Tank Hankerous

-Was born June 17, 1951 (will be 72 this summer). -From Trenton, Ontario. Trenton is roughly 2 hours from Toronto and three hours from Ottawa. It’s home to Canadian forces base. -Garrett’s father John C. Garrett was a school teacher, starting in 1937 (taking a break to fight nazis in WW2) and later a principal at Tenton High. His mom Marvel stayed at home, and they had 7 kids. They also had an injured war veteran uncle and a grandfather living with them. With that big a household, they struggled and even buying goalie gear was a challenge. -Garrett says that growing up in this cash strapped household started his famous love of ketchup, as he used it on meals such as meatloaf. “There was always 11 people around and you made food stretch. The meat loaf was more bread than meat and ketchup was the sauce that made everything taste good.” He now says he puts ketchup on everything except fish and salads. -The high school field in Trenton is named after his father. -Garrett has a Grade 8 piano certification from the Royal Conservatory of Music and a Grade 2 theory certification. He resumed piano playing on his keyboard during COVID when he had time on his hands, via FaceTime help from his retired music teacher brother Greg. -He didn’t play organized hockey until He was about 9 or 10. He played baseball (He once stated during a Canucks broadcast in 2021 that he’s the only one who can fix Toronto Blue Jays shortstop Bo Bichette’s issues with throws to first base because he's a one-time Ontario baseball champion) and football but got his start in goal so his older brother could shoot at him. He was pretty much always a goalie in ice hockey. -He played Junior B in Trenton as a 16 year old, and then got the chance to play major Junior an hour away in Peterborough for the OHA Petes in 1969-70. His Junior coach with the Petes was future Canuck coach Roger Nielson. -At the end of his first season, Peterborough loaned him out to the Montreal Junior Canadiens for the 1970 Memorial Cup run, in which he would go 7-1 in nine games played and win a championship against Guy Lafleur’s Quebec Remparts. (Teams were allowed to pick-up goalies once they won their league. In 1969 the Jr Habs had a guy named Jim Rutherford for the Memorial Cup run and in 1970 it was Garrett). -Five future Canucks were on that Jr. Habs team: Paulin Bordeleau, Richard Lemieux, Bobby Lalonde, Jocelyn Guevremont and Garrett. -He went back to the Petes for year 2 of junior. Both seasons of Junior he lead the OHA in shutouts and GAA and won the OHA Dave Pinkney Trophy (No. 1 goalie on team with lowest GAA) in back-to-back years. -He was drafted 38th overall (3rd round) in the 1971 NHL Draft by the St. Louis Blues. -The Blues sent him to the minors where he played for the Kansas City Blues. That season, they had an 18 game no losing streak setting a CHL record. The team folded after that year. But as a rookie, he led the CHL with three shutouts in 1971-72. -The Blues traded him to Chicago before the 1972-73 season (September ‘72) as future considerations from a prior deal. Chicago had Tony Esposito and Gary Smith so Garrett had no chance. -He was sent to the WHL Portland Buckaroos. For the 2nd half of the season, the Blackhawks loaned him to the Richmond Robins in Virgina (Flyers AHL affiliate). -Garrett, wanting a chance to play pro went to the NHL’s new rival pro league, the WHA and signed with the Minnesota Fighting Saints who had drafted him in the WHA draft. He would be a teammate of future Canuck coach Bruce Boudreau and before asking a question at Boudreau’s first press conference in Vancouver, identified himself as “John Garrett, Minnesota Fighting Saints.” -He signed a 2-year deal with the Saints of for $20,000 and $30,000 for 1973 and 1974. A huge pay increase. -Garrett reportedly picked up his Cheech nickname from teammate Rick Smith in Minnesota. It’s supposedly because of his resemblance to comedian Cheech Marin…perhaps Smith was a fan of comedy albums because the first Cheech and Chong movie didn’t come out until 1978. Some early hockey cards cite his nickname as “chi-chi” perhaps in reference to golfer chichi Rodriguez. -His coach in Minny was future Canuck coach and GM Harry Neale who would later become his fellow HNIC colour commentator…and would hire him as an assistant GM (more on that later). -He spent 3 seasons