Maple Leafs: Joe Bowen’s Special Night

Joe Bowen is “The Voice” of the Toronto Maple Leafs. He has been for 44 years. I’ve heard Bowen calling Leafs games my entire life. There are so many childhood memories of listening to him call Leafs games. Every kid tuned in to hear at least one HOLY MACKINAW call by Joe. I do miss hearing him call the games on TV, but he and his partner, Jim Ralph, do a fantastic job of bringing the game to life on the radio.

On Tuesday night, the Maple Leafs paid tribute to Bowen with Holy Mackinaw Night in his honor. I was proud to be there in attendance to take it all in. There was a pre-game ceremony for Joe that featured a video with well-wishes from past and present Maple Leafs like Mats Sundin, Darryl Sittler, Wendel Clark, Doug Gilmour, Curtis Joseph, Darcy Tucker, Morgan Rielly, and John Tavares.

Clark, on behalf of the Toronto Maple Leafs, then presented Bowen with a ‘golden microphone,’ igniting a lengthy ovation from the crowd. Fans were then informed that the booth from which Bowen has called so many Leafs games will be renamed Bowen’s Booth starting next season. Speaking of Bowen’s Booth, as part of the festivities, Joe’s son David, who does play-by-play for the Sudbury Wolves of the Ontario Hockey League, called the entire Maple Leafs-Chicago Blackhawks game in his dad’s place. Joe’s longtime friend and analyst Jim Ralph worked beside David and even gave him the go-ahead to shout HOLY MACKINAW when Dakota Joshua scored to give the Leafs a 3-2 lead late in the game.

Joe Bowen Embraced ‘Holy Mackinaw’ Night

Joe Bowen watched the entire game with the rest of his family from a private box. He even chugged a beer to the delight of many as the team showed him on the jumbo screen. During the game, the Leafs even gave Joe the honor of presenting a Maple Leafs jersey to the Canadian soldier being honored during Tuesday night’s ‘Leafs Troops’ segment.

Before the pre-game ceremony started, Bowen had the privilege of going into the Maple Leafs dressing room and take over head coach Craig Berube’s job of announcing the names of which players would be in the starting lineup. Something you could tell he really enjoyed.

Maple Leafs Won in Dramatic Fashion

After giving up a short-handed 2-on-1, which led to the Blackhawks scoring a short-handed goal to take a 2-0 first period lead. The Leafs were often serenaded with boos from the crowd. Some fans even cheered every time Joseph Woll made a save. Safe to say, the Leafs did not give fans much to cheer for during the majority of the game.

However, that all changed in the third period. Defenseman Oliver Ekman-Larsson got Toronto on the board with his 6th goal of the season at 09:59 of the final frame. Auston Matthews scored his 14th of the season on a Leafs power-play to tie the game 2-2. Then just eight seconds later, Dakota Joshua scored at 16:59 to give the Maple Leafs the lead. Things got a little nerve-wracking late in the third with the Blackhawks’ net empty and them having an extra attacker, but the Leafs held on for their 15th win of the season. A nice win to cap off a great night for Joe Bowen and his family.