Johnny Bower

Lore & Background

Bower was born in Prince Albert, Saskatchewan, to a Ukrainian-Canadian family. He taught himself hockey using a branch as a stick and made goalie pads from old mattresses. He lied about his age to enlist in the Canadian Army during World War II, serving as a gunner in England from 1940 to 1943 before being discharged due to rheumatoid arthritis. He turned professional in the AHL in 1945, playing mostly for the Cleveland Barons. His surname was legally changed during his first year of professional hockey; various stories exist about the reason. He made his NHL debut with the New York Rangers in 1953–54, playing all 70 games. He was claimed by the Toronto Maple Leafs in the 1958 Inter-League draft. Bower won the Vezina Trophy in 1960–61 and 1964–65, and helped the Maple Leafs win Stanley Cups in 1962, 1963, 1964, and 1967. He became the oldest goaltender to play in a Stanley Cup playoff game on April 6, 1969, at age 44. He retired on March 19, 1970. He worked for the Maple Leafs as a scout and goalie coach, and was assistant coach from 1976 to 1978. He died on December 26, 2017, at age 93 from pneumonia.

In Their Own Story

The lights of the Memorial Auditorium hummed low over the ice in January 1971. The air smelled of frozen breath and popcorn. In the net stood Johnny Bower, a veteran giant against the fresh faces of the expansion Sabres. He adjusted his mask, the leather creaking softly. The crowd roared, not for a hometown hero, but for the spectacle of history. A puck flew toward the crease; Bower moved with a fluid grace that belied his age, catching the shot with a soft thud. For one moment, the old guard held the line against the new.

Reader's Guide

Bower was the first goaltender to employ the poke check. He remains the AHL career leader in wins with 359. He was elected to the Hockey Hall of Fame in 1976 and to the AHL Hall of Fame in 2006. He was inducted into the Etobicoke Sports Hall of Fame in 1994 and the Ontario Sports Hall of Fame in 1999. He received a star on Canada's Walk of Fame in 2007. A street in Toronto was renamed Johnny Bower Boulevard in 2014. He was named to Legends Row by the Maple Leafs in 2014.

Did You Know?

• Bower's song "Honky (The Christmas) Goose" reached #29 on the CHUM Charts in December 1965.
• He was known for his hard-nosed, scrappy playing style.
• Bower would routinely clean litter and feed birds at a city park renamed in his honour.
• He was featured on a Canadian postage stamp in January 2004.