John Garrett appears at Vancouver city hall for ‘John Garrett Day’ celebrations

The City of Vancouver honoured former Vancouver Canucks colour commentator John Garrett with a ceremony — and a cake — at city hall on Wednesday afternoon.

Vancouver mayor Ken Sim proclaimed May 10 as “John Garrett Day” in the city and welcomed more than a dozen guests, including some Canucks media members, into city hall to present Garrett with an official framed proclamation.

Garrett and his Sportsnet colleagues — including John Shorthouse and Dan Murphy — with a thematically appropriate lunch of burgers and fries, followed up by a cake prominently featuring an image of Garrett during his playing career.

“The old Hartford Whalers photo,” Garrett told The Province‘s Patrick Johnston, with a laugh. “Remember how everybody had perms back then.”

Garrett wrapped up his tenure as the Canucks’ regional colour commentator with the Sportsnet broadcast of the team’s season finale against the Arizona Coyotes at Mullett Arena in Tempe on April 13.

The 71-year-old former NHL goaltender, who played with the Canucks from 1983 to 1985, was subsequently featured alongside Shorthouse on Sportsnet broadcasts of the Eastern Conference quarterfinal playoff series between the Boston Bruins and Florida Panthers.

Garrett will continue to make periodic appearances on Sportsnet next season, although he won’t be calling Canucks games with Shorthouse. Wednesday’s ceremony at city hall was intended to commemorate Garrett’s tenure on the Canucks broadcast team, which began back in the 2002–03 season.

The St. Louis Blues originally selected Garrett in the third round (No. 38 overall) of the 1971 NHL Amateur Draft, but the five-foot-eight netminder never played with the Blues. Instead, after two seasons in the minor leagues, Garrett started his career with the World Hockey Association’s Minnesota Fighting Saints in 1973–74.

Garrett appeared in 323 WHA games with the Fighting Saints, Toronto Toros, Birmingham Bulls, and New England Whalers before shifting over to the NHL along with the Whalers franchise in 1979. He went on to play in 207 NHL games with the Whalers, Quebec Nordiques, and Vancouver Canucks before retiring in 1985.