Conor Garland鈥檚 favourite movie is Jaws.
This is a well-known fact about the Vancouver Canucks winger 鈥� it was literally the 鈥渧ery important fact鈥� about Garland in last season鈥檚 Bandwagon. He鈥檚 as a 鈥渉uge Jaws fan,鈥� to the point that his favourite social media account to follow is , which claims to be the 鈥渘umber one Jaws fan site.鈥�
鈥淚 love sharks,鈥� said Garland in a . 鈥淚 grew up on the ocean 鈥� I actually don鈥檛 swim in the ocean, because I know that they鈥檙e closer than people think. I don鈥檛 know, I just love sharks.鈥�
Even on the ice, there鈥檚 just something about sharks for Garland. He has more goals and points against the San Jose Sharks than any other NHL team: 9 goals and 22 points in 24 games.
It鈥檚 one thing to hear about Garland鈥檚 love for Jaws and sharks. It鈥檚 quite another to see the evidence, which was unveiled when the Canucks posted a 鈥淕oing Home鈥� video with the winger on Friday.
Last offseason, the Canucks did 鈥淕oing Home鈥� videos with and , where they visited the players at their summer homes as they spent time with family and friends. It鈥檚 a fun series that gives fans a closer look at the person behind the jersey and gives them a little glimpse at their personalities off the ice.
The biggest thing fans can learn about Garland? He鈥檚 not lying when he says he's a huge fan of Jaws and sharks.
Even as Garland is introducing his hometown of Scituate Harbor, Massachusetts, he can鈥檛 help but note its resemblance to the fictional town of Amity Island, New York from the movie.
鈥淚f you鈥檝e ever seen the movie Jaws, this is kind of what it looks like,鈥� said Garland. He鈥檚 not wrong, as the movie wasn鈥檛 filmed in New York but in Martha鈥檚 Vineyard in Massachusetts, which is just around the cape from Scituate.
Garland鈥檚 home is littered with shark and Jaws paraphernalia, so I鈥檓 going to highlight every single shark I can find.
But first, here鈥檚 Garland and his dog Bubba in front of a painting of a dog that looks an awful lot like Bubba eating pizza. Bubba is not a shark but is adorable.
Just over a minute into the video, after Garland shows his off-season shooting routine, we get our first shark of the video: on a sign at the gate of his pool that says, 鈥淪wim at your own risk,鈥� with a sharkish bite out of the corner.
鈥淭here鈥檚, like, ten other signs in here too,鈥� says Garland. 鈥淚鈥檓 such a nerd.鈥�
Sure enough, shark number two shows up on a 鈥淣o swimming鈥� sign.
Initially visible behind Garland when he first enters the gate, we get a closer look at this garden shark a few seconds later: shark number three.
Then there鈥檚 a sweet segment where Garland shares pictures of 鈥渢eammates I was close with,鈥� including Quinn Hughes 鈥� 鈥渢he GOAT鈥� 鈥� and Tyler Myers, as well as hockey cards representing his favourite line combinations, including The Good Job Boys with Dakota Joshua and Teddy Blueger. He also shows off his first skates and his first hockey stick.
鈥淚 can鈥檛 wait to see all the comments saying, 鈥楬e could still use that stick,鈥欌�� quips Garland. 鈥淚 will laugh at each one of those.鈥�
Then, bam! More sharks!
There are six visible shark figurines/toys in this screenshot plus one more hiding behind his hand that you can briefly see in the video when he lifts his hand up and is visible in other shots. So those are sharks four, five, six, seven, eight, nine, and ten.
Hang on, there鈥檚 definitely another shark in the corner when the camera pans over briefly, so that鈥檚 shark number 11.
鈥淭his is probably my prize possession,鈥� says Garland. 鈥淭his is a megalodon tooth.鈥�
A megalodon is a species of shark that went extinct over 3.5 million years ago and is supposedly the largest fish that has ever existed. So we鈥檙e counting that as shark number 12.
Before moving on, we get a closer look at some of the sharks we鈥檝e already counted, as Garland says, 鈥淚 just, for some reason, liked Jaws right from the start.鈥�
We also catch a glimpse of one more hidden shark. The sign doesn鈥檛 count 鈥� it has the word 鈥渟hark鈥� on it but no actual shark 鈥� but there鈥檚 a figurine of a shark mouth in the back corner of the shelf. That鈥檚 shark number 13.
Here鈥檚 a dilemma. As Garland is talking, the video cuts to a Jaws lamp, which is easy enough to count, but next to it is what appears to be an oversized Arturs Irbe hockey card 鈥� possibly signed. How do we count that? Irbe is a Shark, he鈥檚 wearing a Sharks jersey with a shark on it and there鈥檚 another Sharks logo in the corner. Technically, that鈥檚 three sharks on that one item.
That鈥檚 how I鈥檓 going to count it: sharks 14, 15, 16, and 17.
Next up is a whole shelf dedicated to the movie Jaws, featuring a Jaws puzzle, book, and poster, as well as the literal jaws of a shark and what appears to be a wood carving of a shark. There appears to also be a still from the movie featuring Roy Scheider's Martin Brody and Richard Dreyfuss's Matt Hooper but no sign of Bruce, the titular shark. That gives us sharks 18, 19, 20, 21, and 22.
Garland then packs up his hockey gear from where it鈥檚 been airing out in the sun on his driveway and heads to the rink for an on-ice practice session. Unless one of his practice pals plays for the Sharks, there are no sharks at the rink.
Neither does a shark appear while Garland goes fishing with his friend John Marino, who currently plays for the Utah Hockey Club, or when he plays a dice game with his family around the dinner table.
If they had been playing with cards instead of dice, maybe Garland could have been described as a card shark. Alas, no such luck.
That leaves us with a grand total of 22 sharks in Garland鈥檚 鈥淕oing Home鈥� video.
