Johnny Bower
Canadian ice hockey player
John William "Johnny" Bower (November 8, 1924 – December 26, 2017), nicknamed "The China Wall", was a Hockey Hall of Fame goaltender.
Johnny Bower | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Born | John William Kiszkan November 8, 1924 Prince Albert, Saskatchewan, Canada | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Died | December 26, 2017 Mississauga, Ontario, Canada | (aged 93)||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Allegiance | Canada | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Service/branch | First Canadian Army | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Years of service | 1940–1943 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Rank | Gunner | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Unit | II Canadian Corps | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Battles/wars | World War II |
Bower died of pneumonia on December 26, 2017 in Toronto at the age of 93.[1]
Awards
change- 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.
Career statistics
changeRegular season
changeSeason | Team | League | GP | Min | GA | W | L | T | SO | GAA |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1944–45 | Prince Albert Black Hawks | SJHL | 10 | 630 | 27 | 5 | 4 | 1 | 0 | 2.57 |
1945–46 | Cleveland Barons | AHL | 41 | 2460 | 160 | 18 | 17 | 6 | 4 | 3.90 |
1945–46 | Providence Reds | AHL | 1 | 48 | 4 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 5.00 |
1946–47 | Cleveland Barons | AHL | 40 | 2400 | 124 | 22 | 11 | 7 | 3 | 3.10 |
1947–48 | Cleveland Barons | AHL | 31 | 1880 | 83 | 18 | 6 | 6 | 1 | 2.65 |
1948–49 | Cleveland Barons | AHL | 37 | 2200 | 127 | 23 | 9 | 5 | 3 | 3.43 |
1949–50 | Cleveland Barons | AHL | 61 | 3660 | 201 | 38 | 15 | 8 | 5 | 3.30 |
1950–51 | Cleveland Barons | AHL | 70 | 4280 | 213 | 44 | 21 | 5 | 5 | 2.99 |
1951–52 | Cleveland Barons | AHL | 68 | 4110 | 165 | 44 | 19 | 5 | 3 | 2.41 |
1952–53 | Cleveland Barons | AHL | 61 | 3680 | 155 | 40 | 19 | 2 | 6 | 2.53 |
1953–54 | New York Rangers | NHL | 70 | 4200 | 182 | 29 | 31 | 10 | 5 | 2.60 |
1954–55 | Vancouver Canucks | WHL | 63 | 3780 | 171 | 30 | 25 | 8 | 7 | 2.71 |
1954–55 | New York Rangers | NHL | 5 | 300 | 13 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 2.60 |
1955–56 | Providence Reds | AHL | 61 | 3710 | 174 | 45 | 14 | 2 | 3 | 2.81 |
1956–57 | Providence Reds | AHL | 57 | 3501 | 138 | 30 | 19 | 8 | 4 | 2.37 |
1956–57 | New York Rangers | NHL | 2 | 120 | 6 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 3.50 |
1957–58 | Cleveland Barons | AHL | 64 | 3870 | 140 | 37 | 23 | 3 | 8 | 2.17 |
1958–59 | Toronto Maple Leafs | NHL | 39 | 2340 | 106 | 15 | 17 | 7 | 3 | 2.74 |
1959–60 | Toronto Maple Leafs | NHL | 66 | 3960 | 177 | 34 | 24 | 8 | 5 | 2.68 |
1960–61 | Toronto Maple Leafs | NHL | 58 | 3480 | 145 | 33 | 15 | 10 | 2 | 2.50 |
1961–62 | Toronto Maple Leafs | NHL | 59 | 3540 | 151 | 31 | 18 | 10 | 2 | 2.58 |
1962–63 | Toronto Maple Leafs | NHL | 42 | 2520 | 109 | 20 | 15 | 7 | 1 | 2.62 |
1963–64 | Toronto Maple Leafs | NHL | 51 | 3009 | 106 | 24 | 16 | 11 | 5 | 2.11 |
1964–65 | Toronto Maple Leafs | NHL | 34 | 2040 | 81 | 13 | 13 | 8 | 3 | 2.38 |
1965–66 | Toronto Maple Leafs | NHL | 35 | 1998 | 75 | 18 | 10 | 5 | 3 | 2.25 |
1966–67 | Toronto Maple Leafs | NHL | 27 | 1431 | 63 | 12 | 9 | 3 | 2 | 2.64 |
1967–68 | Toronto Maple Leafs | NHL | 43 | 2239 | 84 | 14 | 18 | 7 | 4 | 2.25 |
1968–69 | Toronto Maple Leafs | NHL | 20 | 779 | 37 | 5 | 4 | 3 | 2 | 2.85 |
1969–70 | Toronto Maple Leafs | NHL | 1 | 60 | 5 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 5.00 |
NHL totals | 552 | 32016 | 1340 | 250 | 195 | 90 | 37 | 2.51 |
Post-season record
changeSeason | Team | League | GP | Min | GA | W | L | SO | GAA |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1944–45 | Prince Albert Black Hawks | SJHL | 3 | 180 | 23 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 7.67 |
1948–49 | Cleveland Barons | AHL | 5 | 329 | 23 | 2 | 3 | 0 | 4.19 |
1949–50 | Cleveland Barons | AHL | 9 | 548 | 27 | 4 | 5 | 0 | 2.96 |
1950–51 | Cleveland Barons | AHL | 11 | 703 | 32 | 8 | 3 | 0 | 2.73 |
1951–52 | Cleveland Barons | AHL | 5 | 300 | 17 | 2 | 3 | 0 | 3.40 |
1952–53 | Cleveland Barons | AHL | 11 | 745 | 21 | 7 | 4 | 4 | 1.69 |
1954–55 | Vancouver Canucks | WHL | 5 | 300 | 16 | 1 | 4 | 0 | 3.20 |
1955–56 | Providence Reds | AHL | 9 | 540 | 23 | 7 | 2 | 0 | 2.56 |
1956–57 | Providence Reds | AHL | 5 | 300 | 15 | 1 | 4 | 0 | 3.00 |
1958–59 | Toronto Maple Leafs | NHL | 12 | 746 | 38 | 5 | 7 | 0 | 3.14 |
1959–60 | Toronto Maple Leafs | NHL | 10 | 645 | 31 | 4 | 6 | 0 | 2.88 |
1960–61 | Toronto Maple Leafs | NHL | 3 | 180 | 8 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 3.00 |
1961–62 | Toronto Maple Leafs | NHL | 10 | 579 | 20 | 6 | 3 | 0 | 2.28 |
1962–63 | Toronto Maple Leafs | NHL | 10 | 600 | 16 | 8 | 2 | 2 | 1.60 |
1963–64 | Toronto Maple Leafs | NHL | 14 | 850 | 30 | 8 | 6 | 2 | 2.12 |
1964–65 | Toronto Maple Leafs | NHL | 5 | 321 | 13 | 2 | 3 | 0 | 2.43 |
1965–66 | Toronto Maple Leafs | NHL | 2 | 120 | 8 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 4.00 |
1966–67 | Toronto Maple Leafs | NHL | 4 | 183 | 5 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 1.64 |
1968–69 | Toronto Maple Leafs | NHL | 4 | 154 | 11 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 4.29 |
NHL totals | 74 | 4,378 | 180 | 35 | 34 | 5 | 2.47 |
References
changeOther websites
change- Biographical information and career statistics from NHL.com, or Eliteprospects.com, or Hockey-Reference.com, or The Internet Hockey Database
- Age never got in Bower's way Archived 2007-09-29 at the Wayback Machine
- AHL Hall of Fame bio Archived 2007-07-04 at the Wayback Machine