John Garrett Dies at 74 in Salt Lake City Hotel Room — Sportsnet
John Garrett, sportsnet’s 74-year-old television analyst and former NHL goaltender, was found dead Monday afternoon in his hotel room in Salt Lake City while working the first-round playoff series between the Utah Mammoth and Vegas Golden Knights. He had moved to a less hectic national schedule three years ago after years on Vancouver Canucks regional broadcasts.
Salt Lake City Hotel Room
Garrett was discovered lifeless in the room while on assignment for the series. The death happened during the opening round of the Stanley Cup playoffs, where he had been part of sportsnet’s coverage.
His presence on that broadcast was part of a long run that tied him closely to Canucks audiences and later to national NHL coverage. For viewers and colleagues who had followed him for decades, the immediate change is simple: one of the network’s most familiar hockey voices is gone from the booth and from the road.
Shorthouse Remembers Garrett
John Shorthouse recalled two moments that showed how Garrett handled pressure off the air. One came in Columbus, after a tired sportsnet crew waited a long time for a restaurant table and then for a server who said the kitchen was closed. The other came in an emergency room in Philadelphia.
“And the second time I saw him lose it — and I’ve never been more proud and more thankful for any person in my life — was when I was in a really bad situation in an emergency room in Philadelphia,” Shorthouse said Tuesday about Garrett helping him in Philadelphia.
He added: “He’s a delightful human.”
“He literally puts everyone ahead of himself,” Shorthouse said.
Greg Shannon On Garrett
Greg Shannon, a long-time television producer, summed up what Garrett meant to the crew with two blunt lines after sportsnet announced his passing. “John was every guy,” Shannon said Tuesday. “There’s no bad John Garrett stories. There just isn’t.”
That reputation ran through Garrett’s life and career. Born in Trenton, Ont., in 1951, he was one of seven children raised by John and Marvel Garrett in Glen Miller, became a star goaltender with the Peterborough Petes, and was drafted by the St. Louis Blues in 1971.
He began his career in the World Hockey Association two years later, later played for the New England Whalers before that team was absorbed by the NHL in 1979, and finished with a 207-game NHL career. One of the defining moments came at the 1983 NHL All-Star Game in Uniondale, N.Y.
Garrett leaves behind his wife, Sharon, daughters Krista and Sarah, and grandchildren. He died while still doing the job he had made his own, and the void is now in the booth, on the road, and in the memories of the people who worked beside him.
