John Garrett, who assisted on Gordie Howe's historic last goal, dies at 74

John Garrett, a beloved Canadian hockey broadcaster and a former NHL goaltender who assisted on Gordie Howe's final goal in 1980, has died. He was 74.

Sportsnet announced Tuesday that Garrett died suddenly, and no cause of death was provided.

"The National Hockey League family is stunned and saddened by the sudden passing of John Garrett, whose astute analysis took fans, particularly in Western Canada, inside our game for the last four decades," NHL commissioner Gary Bettman said in a statement.

"Following a 13-season career as a goaltender in the WHA and the NHL, Garrett moved into the broadcast booth in 1986 and never left, contributing his encyclopedic knowledge and expert insight to national broadcasts on Sportsnet and local broadcasts for the Oilers, Flames, and, for two decades, the Canucks."

In the 1979-80 season, Garrett was a teammate of former Detroit Red Wings legend Gordie Howe, who was 52 years old at the time and playing alongside his two sons, Mark and Marty, with the Hartford Whalers.

On April 9, 1980, Garrett passed the puck to Mark Howe, who passed it to his dad for his 801st NHL goal in an 8-4 playoff loss against the Montreal Canadiens at the old Montreal Forum.

"We were in Montreal before the (goalie) trapezoid and I went out to play the puck," Garrett said in a Detroit News/OctoPulse podcast interview in 2019. "I threw it around the boards to Mark Howe, who carried it up ice and passed to Gordie. He cut through the middle and let a long wrist shot go that beat Denis Herron.

"I didn't get that secondary assist though. We lost so I wasn't going to complain about the assist but I didn't know it was going to be Gordie Howe's last goal in the NHL. I called league statistican Benny Ercolani about 20 years later but he said time has expired. Too bad. We know you got it. The video evidence is there."