Who Is Johnny Bower? Canadian Ice Hockey Legend Dead At 93

Canadian ice hockey stalwart Johnny Bower passed away at the age of 93, Tuesday. According to a statement released by his family, Bower died after a brief battle with pneumonia.

Bower's team, the Toronto Maple Leafs, also posted a tweet in his honor.

According to a report by Canadian Broadcasting Corporation, Bower will be remembered for his bravery on the ice ring and his courteous behavior off it. The report also stated Bower got his break in the National Hockey League (NHL) at the age of 35, when most players are close to retiring from the sport.

Bower turning professional at the age of 35 indicated his hard work and persistence, which he showcased throughout his career, the report added.

John William Bower was born Nov. 8, 1924, as John Kiszkan in Prince Albert, Saskatchewan, Canada. He was the only male child among nine children.

The report said he was self-taught as he used a tree branch as a stick and old mattresses as makeshift goalie pads to practice. Bower, a two-time Vezina Trophy winner, Hockey Hall of Famer and a Toronto Maple Leaves icon, struggled in the American Hockey League (AHL) for 13 seasons. He then got his chance as a permanent goaltender for Maple Leafs’ in 1958.

According to the report, Bower once reportedly said, “ When I was a little guy we had nothing at all. … But the ambition that I had as a kid was to play hockey as long as I could because it was always my dream to have my name engraved on the Stanley Cup.”

At 15, Bower lied about his age to join the army went to England to serve for the next four years, during the Second World War. However, in 1944, he was discharged due to rheumatoid arthritis, the report said.

Bower then returned to Prince Albert where he commenced his hockey career by playing with a team named Blackhawks in the Saskatchewan Junior Hockey League. He caught the attention of scouts from the AHL, which resulted in him getting his first professional offer from the Cleveland Barons in 1945. Bower was 21 at the time.

Bower spent eight years in AHL during a time when jobs at NHL were scarce.

“There were only six goalies in the NHL at the time. I couldn't beat them; at least I thought I couldn't. I still didn't give up. I just kept working,” he said.

The report stated in 1953, Bower joined the New York Rangers where he played all the matches in his first season with the team. However, the following season, Bower was unsettled from the team by Lorne Worsley.

Bower holds the record for most shutouts (45) and also most wins by winning 359 matches in 592.

Former teammate Frank Mahovlich said, “They nicknamed him [Bower] China Wall down there because no one could get by him.”

The report further stated that in 1958, the Toronto Maple Leafs took Bower thinking he could take consolidate a weak team.

Then, Bower reportedly said, “Here I was, 35 years old and even though I didn't give up, I said, 'I can't help Toronto.’ … It was my wife Nancy who told me, 'You had a childhood dream and it's your opportunity to go. If you don't make it, you don't make it.'"

Due to his experience in the AHL, Bower became one of the best goaltenders in the NHL. He was said to handle the puck with the utmost skill and his play did not give any indication of his age.

NHL Commissioner, Gary Bettman, said with regards to the death of Bower, “There is so much to appreciate in Johnny Bower's accomplishments on the ice - including the four Stanley Cups and membership in the Hockey Hall of Fame - and yet there was so much more to the man who served his sport, his country, and his community with such distinction .”

“Johnny Bower enriched us all by sharing the pure joy he felt for the game he played and for the men who played it, with him and against him. It was a personal privilege to know him, a delight to be in his presence and an honor to celebrate him as one of the 100 Greatest Players in NHL history,” he added.