with the Saints (73-74, 74-75 and 75-76) and Represented the host team in the 1974 WHA All-Star Game on Jan. 3 at St. Paul. -Garrett's wife delivered his daughter Krista, while he was on the road with the Saints playing the Phoenix Roadrunners and the thought of telling his coach he couldn't travel with the team because his wife was due is still a laughable thought for him. -After the Saints folded in 1976 (during the season!) he signed with the WHA Toronto Toros and played 9 games to end the season…and then moved with the Toros to Birmingham, Alabama as the Bulls. -Garrett had success with the Bulls. As a 25 year old he led WHA with 4 shutouts for Birmingham and was a First Team all star in 1976-77. He later played in the 1977 and 1978 WHA All-Star Games. -Garrett ran a hockey school during his time playing for the Bulls in the 1970s. The school was called the "John Garrett Hockey School." Garrett, along with his teammate Brent Hughes (not the former New West Bruin), started the school in the summer of 1976. The school offered instruction for players of all ages and skill levels, and it was popular among both local residents and hockey enthusiasts from other parts of the country. Garrett and Hughes were both instrumental in helping to establish the sport of hockey in Alabama during their time with the Bulls, and the hockey school was just one of the ways they helped to promote the game in the area. -Here’s what he had to say about playing in Alabama: 1. “I never played in the deep south before. I've never seen so many mosquitoes in my life. The first night I was here, they drained my body of 17 pints of blood." (from a 1976 interview with The Birmingham News) 2. “I don't want to say we're in the boondocks, but when we got here, the sign said, 'Welcome to Birmingham, home of the interstate interchange.'" (from a 1976 interview with The Birmingham News) 3. “We're not just ambassadors for the game of hockey, we're ambassadors for Canada. We want to show that Canadians are people who like to have fun and who are friendly." (from a 1976 interview with The Birmingham Times) -He suffered permanent eye damage from an injury with the Bulls after a slap shot cut him for 28 stitches, bruised his eyeball, scratched the cornea, and to this day his left eye is more sensitive to light. When he later went to Hartford in the early 80s he was a leader with the Connecticut society for the prevention of blindness. -In September of 1978, he was traded to the New England Whalers where he played with Gordie Howe. The Whalers were joining th NHL and offering him a chance to play in the National Hockey League (NHL), which was the top professional league in North America at the time. -Garrett was involved in one of the biggest hockey brawls of all time: April 11th, 1975, the Brawl at the Mall. Garrett fought goalie Al Smith who had 4 inches of height and 25 Pounds on him. No video that I could find… but the radio broadcast is on YouTube and it sounds like Cheech ate some rights. 41 penalties were handed out. Garrett’s teammates were the three Carlson brothers – Jack, Justin and Steve who played the Hanson brothers in SlapShot. -When the WHA folded in 1979, Garrett ranked second all-time in league history for career shutouts (14), third all-time in career games played by a goaltender (323), and career minutes by a goaltender (18,919), and fifth all-time in career wins (148). He was also the wha's all-time career leader in losses. -Garrett stayed with the Whalers as they entered the NHL in 1979-80 and was their starter for their first 2 NHL seasons. His teammates included future Canucks coaches Rick Ley and Jack Mcilhargey. -In a classic moment against the Washington capitals, Garrett was angry at a goal that he argued didn’t cross the goal line. So he looked up at the scoreboard waiting for the replay. Meanwhile the referee dropped the puck to resume play at centre ice and Mike Gartner scored a long range goal on him. Whalers coach Don Blackburn was so angry that Cheech got benched. -He was wrongly not credited for getting the second assist on Gordie Howe’s last goal. Video evidence: -In 1981, he played for Canada in the World Hockey championship in Sweden where they finished fourth. The team had the greatest moustaches in Team Canada history with Lanny McDonald, Mike Gartner and Dave Babych and Cheech. Guy Lafleur, who Garrett