Bowen honored by Maple Leafs players, fans at final home broadcast

TORONTO -- It was a fitting way to say goodbye.

After the final horn sounded on the Toronto Maple Leafs 6-5 loss against the visiting Dallas Stars Monday, John Tavares, William Nylander and their teammates skated to center ice at Scotiabank Arena and began saluting up at the broadcast booth where Joe Bowen had just called his final home game as the team’s play-by-play man.

With tears in his eyes, Bowen looked down and waved back.

Respect begets respect.

And for the man who had served as the soundtrack for this Original Six franchise for more than four decades, it was certainly well deserved.

After 44 years of calling Maple Leafs games, Bowen announced earlier this season that this would be his final one behind the mic. As such, the 75-year-old was honored with a scoreboard tribute during a stoppage early in the third period, eliciting a standing ovation that lasted over two minutes.

Cue the weeping.

It wasn’t just from Joe himself. There were plenty of waterworks from his family who stood behind him as he delivered the description of the final two minutes of the game.

Then, when it was over, he and Jim Ralph, his analyst for the past 28 years, exchanged a lengthy embrace. For once, Bowen had no words.

He then delivered a final farewell to Maple Leafs fans. He talked about their loyalty, their passion, and compared Toronto’s Stanley Cup drought to those endured by the Boston Red Sox and Chicago Cubs before those two teams finally won World Series championships earlier this century.

“Like those two teams, Leafs fans will one day have the opportunity to celebrate a championship,” he told NHL.com. “And when that happens, there will be people bringing urns to the television so they can celebrate with loved ones who never had the chance to see the Leafs win a Stanley Cup. They’ll go to the cemetery and share the joy with those loved ones who would have enjoyed such a special moment.

“I just hope I’m around to see it.”

The Maple Leafs have not won a Stanley Cup since 1967. Joe began broadcasting Toronto games in 1982. In the ensuing time, he never once even got to call a Maple Leafs game in a Cup Final. Because, in his entire tenure, the team never got that far.

There is still one more game to call. The Maple Leafs’ visit to the nation's capital to face the Ottawa Senators Wednesday will be his finale. Only he’ll call that one remotely, not from the rink.

On this night, he packed up his things and wandered out of the booth which, starting next season, will be known as the “Joe Bowen broadcast booth.” In an interesting twist, his son David, play-by-play voice of the Ontario Hockey League’s Sudbury Wolves who was on hand for his dad’s special night, is among the candidates who could replace him.

Then again, after such a distinguished Hall of Fame career, can Joe Bowen, the man who made “Holy Mackinaw” a common phrase in this city, really be replaced?

Not to those players and fans who bid adieu to him on Monday.