AHL: QA with Jason Garrison

A little over six years ago, Jason Garrison was an 18-year-old playing junior B for the Richmond Sockeyes and undergoing a conversion from forward to defense. We'll never know if Garrison would have gone much further as a forward. However, we do know that playing as a defenseman has since taken him to BCHL All-Star status, an NCAA DI scholarship, a contract with the Florida Panthers, some healthy offensive stats in his rookie pro season with the Rochester Americans, and a one-game cup of coffee in the NHL.

McKeen's correspondent Kevin Wey recently had a chance to talk with Garrison. The Florida Panthers prospect discussed such things as his rookie season in the AHL, his lone NHL game to date, signing with Florida, his college career at the University of Minnesota-Duluth, his junior hockey career with the Richmond Sockeyes and Nanaimo Clippers, and looking up to "Le Magnifique."

McKeen's: Well, you're in your rookie-pro season and you're kind of in the contention for the lead amongst AHL-rookie defenseman in scoring with Mattias Karlsson, Yannick Weber, Bob Sanguinetti, and Jonas Junland, so it's going pretty well in that regard. How would you say your rookie-pro season has gone so far, and why, and how has the transition been from college hockey?

Garrison: It's definitely been a transition from college. The game's a lot quicker, guys are smarter positionally. I feel like it's harder to get open and harder to make something happen offensively. But, throughout the year I think I've just worked hard in practice and learned from the little things to get pucks on net and joining the play, and those have resulted in goals or assists offensively. I think that's what I've been doing and that's why I'm up there, I guess.

McKeen's: All the other names I mentioned played for PlanetUSA at the AHL All-Star Game, but you're a Canadian. Was there any hope that you might be named to that (the All-Star Game) and was there any disappointment, if you did have hopes of being named to the All-Star Game?

Garrison: To be honest, I didn't have any idea about that, and kind of where I was sitting or anything like that. But, obviously, it'd be nice to be named to an All-Star team, but there's many years to come, hopefully.

McKeen's: Canada named no rookie defensemen to that team, so you don't have to feel too left out.

Garrison: Well, there we go.

McKeen's: This year, Rochester has a sole affiliation with Florida, and you signed with Florida last April after three seasons with UMD. Tell me when NHL teams start talking to you and what made you decide to sign with Florida?

Garrison: They kind of started talking to my agent just after Christmas of my junior year. My agent told me there was probably going to be something going on, maybe some offers or whatever as the season ended, and there happened to be some offers from different teams. We just kind of looked at the depth and the opportunity to play and, obviously, with the first year being a sole affiliation here, there was going to be a lot of young guys and a better chance to be able to prove yourself.

McKeen's: If I might ask, who is your agent and what were some of the other teams that were showing interest?

Garrison: My agent is Matt Oates, in Chicago, and some of the other teams were (pauses to think)… Pittsburgh had offers, and Calgary.

McKeen's: You do have one NHL game under your belt, October 25 against the Blues. Tell me about receiving that call and the circumstances of that recall.

Garrison: It was after a game in Rochester, and my assistant coach came and got me down from the gym and took me to the room and the coaches were there, and the GM of Rochester, and they just sat me down and told me there was an injury in Florida and they needed me up there, and the next morning I went to play in St. Louis.

McKeen's: If I remember right, after the one game, you were back with Rochester the next night to play, is that right?

Garrison: That's right. Yep, back in Hershey.

McKeen's: Pretty quick. What was it like to don that Panthers jersey in the regular season and how did it feel to play in front of an NHL crowd and skate that first shift?

Garrison: It was obviously a dream come true. Every kid growing up dreams of putting that NHL jersey on and getting that icetime. It went by real quick, but it's something I'll always cherish and remember.

McKeen's: Any other moments in your career that come close to that and, if so, what were they?

Garrison: Well, that was definitely the biggest one by far. But, in junior I was able to win some championships. Those are obviously really memorable for me and you kind of develop a really good relationship with other guys, and that kind of lasts forever. Between the first game and my junior championships, they're definitely my most memorable in hockey.

McKeen's: You're currently with the Americans and, no doubt, there are things that Florida wants you to work on. So, what are some of those things that Florida wants you to improve upon while you're here?

Garrison: I think they want me to use my shot as much as possible. They're looking for me to get up ice and join the rush but also be able to make a clean first pass out of the zone and stay physical as well.

McKeen's: You kind of touched on this next question a bit, but tell me what you feel are the strengths of your game and the style that you play.

Garrison: Kind of just hoping to be like a quick transition player, be able to get up ice, get in the opening, and be able to use my shot to my advantage, and that does it I guess (chuckles).