helped beat in the Memorial Cup was on the team, as was Larry Robinson. The coach was Garrett’s future HNIC colleague Don Cherry. -Garrett was the Whalers team rep. to the NHLPA. -During his time with the team, he became known for his on-camera appearances during intermissions. Garrett would wear a microphone and camera while in goal during the first period of Whalers games. Then, during the intermission, he would be interviewed by broadcaster Chuck Kaiton, often while still wearing his goalie equipment. These interviews became known as "Garrett in the Net" segments and were popular among fans. -Garrett's on-camera appearances were considered innovative at the time, as they provided fans with a unique perspective on the game from a player's point of view. They also allowed fans to see a more personal side of Garrett and get to know him better as a person. -Hockey night in Canada as well as CTV noticed and liked what he did… -In the early 80s, CTV gave him his first shot at broadcasting. He says “When I was playing in Hartford, we missed the playoffs one year and I was asked if I’d like do a series between periods. It was CTV and Dan Kelly and I got to work with Pat Burns and really enjoyed it. And you know me, I like to talk.” -In 1981-82, younger goalie Greg Millen, another future HNIC colleague took the starting job in Hartford and Garrett was traded in January 1982 to the Quebec Nordiques. Garrett was 30 now and didn’t mind the trade, saying “It will be easier sitting on the bench of a winning team than it is on a losing one. I might even win a Stanley Cup ring sitting on the bench.” -Garrett played parts of two seasons in Quebec but it was reported he was happy to leave as it was tough for his wife and kids to be living in the mostly French town. He played with the Stastnys and Dale Hunter. -In an early season tie in 1982-83 against the Edmonton Oilers, Garrett came on to replace goalie Dan Bouchard and did well. Wayne Gretzky said after the game "He knows me well and I even had problems with him back in the World Hockey Association days.” "I don't really understand why the Nordiques don't use him more," added Edmonton coach Glen Sather. "He did a great job in the playoffs against Boston last year and he proved then how well he could play." -It was in Quebec in which Garrett had his famous Hot Dog incident: “I had the trainer get me a hot dog,. Nobody saw you, the only person who knew was the trainer. The best hot dogs in the league, by the way, were at Le Colisee. Toasted buns and everything. So I’m eating one and Dan Bouchard was the (starting) goalie. So he’s playing and the game is going OK, so I figured I’m not going in this one. Some nights, when the other team scores three quick ones, you had a hint you might be going in so you get rid of the dog. But he lets in one goal and he’s (ticked) off at whoever’s on the ice at the time and he just charged off the ice. "Well, I’m sitting there and I’ve go the hot dog tucked in my pad. So I’ve got to go in and I stand up and put my mask on. I can’t reach down and dig the dog out of my pads, people are looking at me. So I go out there and finish the game. I had to fall down a couple of times and mustard and ketchup was flying. I had to tighten the straps on my pads so the dog doesn’t come out. The trainer’s just killing himself (with laughter).” –Montreal Gazette, 2008 -Garrett’s old junior coach Roger Nielsen was now in Vancouver, and his old WHA coach Harry Neale was the GM…and Garrett was traded to the Canucks in February of 1983. -Garrett got traded on a Thursday and was on his way to meet the Canucks in Toronto for a Saturday night game. His famous Canucks mask was just a paint over of his Nordiques mask that he got done in Toronto waiting for his new team. Greg Harrison did Garrett’s masks. Garrett had that mask for most of his career and said it was repainted eight times as he changed teams. In 1988, Garrett was in Calgary for the Olympics when he saw an art exhibition of goalie masks that had a number of Harrison’s iconic designs. He still has the poster from that show. -Then on the Sunday, the Canucks played in Pittsburgh and goalie Richard Brodeur broke his ear drum. Garrett went in. But Brodeur was supposed to play in the All-Star game 2 days later….so Garrett got to play in the NHL All-Star game in 1983 after being a Canuck for 3 