Jason Garrison has always been known as a character guy. Anyone who keeps an eye on the Lightning website saw him in his creepy clown mask scaring his teammates as they came to practice around Halloween. Off the ice, he’s had a history of being paired with superstar women. Pamela Anderson and Katie Cassidy to name a few. But it appears that this season, Garrison is set to become a true NHL superstar on the ice. (Photo/Susan Ferlita)
Garrison is on pace to have one of the best offensive years of his professional career. Having played in all of the Bolts’ 16 games, he has already netted eight points. During his most productive campaign in 2011-12 with the Florida Panthers, it took Garrison 20 games to reach the 10 point plateau. During that season he set Panther organizational records for single season goals and power play goals by a defenseman. During the same season the British Columbia native was largely paired with Brian Campbell. who was working on being a more stay at home partner, which allowed Garrison the freedom to skate and jump into the play.
With the Lightning, Garrison is largely paired with Radko Gudas, another stay at home player that gives Garrison the freedom to roam the offensive zone. While paired with the physical Gudas, he rarely has to get involved in any kind of scrum, which has been a knock against him in the past.
Playing the point on the power play for the Lightning allows Garrison to unleash a shot which is arguably one of the hardest and heaviest in the NHL.
The 218 pound blueliner went undrafted and signed as a free agent with the Florida Panthers after struggling with injuries during his last two years at the University of Minnesota-Duluth. He spent the entire 2008-09 season with Rochester of the American Hockey League and split time the following year between the two clubs before making the leap to the NHL, full time in 2010-11.
In July of 2012 Garrison returned to his hometown Vancouver Canucks when he signed a six-year deal. He was traded to the Bolts after just two of those seasons in a cap dump.
Watching the message boards and the blogs after the first few Lightning games, the Garrison doubters were out in full force. “He looked unstable”.“He looked lost”. “He is horrible on the point”. With his early season performance, those voices have since disappeared. Coach Rick Bowness worked with Garrison in both Florida and Vancouver and after a full month of games back with him, Jason Garrison looks to be on his way to a career year.
No stranger to the south Florida lifestyle after his years with the Panthers, the 6’2 defenseman seems to have found his groove with the Lightning. As the number 5 jerseys continue to multiply throughout the Amalie Arena crowd, it seems Garrison will continue to make the points multiply on the score sheet.
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