McKeen's: Going back to last season with the Bulldogs, things were going fairly well until February 2, the leg injury against Wisconsin. Tell me a bit about that injury, the rehab, and was there any concern that that might affect the interest NHL teams had?

Garrison: Yeah, I broke my leg February 2, and it was definitely brutal timing. We were trying to make a run for an NCAA bid and had to get a better position for playoffs. So, the rehab was tough. It's just like starting to walk again. I was able to push it, I worked real hard at it, and I was able to get back into the lineup for the last game of the season. I wasn't really able to skate, but I just went out there and I tried. I'm not sure how it affected the NHL teams. I tried not to worry about that. I was still with the Bulldogs, and I didn't want anything mentally getting into my head. I let my agent, I had an agent by then, so I just let him deal with it and kind of relay everything to me.

McKeen's: Also, your sophomore season was hampered by the injury bug after skating 40 games in your freshman season. So, tell me a bit about that sophomore year.

Garrison: Sophomore year started out bad. I think I worked a little too hard in the summer and I got in there and I was in real great shape, but I ended up having to get my tonsils out, because I was getting sick constantly. That took three weeks out of the first bit of training. Then about a month in, my legs were killing me and I couldn't really walk too well, I couldn't bend over, and ended up having hernia surgery in both of my legs. So, that took away pretty much the whole season right there.

McKeen's: All things considered, getting 21 games in with all of that was pretty good.

Garrison: (Chuckles)

McKeen's: Prior to UMD, you had a pretty good final year with the [Nanaimo] Clippers, 22 goals and 40 assists in 57 games and you played in the All-Star Game. In your time with Nanaimo, what were some of the aspects of your game that improved the most?

Garrison: That period of my life was definitely a development period. I came in there only playing half a season at defense previously, and my coaches there worked real hard with me to be able to learn defensive hockey, and they just kind of molded me into the player that they wanted me to be, and it ended up working out, obviously. I had a great team, and my teammates helped out with my stats for sure.

McKeen's: Coming out of Tier II junior A in the BCHL, what were some of the biggest transitions there to UMD?

Garrison: Well, definitely the speed. Guys in college are (pauses)… everything's real quick, guys are finishing their hits. You have to be able to make decisions real quick. Obviously, they're really systematic in college. You have to block shots, you have to be in position, and that was a big transition from junior to college for sure.

McKeen's: Tell me about the decision to switch from forward to defense.

Garrison: I played a year of junior B in Richmond, for the Sockeyes, and I started out as a forward, and halfway through the year I was playing a little bit of defense and a little bit of forward, and my coach, Ron Johnson, put me back at defense. He just thought every time I'd make a mistake, I was just really calm and really calm with the puck, and I think he knew I had a big shot, and obviously my size. So, he just threw me back there and it happened to work out and it worked from there. We were able to win a championship that year, so it helped me get those extra games.

McKeen's: What is your size? I've seen it listed at all sorts of different things.

Garrison: (Chuckles)

McKeen's: So, for the record…

Garrison: For the record I'm 6-2, and right now I'm 225.

McKeen's: I would believe that. Now, you weren't quite 19 when you played Tier II junior A, and you played your year with the Sockeyes, but where did you play prior to that and tell me a bit about your path on the way up.

Garrison: I played minor hockey in different cities, was moving around a bit. My last team was Semiahmoo out in White Rock, and I played bantam and midget there. I was up and down. I played A, B, and C hockey. I didn't really know where hockey was going to take me. I was just doing it to have fun. Obviously, all my buddies were playing. I have an older cousin who I lived with who played, who was really serious in hockey, and he had just gotten a scholarship to UMass. That's kind of about the time where they told me to work hard at it, you'd be able to get a scholarship and be able to get your school paid for playing a sport, obviously that's something you want to do, not everyone gets the chance. Luckily enough things worked out. I stuck my nose to the ground and worked hard and was able to do that.

McKeen's: Going back to your youth, when did you first playing hockey and how did you get that start?

Garrison: I think it was just (pauses), my family played hockey, and so I think I put on skates when I was like three years old. Everywhere I was, I was always playing for some association team and spring team and obviously loved the game and loved playing it for fun. It wasn't really too serious until my first year of juniors.

McKeen's: Lastly, who were your favorite players growing up and why and who are some of the players you'd like to equate to today?

Garrison: That's a tough one. Favorite player growing up was definitely Mario Lemieux, for sure. Trevor Linden was one, obviously, being from Vancouver. Right now, oooh, I don't know who I try to mold my game around. There's so many good players out there. You try to just take a little bit of everything. You've got Nicklas Lidstrom, Scott Niedermayer with offensive capability, and then you take someone like [Chris] Pronger who's physical and uses his size. I'm not really sure who I think I resemble out on the ice, but I try to use a little bit of everybody.