Height: 5-8
Weight: 180
Shoot: L
Born: 3 Sep 1942, Toronto ON
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Regular Season & Playoff Scoring Record (key)
| year | team | |||||||||||
| 1972-73 | Cleveland | |||||||||||
| 1973-74 | Cleveland | |||||||||||
| 1974-75 | Cleveland | |||||||||||
| 1975-76 | Cleveland | |||||||||||
| Totals: |
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Jarrett Has Some Proving To Do • by Rich Passan • The Hockey Spectator • February 9, 1973
From the time he was a young boy growing up in Toronto, Gary Jarrett knew only one way to play hockey. Aggressively. That's why it's hard to believe the book on the Cleveland Crusaders' left winger says he has lost his aggressiveness and has become puck shy, thus reducing his overall effectiveness. Well, you can forget about the book. Either that or give Jarrett a new listing because he has been anything but non-aggressive and puck shy with the C's this season. His first-team selection to the World Hockey Association's Eastern Division All-Star team attests to that. Jarrett got that reputation while playing in the National Hockey League with the California Golden Seals. In his first season with the Seals, the little portsider nearly lost an eye when a puck struck him. "I had 18 or 19 goals around Christmas when it happened," the 30-year-old Jarrett recalled, "I came back about six weeks later and never did play much after that, I really don't know if the injury had anything to do with it. I didn't think I was puck shy when I came back, but I have been told I was by various people, so obviously I must have been. Now, it's in the past and I don't think about it anymore. It's something that's there and the less said about it, the better." Gary never did fit into the Seals' plans after that, and they used him sparingly in three seasons after the injury. "I was more or less a casual participant, especially last year," he said. That's when General Manager Garry Young's youth movement was in full swing. "When I did get some ice time, I skated and tried to hit everything just to make some sort of impression," he said. It worked, but not in the manner he had hoped. Gary had come up through the Toronto Maple Leafs' organization and, naturally, the NHL was the only major league of hockey he knew. Then, the WHA came along and opened up new avenues. "I was on the verge of packing it in last year," Jarrett revealed, "I wasn't satisfied with the treatment I was getting in the NHL. But if I had quit — and I'm still quite young yet for hockey — it would have meant going out on the downgrade. At the end of last year, the team was near the basement and I'd sit in the stands watching the guys play and lose. I wondered to myself, am I that bad a hockey player that I can't play on this team?" "Being an athlete," Jarrett continued, "you always think you're a lot better than maybe you really are. But I was sure I was still a good hockey player. I was knocking my head against the wall last year and that was not good.” Up popped the WHA. "This league gave me the opportunity to show I could do it,' Gary said. And he's taken up the gauntlet flung at his skates by the NHL and performed with brilliance in the WHA. "I'm out to prove to myself that all the things I was thinking were true," he said. "I wouldn't call it revenge. That's bush league, as far as I'm concerned, I just want to play well because that helps the team, my family and Cleveland.” Gary always plays the same type of hockey game. He's always on the move no matter where he is on the ice. The only time he isn't is when he's perched in the slot with some big defenseman trying to keep him out. He's tricky and shifty and uses these attributes to make up for his relatively small size. No defenseman can afford to let up for a split second with Jarrett or else he'll be by the backliner. "I've always been a skater, shooter and worker," he said. "I've never had a great deal of finesse in this game. The harder I work, the better I do." And he's done right well, thank you. Gary is well on his way to his best season since the 29-goal campaign he racked up with the Pittsburgh Hornets in the 1965-66 season. He has played on the C's top scoring line all season with center iceman Ron (Bucky) Buchanan and right wingers Skip Krake and Gerry Pinder. They've been dubbed "The Unstoppables". Krake started out the season on the line, but wrecked his knee in mid-November and Pinder stepped in without disturbing the high output. When Gary's playing days are over, he'll return to his Evergreen, Colorado, home and run his men's and boys' clothing store on a full-time basis. He bought the shop, called the Stag Shop, a year ago and is thrilled by its acceptance in the Greater Denver area. That move, however, isn't expected for several more seasons, as Jarrett still has some more proving to do. |
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Excerpts from Zander Hollander's Guide to Pro Hockey, 1975-76 (by Reyn Davis)
Experienced a terrible season in 1974-75 ... Production dropped drastically from 31 goals to 17, and from 70 points to 41, but he still maintained a plus efficiency factor (+8) ... Nickname is "Parrot" because he likes to talk a lot ... "League has caught up to him" theory was used to explain his below-average year ... Tough to accept, however |
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