Johnny Bower
| Johnny Bower | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Hockey Hall of Fame, 1976 | |||
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| Born |
November 8, 1924 Prince Albert, Saskatchewan, Canada |
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| Height | 5 ft 9 in (175 cm) | ||
| Weight | 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 |
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| Playing career | 1945–1969 | ||
John William Bower (born John Kiszkan on November 8, 1924), nicknamed "The China Wall", is a Canadian Hockey Hall of Fame goaltender who won four Stanley Cups during his career with the Toronto Maple Leafs. On January 1, 2017, in a ceremony prior to the Centennial Classic, Bower was part of the first group of players to be named one of the '100 Greatest NHL Players' in history.
Bower (who is of Ukrainian descent) 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 11 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.
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 1945–46, 1955–56 and 1956–57), Vancouver (Canucks 1954–55), Cleveland (Barons 1945–53 and 1957–58) and then again with the Rangers in 1954–55, before being claimed by the Toronto Maple Leafs in the 1958 Inter-League Draft. He would play 11 full seasons in all with the Leafs, the remainder of his career.
The height of his NHL career came during the Maple Leafs' three consecutive Stanley Cup victories in the early 1960s: 1961–62, 1962–63, and 1963–64.
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