days. -As he tells it, “There weren’t any goaltenders in the Western Conference who were really lighting it up at the time, so the Canucks needed a representative and I was it. Roger Neilson was the coach because the Canucks went to the finals the year before. It was really something just to be there, and I got to play, and I was playing pretty well, it was 3-2 at the time, and halfway through the third period, the reporters who were voting on the MVP were handing in their ballots and I was going to win the car (a Pontiac firebird). Then there was ten minutes left in the third period and Lanny McDonald, who I played in the World Championship with sometime in 81, we became friends and he kept coming back after each save I made and said ‘Cheech, Cheech, you’re getting rolling here, you’ve already got one of the tires’. Then he finally came back at the eight-minute mark of the third period and said ‘Cheech you’re getting the steering wheel you’ve got this thing locked up’. Then Gretzky comes out and scores, then he scores again and Lanny comes back out and says ‘It’s going away’. Then Gretzky went out and got another, and another one, he got four in the last ten minutes, and then my car was gone. I was driving a Nissan Micra at the time, and I think it was Wayne’s 10th car that he had won.” -Garrett said Vancouver wasn’t easy for him: "When I got there I was the back up to Richard Brodeur and played in 50 games in two years. That was tough. The next year Harry's (GM Harry Neale) contract wasn't renewed. Jack Gordon took over and Tom Watt became the coach. Brodeur was getting to the end of the line and they wanted a younger goalie to be his back up. They didn't want two 33 year olds sharing the job. They had Frank Caprice and Wendel Young coming up." -Om December 18, 1983, a Vancouver Magazine did a story on the Canucks’ wives. Mrs. Cheech (Sharon Garrett, who is from the same hometown) told the paper that when her her daughter was 6, she came home crying from school. John had been traded to Quebec but the family remained in Hartford. A boy at school told her that her parents were getting a divorce which is why they live in separate towns. She also talked about how superstitious he was, eating the same pregame meal before each game when he was a hot streak, and parking his car in the same spot. -Garrett spent 3 seasons as a backup in Vancouver. Garrett was coached by Neale in his final year and played with Cam Neely, Marc Crawford, Stan Smyl, Ron Delorme, Doug Lidster, Jim Nill and Thomas Gradin, all who would go on to become coaches or front office guys. -In February 1984, Garrett had his only official NHL fight against goalie Gary Risling of the Penguins. -In the 1984 season Garrett was the goalie for Vancouver in Pittsburgh for Mario Lemieux’s first home game. Gary Lupul grabbed Lemieux for a fight and Lemieux was beating him up. Garrett jumped Mario and started hitting him and said that he trash talked him, saying that he would never make it as an NHL player, and that “anyone can score in the Quebec league.” Lemieux laughs about the incident now. Video here: https://m.youtube.com/watch?time_continue=35&v=EqP0mc8qbM0&embeds_euri=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.google.ca%2F&source_ve_path=MTM5MTE3&feature=emb_logo -After the 1984-85 season, Garrett earned the nickname "Lotto" because his high goals-against average of 6.49 was the same as Canada's national lottery, Lotto 6/49. -Garrett was thinking of life after hockey and during the Summer of 1985 would then 34. He still had a year left on his contract and was being phased out. Then in May Canucks' GM Harry Neale met with him and said that he didn’t have an assistant GM. Cheech accepted the offer…and somebody tipped off the people at O-Pee-Chee hockey cards and “Now Assistant General Manger” was printed on the front of his card…but Neale was fired that Summer and the opportunity was gone. Garrett said that on his Wikipedia page and said that he was assistant general manager for an entire year and so he actually went and edited the Wikipedia page himself to make sure that it was correct. -At the beginning of the 1985-86 season, Garrett was eventually asked to go play in the AHL in Fredericton, which he did for 3 games before he made up his mind to retire. -He retired with 207 NHL games under his belt. His only NHL shutout came as a