The enduring China Wall
young women to stop swinging their clubs so wildly. Nancy, he recalls, was the most angry at being lectured, but they bumped into each other in town that evening and went to a movie.
After a long minor league trail, which included a stop in Providence, R.I., where they befriended the parents of future Leafs GM Lou Lamoriello, they settled in Toronto, with a son, two daughters and six grandchildren. Now there’s a flock of millennial munchkins coming to their door hoping to meet the legend.
“The kids on our street pass the wordatschool,”Nancysays.“Johnny gives them an autographed picture and they get pretty excited.”
If you pay a social call, Nancy assures there’s never a coat off its hanger, a newspaper strewn on the couch or a stray sock on the floor.
“He’s a goalie who likes to keep his crease clean,” laughed Nancy of her husband’s fastidiousness. “He wants things tidy. He’s very particular around the house — ‘pick up this, pick up that.’
“We do have quite a rumpus room in the basement. Pictures, pictures, pictures and his trophies. Two pairs of goal pads. But it’s all laid out and organized. I’m sure our kids have divided what they’d like to have.”
Bower always had a special rapport with youngsters, even a couple of 10-year-olds he caught littering his beloved playground.
“They were throwing pop cans around,” Nancy said. “He went right over and spoke to them quietly and said ‘you know this is a nice little park. Do you want it to look like a dump? Now please pick up those cans and put them in the barrel.’ They did it very nicely. It was so cute, but I said you probably scared the life out of them.”
He’s since made a deal with some of the local kids, autographs in exchange for helping with the park’s upkeep.
“Now I have the cleanest park going,” Johnny said. “I enjoy teaching kids the proper way to do things. It’s a big factor in my life. I had nothing growing up, but my Dad always told me ‘it doesn’t cost you nothin’ for a smile.’ Be nice to people, help them out and they’ll help you.”
Some of Bower’s gear is in the Hall, some was acquired by collectors such as Wilson, but Bower says the item most dear to him is his first of four miniature Cups from the 1962 Leafs.
“That was my childhood dream come true. My wife always reminds me I didn’t want to go Toronto at one time, I said ‘Nancy, I’m 33 years old, I’m happy in Cleveland.’ But she kept saying this is your big chance. So I went on one condition, if they sent me down, I could come back to Cleveland. We wound up staying for four Cups.”
Since then, Bower has staunchly defended the Leafs, through two last-place overall finishes in the past 50 years. He famously keeps a bottle of champagne in the fridge awaiting their next title.
“He watches their games on TV and doesn’t get tired, he’s there until the very end,” Nancy insists. “Then he watches the guys talk about the game afterwards.
“It’s been hard on him for a long time (keeping the faith), but the kids on this team, they are playing really well and we are really hopeful this time.” LHornby@postmedia.com