ketchup bottles with my face on the bottles. That was kind of nice, but not to sign them; this is the first time I've had to sign a ketchup bottle. Shorty and I, when the team was struggling during the broadcast, our sponsors were Safeway or Save On Food products. We thought, well, okay, you know, a little levity and let's get away from the game here for a bit. We ended up talking about food, and so it became part of our stick. When there was a lull in the game, let's talk about food."
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Jumping to this year's Canucks team, Garrett is impressed with how the organization has built a powerhouse team. He credits Jim Rutherford and Patrik Allvin for the work they did adding to the roster while also praising the goaltending department of Thatcher Demko and Casey DeSmith. Garrett also touched on Quinn Hughes' performance and gave a prediction that could come true as early as this year.
"I think Jim Rutherford and Patrik Allvin have done a nice job getting players to give them some more size and some more depth, especially on the blue line. Thatcher Demko is coming into his own. He's an elite goaltender. If you don't have goaltending, you're not going to be good. Casey DeSmith has come in and been a perfect backup for them. But the maturity of Quinn Hughes, like to me, he's going to be a Norris trophy candidate every year, and he's probably going to win within the next three years."
Another area Garrett was complimentary of is Vancouver's coaching staff. Whether it is Rick Tocchet or other coaches, they have done a great job of managing the players and keeping everyone on the same page throughout the season. As Garrett explains, they deserve a lot of credit, as the Canucks have shattered pre-season expectations and have put together a historic season.
"I think the expectations this year coming in weren't as high. You look at the experts at the start of the year, where everybody picked the Canucks to be out of the playoffs. They got off to such a terrific start, and they win the division and I think people are so thrilled that the expectations were so low at the start of the season and now you're in the playoffs and the expectations are high and rightfully so because they played so well all year. The coaching staff deserves a lot of credit because I think they have come in and been able to rein in the different personalities and make sure that everybody knows their role and what's expected of them. I think Rick Tocchet has done a nice job, Adam Foote and the rest of the staff."
Based on how the team is assembled, Garrett is excited not just for the rest of this season but also for the future. With the stars locked up, Vancouver looks like they are entering their competitive window, which is excellent news for the fan base. Whether it is Hughes, Demko, Elias Pettersson or J.T. Miller, Garrett is looking forward to seeing what this core can accomplish.
"I really think that the people in Vancouver appreciate how good this team has been. I think a lot of it has to do with the expectations being so low to start with. People are thrilled with the results that they've had this year. 100 points and Quinn Hughes setting records, right, left, and center for multiple-point games. Elias (Pettersson) is getting his contract done. I think that's something that the fans look to and say, well, okay, now we're set for the future. We've got the goalie on a long-term contract. We've got our number one center on a long-term contract. We got J.T. Miller on a long-term contract, and we have a Norris Trophy defenseman on a long-term contract. So it's not only just this year that the fans are excited about, it's the future."
As for the Canucks this season, Garrett is looking forward to seeing how the team handles the pressure of the Stanley Cup Playoffs. As he points out, this will also be a special time for the fans as they have not been able to attend an NHL Playoff game in close to a decade. Overall, he hopes this is a long run that rewards both the players for their hard work and the fans for their years of dedication.
"Yeah, I'm really excited. I'm hoping they do. I really think that for the fans who have stuck with them over the years, it's getting to be such an expensive sport to go and be part of physically at the games; it would be nice if they have a long run. I'm really a big fan of guys like J.T. Miller. Quinn Hughes, and Elias. Guys that really appreciate the game. They are competitors, and they're great players. Thatcher is a cerebral sort of goaltender. I got to know him fairly well being around the team as much as it was, and it would be so nice if they have the success that they have worked for."
As for a look back on his time in the broadcast booth, Garrett is happy that fans enjoyed his calls and banter over his illustrious career. He was also very touched by the standing ovation he received at Rogers Arena last season during his final home broadcast. While he says people didn't tune into games to hear his banter, based on his popularity, it is clear the fans appreciated all the work he did keeping them entertained for over three decades.
"Well, it's nice, and I really appreciate it, and I'm glad that I was able to help the audience enjoy the games a little more. You look around the league and all the great broadcasters there are, all the great play-by-play guys. I'm not kidding myself to think that they turn the voice down or they're watching the other feed from the other city or whatever. They're there to watch the game. They're there to watch the players. I'm just an add-on, and I'm glad that I was able to entertain. I'm glad that the people have liked our broadcasts, and most people seem to like Shorty and I and Murph (Dan Murphy) as a broadcast team."
Looking back, it is easy to say Garrett put together one of the most impressive broadcasting careers in NHL history. From his incredible stories to his sense of humour, few have been able to engage a fan base like he has for the last two decades. A hockey icon in Vancouver, his illustrious career should lead him to a spot in the BC Sports Hall of Fame in the not-too-distant future.
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