Johnny Bower

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Position	Goaltender
Nickname	The China Wall
Pro Clubs	NHL  New York Rangers  Toronto Maple Leafs
Nationality	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 1 Career Stats 1.1 Regular Season 1.2 Post-Season Record 2 See also 3 References 4 External link

[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

• List of retired NHL players

[edit] References

[edit] External link

• hockeydb.com stats
• Age never got in Bower's way
• AHL Hall of Fame bio

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