Johnny Bower
Born	November 8, 1924 (1924-11-08) (age 85), Prince Albert, SK, CAN
Height Weight	5 ft 9 in (1.75 m) 170 lb (77 kg; 12 st 2 lb)
Position	Goaltender
Caught	Left
Played for	AHL Cleveland Barons Providence Reds NHL New York Rangers Toronto Maple Leafs
Playing career	1945'1970
Hall of Fame, 1976

John William Bower (born John Kiszkan^[1] on November 8, 1924 in Prince Albert, Saskatchewan), nicknamed "The China Wall", is a Hockey Hall of Fame goalie.

[edit] Playing career

Bower served with the Canadian Army during World War II in England from 1940 to 1943 and was discharged due to rheumatoid arthritis. After the war, Bower returned to Prince Albert in 1943 to play junior hockey in Prince Albert and in the AHL ' largely for the Cleveland Barons ' for eleven seasons in the late 1940s and 1950s, and proved himself the star goaltender of the circuit, winning numerous awards and leading his teams to three Calder Cup championships.

During his first professional year of hockey, he changed his name from John Kiszkan to Bower, to make it easier for sports writers.^[2]

He was finally picked up by the New York Rangers of the NHL for the 1953'54 season, but was sent back down to the minor leagues the following season. Bower would toil in the minors four more years in Providence (Reds 1945'1946, 1955'1956 and 1956'1957), Vancouver (Canucks 1954'1955), Cleveland (Barons 1945'1953 and 1957'1958) and then again with the Rangers in 1954'1955, before being claimed by the Toronto Maple Leafs in the 1958 Inter-League Draft. He would play eleven full seasons in all with the Leafs, the remainder of his career.^[3]

The height of his NHL career came during the Maple Leafs' three consecutive Stanley Cup victories in the early 1960s ' 1962, 1963 and 1964.

After the 1962 victory, Bower complained about Bobby Hull, Chicago Black Hawks left winger and his hard slap shot, improved from that of Montreal Canadiens left-wing Bernie Geoffrion. Bower said, "He needs another shot like I need a hole in the head, which I may get."

His career would be hampered by poor eyesight, but despite that he remained a top-tier goaltender. He was known for his hard-nosed, scrappy playing style and would win another Stanley Cup in 1967 by tandeming with another Hall of Famer (Terry Sawchuk). Bower claimed, "I wasn't all that glad to see the two-goalie system come in. I wanted to play as many games as I could." Bower and Sawchuk shared the Vezina Trophy as the best NHL goalies in 1964'65. On April 22, 1967, in the second game of the Stanley Cup Finals, he shutout the Montreal Canadiens for his fifth (and final) career playoff shutout - four of them against the Canadiens.^[4] In the third game of the Stanley Cup Finals, on April 25, 1967, and in his last Stanley Cup Final appearance, he became the second oldest goalie to play in the Stanley Cup Final at age 42 years, 5 months, 17 days (refer to Lester Patrick for record). The Leafs won in double overtime when Bob Pulford scored.^[5] On April 6, 1969, at the age of 44 years, 4 months, and 29 days, Johnny became the oldest goaltender to play in a Stanley Cup playoff game.^[6] His last full season was 1968'69. He played his final game on December 10, 1969, a 6-3 loss to Montreal^[7]; mainly due to injuries, this was his only game of the 1969-70 season. On March 19, 1970, Johnny publicly announced his official retirement - four months after his forty-fifth birthday. When asked, in light of his retirement, if he might reveal his true age, he replied "If you don't know by now, you never will".^[3] He subsequently revealed his birth date as November 8, 1924.^[8]

His regular season career statistics include: 552 games played, 250 wins, 195 losses, 90 ties, 37 shutouts, and a 2.51 GAA. In addition, he remains the AHL career shutout leader.

Bower was elected to the Hockey Hall of Fame in 1976, and the AHL Hall of Fame in 2006. In 1998, he was ranked number 87 on The Hockey News' list of the 100 Greatest Hockey Players. He was assistant coach for the Leafs from 1976'1978. Bower is also a member of the Etobicoke Sports Hall of Fame since 1994. Bower is married to wife Nancy with a son, two daughters and six grandchildren and resides in Etobicoke, Ontario. In January 2004, Bower was featured on a postage stamp. As part of the NHL All-Stars Collection, Bower was immortalized along with five other All-Stars.^[9] In 2005, the Royal Canadian Mint featured Bower on a non-circulating fifty-cent coin, as part of its four-coin Legends of the Toronto Maple Leafs coin set.^[10] In 2007, it was announced that Bower would receive a star on Canada's Walk of Fame.

[edit] Awards

Bower's star on Canada's Walk of Fame

• Hap Holmes Memorial Award (best AHL goaltender, 3 times)
• Vezina Trophy (2 times, at that time awarded for allowing the fewest goals throughout a season).
• NHL First Team All-Star in 1961.
• Les Cunningham Award as the AHL's Most Valuable Player three times consecutively, one of only four players in North American professional hockey history (Bobby Orr, Wayne Gretzky and Paul Polillo being the others) to do so at any level of play.

[edit] Career statistics

[edit] Regular season

[edit] Post-season record

[edit] References

[edit] External links

• Johnny Bower's biography at Legends of Hockey
• Age never got in Bower's way
• AHL Hall of Fame bio