Canuck. -During his coaching and managerial career, Neale sometimes worked for Hockey Night in Canada as an analyst in the playoffs, in the event his team missed the playoffs or eliminated from Stanley Cup contention. He then began working as a broadcaster full-time in 1986. Garrett then also began his broadcasting career for HNIC beginning in 1986. He says “In Vancouver, my career was coming to an end and John Davidson, who was doing all the western games, got signed by MSG. John Shannon asked me if I’d like to try it. Sure enough.” He was a studio analyst, the a colour man, and later the official commentator for Edmonton Oilers broadcasts. They liked his intermission work in Hartford, and he was known as a funny and quotable player. -Garrett was also a CBC broadcaster on the 1988 winter Olympics. -Garrett became accused of being a “homer” but not for a team…but for goalies. He was known for defending the police and frequently commenting on how they had no chance on certain goals. -While playing Junior, Garrett began studies at Trent University and later at Queen’s in Kingston. Over three decades, he worked at his degree, eventually graduation with his Bachelor’s degree in English. -He also studied Hebrew and Latin (his father taught Latin) as well. When asked about Latin during his playing days he said “it will be handy to have it because if I ever meet an Ancient Roman we’ll be able to have a great conversation.” His goalie partner in Quebec, Dan Bouchard was a devout Christian. Garrett joked that this made them “the perfect tandem” because with his Hebrew knowledge “Dan can make contact with all those biblical characters up above, then I can translate what they say for him.” -From 1986-1998 he was a HNIC regular colour man working mainly in the west with a variety of play-by-play announcers such as Don Wittman, Steve Armitage, Mark Lee and others. -Throughout the 1990s, he was part of Hockey Night in Canada's B-team behind only Bob Cole and Harry Neale. He called eight Conference Finals series for Hockey Night in Canada and was a staple alongside Chris Cuthbert. -During the 1994 lockout, he earned extra money by delivering packages for UPS (kids gotta go to school, mortgage gotta get paid, etc). -After 8 years, he left CBC then became a studio analyst for a new network: CTV Sportsnet in 1998. -He was used by Sportsnet as colour analyst for Edmonton Oilers and Calgary Flames regional broadcasts and joined the Canucks’ regional broadcast on Sportsnet Pacific in 2002. Initially he was paired with Jim Hughson, then in 2008 with John Shorthouse. -Garrett did studio reporting with Don Taylor and Garry Valk as well as opinion pieces. -During the 2010 Olympics, Garrett did the Color for the radio arm of the broadcast consortium. He worked with Flames play—by-play guy and Hall of Famer Peter Maher. You can listen to their call of Crosby’s overtime goal here: https://m.youtube.com/watch?time_continue=580&v=paulQPOiIno&embeds_euri=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.google.ca%2F&feature=emb_logo -Ever a defender of goalies, when a Vancouver radio host asked him about Roberto Luongo on the road to the 2011 so I can plan out here said “why don’t you ask Jason Botchford? He writes about him every other day.” -In 2018, John Garrett was a special guest at the opening game of the Junior A White Rock Whalers, co-owned by Troy Stetcher. He wore his Whalers jersey and did the ceremonial puck drops. -Garrett has spent a lot of time helping young goalies. He was an instructor at the Bobby Orr-Mike Walton Sports Camp on the shores of Lake Couchiching in Orillia, Ontario. After he retired he coached at Roger Neilson’s hockey school in Port Hope, Ontario along with Ron Francis, Colin Campbell and others. -Garrett also ran the John Garrett Hockey School in Vancouver (You could register by sending your form and money to “The John Garrett Hockey School P.O. Box 416 New Westminster. B.C. V3L4Y7). He has also spend time working with three Eagles of the BCHL and providing goalie instruction to other teams and minor hockey programs. -He also wrote a column for the Surrey Leader newspaper entitled “In the Crease by John Garrett.” -Garrett had a feature on Canucks.com called “back in my day.” He had memorable moments, including when he described Madison Square Garden when the circus was in town as smelling “like