Cheech: Reflecting on the Iconic Voice of the Canucks

May 11, 2023

Ryan Gurevitz

After a 20-year tenure as the Canucks TV colour commentator, John "Cheech" Garrett has commentated his final Canucks game.

Garrett began his career in hockey as a professional player, Garrett was a goaltender for the Richmond Robins of the AHL for a season before moving to the World Hockey Association where he played for the Minnesota Fighting Saints, the Toronto Toros, who he followed to Birmingham when they relocated, and the New England Whalers in the final season before the WHA's merger with the NHL. During the three seasons Garrett played with the Saints, he earned the nickname "Cheech" from his teammate Rick Smith for his uncanny resemblance to the seventies comedian. Post-merger, Garrett enjoyed NHL stints with the renamed Hartford Whalers and the Quebec Nordiques before joining the Vancouver Canucks. 

In Vancouver, Garrett joined fellow legendary Canuck Richard Brodeur between the pipes where he played a part in the strangest All-Star game story of the pre-John Scott era. At the 1983 NHL All-Star game, Garrett had been voted MVP before the game had ended. Wayne Gretzky then went on to score four goals before the game ended, causing a re-vote where Garrett was then stripped of his MVP honours. 

Garrett retired from professional hockey at the start of the 1985-86 season and turned down an assistant GM job from Canucks GM Harry Neale to enter the broadcast booth. He started as a colour commentator on Hockey Night in Canada in 1986, alternating between national broadcasts and local broadcasts for the Edmonton Oilers until leaving CBC for CTV Sportsnet in 1998 as a nationally broadcasted studio analyst and a colour commentator for the Calgary Flames until 2002. In 2002, Cheech came home and joined the Canucks broadcast booth alongside Jim Hughson until Hughson was replaced by John Shorthouse in 2007. "Shorty" and "Cheech" went on to enjoy 15 seasons in the booth together and became one of the most beloved duos in the league.

Garrett's longest-running gag is undoubtedly his love for ketchup. If you've had the pleasure of listening to Cheech as much as I have, you know about his obsession with ketchup. Garrett's love for ketchup comes from his upbringing, Garrett grew up in a house of 11 people where food "was stretched," he recalled baloney sandwiches and meatloaf as examples of the food he ate growing up and having ketchup as "instant flavouring." 

Garrett's love of ketchup was certainly part of what made having him in the booth such a treat for Canucks fans. As his time in the booth comes to a close, John Garrett leaves a lasting legacy as one of the greats of Canadian broadcasting and NHL media. While the Canucks are left with no choice but to replace him, a large heinz-bottle-shaped hole will surely be left in his place for years to come.

Thank you, Cheech