Random celebrity encounters – Johnny Bower edition

Add glasses and Johnny still looks more or less like he did in the picture. Also note yet another diamond cut from '68-69 OPC. This set was brutal for that.

When I was a kid, it was not uncommon to know where at least one NHL player lived.  While they made good money, it was not absurd money and there was a good bet that at least one lived on somebody’s paper route, or near an aunt’s house, or someplace that was potentially accessible.  If one were so inclined, you could go there and get an autograph.

I was never so inclined.

I don’t know what it is.  It could be just general shyness or an overdeveloped sense of propriety, but while I’d have no problem getting an autograph from someone at a card show or a book signing or whatever, I’m extremely reluctant to do so when bumping into someone in the course of their day-to-day existence.

This past weekend, I was doing a grocery run and decided to grab a coffee at Tim Horton’s.  I parked the car and headed for the door when a familiar face passed me heading the other way.

It was Johnny Bower.

It took me a second because at 87, Johnny’s a tad smaller than he once would have been, but there was no mistaking the face.  I had about 5 seconds to make a decision and decided that I really didn’t want to accost Johnny Bower while he and his wife were trying to get into their car and go about their business.  So I just watched him go.

I went in the store and talked to the person behind the counter.

“Hey!  That was Johnny Bower!”

“Who?”

“Johnny Bower.  He was the goalie for the Leafs a long time ago.”

“Oh, I don’t know him.”

“Older guy, almost 90 years old.  He was in here with his wife a couple minutes back.”

“Sorry.”

“He was a teammate of Tim Horton.”

“Cool!  I’ll have to tell the boss.  He’d know about that sort of thing.”

She was obviously not quite as impressed by all of this as I was.

I’ve known for years that Johnny lived in the neighbourhood somewhere.  My kids took skating lessons at the arena with his picture in it and a number of times I’ve gone to the grocery minutes after he left and the cashiers would still be buzzing.  It’s the first time I’ve run across him, though. 

Johnny is reputedly among the nicest human beings on the planet and probably would have signed my grocery list (the only paper I had on me) had I asked.  It’s just not in my nature, I guess.  If I’d had one of the kids with me, I probably would have gone.   It would be easier to get something for them than for myself.  The whole episode still made my day, though.  It was pretty cool.

This brings the list of Leafs I’ve seen at various unofficial places to four: Carl Brewer used to visit someone at the place I worked as a kid, Norm Ullman was on the front steps of Union Station in Toronto, Derek King was waiting to cross King St. at Bay and now Johnny.  Yet to get an autograph from any of them.

Maybe next time. 

(Note: I actually do have a Johnny Bower autograph.  He was at a bookstore or something about 20 years ago and I got a print signed.  He was extremely nice that time, as well.)

In the name of being topical, Johnny probably wouldn’t have fared any better against the Bruins on Saturday than either Scrivens or Gustavsson did.  Sometimes you just get beat.  Severely.

If you're going to be old, it helps to be old and really, really good. This was his last full season, though.