Wednesday, January 03, 2018
Happy New Year!
Johnny Bower, as a Ranger, with Ike Hildebrand
For those of
you who enjoy wearing Blue and White hockey sweaters, it appears that
you will enjoy 2018. For other folk in the Quinte Area, it mat not be
terribly rosey. The Bleu, Blanc et Rouge have not quite figured it
out, quite yet. A loss to the Florida Panthers on Saturday night was
not a good thing. The Ottawa Senators had a rough night on Saturday
as well,m as they dropped a 5-0 decision to the Bruins. On the other
hand, the Belleville Senators eked out a 3-2 overtime decision over
the Providence Bruins.
It will take
some time for the local hockey fans to warm up to the Senators. I
have been to a couple of games, and thoroughly enjoyed the
experience. It is fine hockey, and many of the players are on the
cusp of getting the call to the NHL. After all, for most of them,
that is what this all about. Getting there. There are many fans who
hearken back to the good lo' days when they heard “Wasn't that a
Party?”. The first line of that song is “Coulda been the
whiskey...”. Apparently, it was deemed offensive to the ultimate
owners of the team. The Belleville Bulls are gone, but for some, for
many, it has been a difficult pill to swallow.
The ongoing
World Junior Tournament is a case in point. There were Bulls involved
in that showcase for many years, and local fans watched the games
intensely, whether or not they were played in Buffalo, or in Moscow.
But none of the current players on the Canadian roster, nor on the
rosters of any teams in the tournament, come to the city of
Belleville as Junior stars. Yet again, fans will have to adjust to
big boy hockey of the American Hockey League.
Services for
the late Johnny Bower take place on Wednesday at the Air Canada
Centre. Without any question, he was one of the most popular players
ever to pull on a Leafs sweater. As has been reported several times
lately, he really was quite a guy.
Born in
Prince Albert, Saskatchewan, in 1924, to the Kiszkan family, he lied
about his age in 1940 to sign up for the Canadian Army. He was called
up by the Queen's Own Cameron Highlanders, and sent to England. He
became ill, and was discharged in 1944. He played goal that year in
Prince Albert. The next year, he signed on to play in the American
Hockey League. Because he found that his last name was so difficult
to pronounce, he adopted his mother's maiden name for the rest of his
life.
He played 13
years in the AHL, becoming the all time leader in games played by a
goalie. He had a couple of call-ups to the New York Rangers, finally
becoming a permanent fixture in the 1953-54 season. In 1958, he was
claimed by the Leafs, and became their starting goalie at the age of
34. He won four Stanley Cups with the Leafs in the 1960s.
He often
wore a mask during practices, but never in games, until the last few
games of his career. He was inducted unto the Hockey Hall of Fame in
1976, and was a fixture in the city of Toronto until his death. He
often showed up at sports card shows, always smiling, always glad to
meet his fans and share his memories.
He played a
total of 1 207 regular season games in the AHL and the NHL combined,
a record likely never to be broken. He was 45 years old when he took
his last skate in the NHL, the oldest goalie ever to play in the
league. His Number One jersey was retired by the Leafs, as a tribute
to Bower.
As I said,
quite a guy.
James Hurst
December 31,
2017
# posted by James Hurst @ 4:18 PM 
