Legendary Maple Leafs broadcaster Joe Bowen announces he will retire following 2025-26 season

“I have been totally blessed to be able to do my dream job for this long, eclipsing the career of my idol Foster Hewitt,” he wrote in a statement he posted on Twitter/X. “I will reach over 3800 games sometime this season. Thanks so much to all those who have made this wonderful career possible.”

Throughout the over four decades that Bowen was the ‘Voice of the Maple Leafs,’ he could be heard across different radio stations and TV channels with a burning passion for the team he covered on a nightly basis. From the lows of the ’80s, to the highs of the runs of 1993 and 1994 and countless others, there was a good chance that Bowen was there to call that moment alongside his longtime partner, doing colour in Jim Ralph.

Following the first 12-year contract that Rogers signed with the NHL in 2013, Bowen moved over to radio permanently a year later, which is where he and Ralph have been ever since. Outside of the NHL, he did commentary for the Toronto Rock of the NLL and the Nova Scotia Voyagers of the AHL. He was also awarded the Foster Hewitt Memorial Award in 2018, honouring outstanding contributions by a hockey broadcaster. His professionalism, enthusiasm, and memorable catch phrases, such as ‘Holy Mackinaw,’ are why he became the voice of Leafs Nation for multiple generations and how he was able to remain in his position for as long as he was in it for. Many fans had long hoped he would be there for the moment that the Leafs finally recaptures the Stanley Cup, and Bowen too hopes that his career ends on a high.

The respect that he and Ralph had garnered over the years is why there was ample outrage over instances like the two initially not being allowed to travel with the Leafs during the 2023 Playoffs before the decision was reversed after public outcry. It’s also why people paid attention when Bowen called out Leafs fans for being too quiet during Game 3 of the 2024 Playoffs. And when fans expressed concerns that summer about whether or not he would be back, his announcement that he signed an extension generated a lot of excitement.

Things will certainly not be the same after Bowen calls his final game with the Leafs, whenever the ending of the 2025-26 season occurs. But for the time being, fans know they will get at least one more season full of ‘Holy Mackinaw’ moments.