poo poo” (https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=0GxDwJMoxrU) -Garrett is known for his food habits, such as his love for Coca Cola, fast food, and ketchup. He once said “The key to good KD is to ignore the bit about adding milk. Just put lots of butter and then the cheese sauce. Ketchup ,salt and pepper. Perfection" -Reporter Dan Murphy describes him: “John Garrett is like a four year old child: it’s chicken fingers and ketchup, or pizza and ketchup, or white bread and ham cheese is “healthy.” …There are just so many shocking things with his eating habits. But the thing is, he’s got no home game. Like at home, I think his wife forces him to eat well, he’s not ordering beers two at a time, so I think for the most part at home he’s ok, but on the road, it’s difficult to go out and have a good meal with John because using cutlery isn’t one of his favourite things and he seriously thinks that going for a healthy lunch, if he’s going for healthy, is Subway on Italian — not white — ham and cheese, extra mayo, extra cheese, and no veggies. None.” -Murphy started posting road photos on Twitter of Garrett at various restaurants in NHL cities, eating ketchup with everything from steak to pepperoni pizza, and eating at Wendy’s. “I can let you in on one little secret, I’m never there,” Murphy said. “Those pictures are always taken by John Shorthouse and sent to me because he doesn’t have Twitter.” “I do not take part in the daily burger lunch,” he continued. “It’s always Shorthouse and Garrett. They’re the burger fiends.” “If I ate like Shortie for the past 20 years on the road, I would be 500 pounds. It’s amazing the genes those two have.” On the road, Murph estimates that 75% of Garrett and Shorthouse lunches involve some kind of burger. He says that’s a conservative estimate. “Even at dinner, most of the time we bow to Cheech’s pressure and we’ll go eat somewhere that’s a sports bar or something so he can not have to use utensils and I can usually find something as well.” -In 2017 Garrett gave up fries and ketchup for 40 days during lent. So he switched to Onion rings and ranch dip. -Canuck fans Filip Maj and Brett Armstrong created a John Garrett Drinking game: http://johngarrettdrinkinggame.com THE RULES: 1. Comments on a Safeway feature product - 2 drinks 2. Replies with just "Yes" - 1 drink 3. Makes a correction or call - 1 drink. If his call is correct - 1 more drink 4. Mentions the Hartford Whalers - 1 drink 5. Says "It's one of those" - 1 drink 6. Says "In it goes" - 1 drink 7. Defends the goaltender - 1 drink 8. Calls out a goalie - 2 drinks 9. Finish your drink if Garrett makes fun of or compliments Murph 10. Finish your drink if Murph @ replies to you on Twitter -His daughter Sarah is a postal worker in Florida. Sarah Garrett worked for the Tampa Bay Lightning in 2004 when they won the Stanley Cup and even got a cup ring and she worked along future Canuck coach John Tortorella. -His daughter Krista works at Surrey Memorial Hospital. As a result Garrett said he was cautious about visits with his grandchildren during Covid. -Speaking of Covid, in October 2021 Garrett was in Edmonton covering the Canucks and the wailers when he tested positive. The Canucks training staff informed him and he was quarantined at the JW Marriott hotel in Edmonton which is actually connected to the Oilers arena by a walkway. Hotel staff would leave his room service meals at the end of the hallway and he passed the time by watching hockey games on his tablet from around the league. -Garrett has a close relationship with John Shorehouse, and they are good friends and often take playful shots at one another. Garrett said that with other play-by-play commentators he would have to put his hand up if you wanted to say something, but with Shorehouse they just talk naturally. One example is him taking shots at the Seahawks (as Shorty is a fan (https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=S5tWl7ybrJY) -On March 23, 2023, Garrett announced his retirement from Canucks regional broadcasts at the conclusion of the 2022–23 NHL season.

Having said that, he just doesn't seem to score in the postseason. He has 4 playoff goals in his last 3 series. And tonight was his first goal in the playoffs going back to game 4 against the Blues last season. He's a goal scorer on this team so they need his offence.