Johnny Bower

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Position Goaltender
Nickname The China Wall
Pro Clubs NHL
 New York Rangers
 Toronto Maple Leafs
Nationality Flag of Canada Canada
Born November 8, 1924,
Prince Albert, Saskatchewan, CA
Pro Career 1944/45 – 1969/70
Hall of Fame 1976

John William Bower (The China Wall) (b. November 8, 1924 in Prince Albert, Saskatchewan, Canada) is a Hockey Hall of Fame goalie.

Born in Prince Albert, Bower served with the Canadian Army during World War II in England from 1940 to 1944 and was discharged due to rheumatoid arthritis.

Bower returned to Prince Albert to play junior hockey with the Prince Albert Black Hawks (SJHL - 1944-1945) 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.

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 season following. 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 the 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.[1]

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, scruffy 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." But Bower and Sawchuk shared the Vezina Trophy as best NHL netminder in 1964-65. His last full season was 1968-69. In 1969, Johnny became the oldest goaltender to appear in a Stanley Cup playoff game, at 44 years, 4 months, and 28 days.[2] He played a final game in the fall of 1969 and on March 19, 1970, Johnny 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]

His awards include Hap Holmes Memorial Award (best AHL goaltender, 3 times) and the Vezina Trophy (2 times, at that time awarded for allowing the fewest goals throughout a season). Bower was named a First Team All-Star in 1961. He was awarded the Les Cunningham Trophy 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.

His career stats 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. 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 Mississauga, 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.[4] 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.[5] In 2007, it was announced that Bower would receive a star on Canada's Walk of Fame.

Contents

[edit] Career Stats

[edit] Regular Season

Season Team League Games Played Minutes Wins Losses Ties Goals Against Average
1944-45 Prince Albert Black Hawks SJHL 10 630 5 4 1 2.57
1945-46 Cleveland Barons AHL 41 2460 18 17 6 3.90
1945-46 Providence Reds AHL 1 48 0 1 0 5.00
1946-47 Cleveland Barons AHL 40 2400 22 11 7 3.10
1947-48 Cleveland Barons AHL 31 1880 18 6 6 2.65
1948-49 Cleveland Barons AHL 37 2200 23 9 5 3.43
1949-50 Cleveland Barons AHL 61 3660 38 15 8 3.30
1950-51 Cleveland Barons AHL 70 4280 44 21 5 2.99
1951-52 Cleveland Barons AHL 68 4110 44 19 5 2.41
1952-53 Cleveland Barons AHL 61 3680 40 19 2 2.53
1953-54 New York Rangers NHL 70 4200 29 31 10 2.60
1954-55 Vancouver Canucks WHL 63 3780 30 25 8 2.71
1954-55 New York Rangers NHL 5 300 2 2 1 2.60
1955-56 Providence Reds AHL 61 3710 45 14 2 2.81
1956-57 Providence Reds AHL 57 3501 30 19 8 2.37
1956-57 New York Rangers NHL 2 120 0 2 0 3.50
1957-58 Cleveland Barons AHL 64 3870 37 23 3 2.17
1958-59 Toronto Maple Leafs NHL 39 2340 15 17 7 2.74
1959-60 Toronto Maple Leafs NHL 66 3960 34 24 8 1.80
1960-61 Toronto Maple Leafs NHL 58 3480 33 15 10 2.50
1961-62 Toronto Maple Leafs NHL 59 3540 31 18 10 2.58
1962-63 Toronto Maple Leafs NHL 42 2520 20 15 7 2.62
1963-64 Toronto Maple Leafs NHL 51 3009 24 16 11 2.11
1964-65 Toronto Maple Leafs NHL 34 2040 13 13 8 2.38
1965-66 Toronto Maple Leafs NHL 35 1998 18 10 5 2.25
1966-67 Toronto Maple Leafs NHL 27 1431 12 9 3 2.64
1967-68 Toronto Maple Leafs NHL 43 2239 14 18 7 2.25
1968-69 Toronto Maple Leafs NHL 20 779 5 4 3 2.85
1969-70 Toronto Maple Leafs NHL 1 60 0 1 0 5.00

[edit] Post-Season Record

Season Team League Games Played Minutes Wins Losses Goals Against Average
1944-45 Prince Albert Black Hawks SJHL 3 180 0 3 7.67
1948-49 Cleveland Barons AHL 5 329 2 3 4.19
1949-50 Cleveland Barons AHL 9 548 4 5 2.96
1950-51 Cleveland Barons AHL 11 703 8 3 2.73
1951-52 Cleveland Barons AHL 5 300 2 3 3.40
1952-53 Cleveland Barons AHL 11 745 7 4 1.69
1954-55 Vancouver Canucks WHL 5 300 1 4 3.20
1955-56 Providence Reds AHL 9 540 7 2 2.56
1956-57 Providence Reds AHL 5 300 1 4 3.00
1958-59 Toronto Maple Leafs NHL 12 746 5 7 3.14
1959-60 Toronto Maple Leafs NHL 10 645 4 6 2.88
1960-61 Toronto Maple Leafs NHL 3 180 0 3 3.00
1961-62 Toronto Maple Leafs NHL 10 579 6 3 2.28
1962-63 Toronto Maple Leafs NHL 10 600 8 2 1.60
1963-64 Toronto Maple Leafs NHL 14 850 8 6 2.12
1964-65 Toronto Maple Leafs NHL 5 321 2 3 2.43
1965-66 Toronto Maple Leafs NHL 2 120 0 2 4.00
1966-67 Toronto Maple Leafs NHL 4 183 2 0 1.64
1968-69 Toronto Maple Leafs NHL 4 154 0 2 4.29

[edit] See also

[edit] References

  1. ^ http://www.hockeygoalies.org/bio/bower.html
  2. ^ http://www.hockeygoalies.org/bio/bower.html
  3. ^ http://www.hockeygoalies.org/bio/bower.html
  4. ^ Canada's Stamp Details, January to March 2004, Volume XIII, No. 1
  5. ^ The Charlton Standard Catalogue of Canadian Coins, 61st Edition, p.209, W.K. Cross, Editor, 2007, The Charlton Press, Toronto, Ontario, ISBN 0-88968-315-8

[edit] External link

Preceded by
Jacques Plante		 Winner of the Vezina Trophy
1961		 Succeeded by
Jacques Plante
Preceded by
Charlie Hodge		 Winner of the Vezina Trophy
with Terry Sawchuck
1965		 Succeeded by
Gump Worsley
and Charlie Hodge
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