This Day in Hockey History – April 6, 1969 – Will You Still Need Me When I’m 44

The Toronto Maple Leafs were a force to be reckoned with during the 1960s, winning four Stanley Cup champions (in 1962, 1963, 1964, and 1967). One of the main reasons for their success had to do with their more mature goaltender, Johnny Bower, who also won the Vezina Trophy in 1961 and 1965. During the 1968-69 playoffs, he became the oldest goalie to play during the postseason. He was allegedly aged 44 years, 4 months, 28 days when he started on April 6, 1969.

According to record, Bower was born November 8, 1924. If correct, he would have been about a month and a half older than the previous oldest person to mind an NHL net during playoffs, Lester Patrick, born on December 31, 1883. Patrick had a full career playing for western professional teams before finishing his playing career with one season, 1926-27, as a defenseman in the NHL. That same season, he became coach and general manager of the New York Rangers, and he remained with them for 13 seasons until 1933. As a player, Patrick was inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame in 1947.

Hockey Hall of Fame – Frank Lennon, via
Wikimedia Commons

On April 7, 1928, Coach Patrick was 44 when he had to tend his team’s net during the second game of the Stanley Cup finals, held at Montreal Forum. New York’s goalie, Lorne Chabot, received an eye injury at the beginning of the second period, but their opponents, the Montreal Maroons, would not allow the backup goalie or a minor league goalie to join the game. Rangers captain Bill Cook and teammate Frank Boucher urged Patrick to fill in since he had some experience from his Pacific Coast teams. Patrick only allowed in one goal on 18 shots, but unfortunately, it was the tying score. Fortunately, Boucher saved the day in overtime. With permission to borrow the New York Americans’ Joe Miller, the Rangers lost the third game but won the final two. Despite the goalie debacle, the Rangers won their first Stanley Cup.

Bower’s age was uncertain since he lied to join the military during World War I. According to the NHL’s 100-Greatest Series, “He looked like your grandfather, but he moved like a teenager — light on his feet, quick with his hands and especially adept at thrusting his stick out to poke the puck from a charging attacker.” Bower earned the nickname “The China Wall” during his time in the AHL because he blocked like a brick wall, but he was also often called “as old as the Great Wall of China.” His surname was one he chose when he left behind his birth surname of Kiszkan after a “separation in the family.”

Like the Great Wall, Bower’s road was long. While playing in the minors beginning in 1944, he occasionally tended goal for the New York Rangers from 1953 to 1957 and then joined Toronto in 1958. Throughout, he was beloved and respected by teammates and fans.

Although Bower made history as the oldest goalie to play during the postseason, he and his team had a rough time during the 1969 Quarter-Finals. The second-place Boston Bruins not only swept fourth-place Toronto, but in the process, handed them two humiliating losses from get-go. On April 2, Boston fans watched their team score seven goals on Toronto’s starting goalie, Bruce Gamble. Even after Bower went in for the third period, the Bruins scored thrice more for a 10-0 shutout. The very next night, the Bruins potted four goals before Bower replaced Gamble early in the second period. According to the Boston Globe, “Bower had a little more luck, but not much.” He let in another three goals to leave Boston with a 7-0 shutout. The series moved to Toronto, but the Maple Leafs did not improve enough. On April 5, after Gamble let in two goals during the first period, Bower again took over the net. Even though Bower also let in two, he received the No. 2 star of the night while Boston goalie Gerry Cheevers took No. 1. The Bruins won 4-3.

Finally, on April 6, with the whole series on the line, the Leafs started Bower. It made sense that Gamble had been given the responsibility first since he had played the majority of the regular-season games. He had a record of 28-20-11 compared to Bower’s 6-4-3, and Gamble was at his prime at 30. However, according to the Boston Globe coverage, “Old John stood off a number of good Bruins bids, and there was speculation of how much difference there might have been if he had been the original selection of Punch Imlach instead of Bruce Gamble.” The press credited him with inspiring his teammates and later leading them to shake hands with class as they lost 3-2. Almost immediately, Toronto fired Imlach, the Leafs’ coach and general manager throughout the four 1960s championships. A Leafs’ spokesman said, “The Imlach era has come to an end. It was coming if he had beaten the Bruins. It was coming if he won the Stanley Cup.” Partly in solidarity, Bower announced that he would retire.

As his swan song, on December 10, 1969, Bower became the oldest netminder to play during the regular season. That night did not go well for him either, and he never played another NHL game. He was inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame in 1976.

 Additional Sources:

• Tom Fitzgerald, “Bruins in 3-2 Sweep, Toronto Fires Coach,” Boston Globe, morning edition, 7 April 1969, pp. 1 and 25-26.
• John Ahern, “Punch’s Ouster Shocks Bruins,” Boston Globe, morning edition, 7 April 1969, p. 26.
• “Bower Displays Class, Embraces Rival Cheevers” and “Toronto Coach Fired After Leafs Lose,” Boston Globe, morning edition, 7 April 1969, p. 27.
• Tom Fitzgerald, “Espo (4), Bruins Crush Toronto, In Wild Opener, 10-0; Orr Hurt,” Boston Globe, 3 April 1969, pp. 49-50.
• Harold Kaese, “Barraging Bruins Now 17 To Tepid Toronto’s Zero,” Boston Globe, 4 April 1969, pp. 1 and 25.
• Tom Fitzgerald, “Bruins Top Toronto, 4-3,” Boston Globe, 6 April 1969, pp. 1 and 81-82.
• https://www.nhl.com/news/johnny-bower-100-greatest-nhl-hockey-players/c-284315454?tid=283865022
• https://thepinkpuck.com/2018/10/08/this-week-in-hockey-history-october-8-1971-hockeys-royal-family-adds-third-patrick-generation/
• https://thepinkpuck.com/2014/06/11/puck-luck-a-story-of-two-stanley-cups/