Completing 44 seasons calling the Maple Leafs on radio and TV, Joe Bowen is retiring in the spring.
During this final season for the Hockey Hall of Famer, Postmedia will tap into Joe’s vast storybook of select Leafs opponents, many famous players and bygone NHL arenas. With New Jersey in town Tuesday, memories of a 43-year-old rivalry, two intense playoff series, and adventures in the Devils’ two home rinks:
For a team so geographically close to Toronto, New Jersey was one of the hardest places to get in and out of for the Leafs and their broadcast crew. If it wasn’t the tricky maze of highway exits, surrounded by the Meadowlands swamps and bullrushes, to reach suburban Brendan Byrne Arena, it was Mother Nature interfering.
In 2010, an in-and-out stop by the Leafs on Boxing Day to Newark became a three-day rescue mission when the state was hammered by a blizzard.
“No one even had a toothbrush,” Bowen laughed. “Driving to the airport, our media bus got stuck in a snowdrift. Colton Orr and the players got out of their bus to help us push, but (Leafs TV host) Paul Hendrick and (director) Mark Askin wouldn’t budge. They didn’t want to ruin the new dress shoes they got for Christmas, so (analyst) Jim Ralph and I had to do it.”
The buses needed five hours to reach their emergency hotel destination in Short Hill, N.J., normally a 25-minute drive, passing many stranded big rigs on the road. They made the airport the next day, but due to high winds, were taken off their plane and rebooked overnight in the same hotel before finally leaving.
It didn’t take long after the Devils transformed from the Colorado Rockies to get a hate-on for the Leafs. Wendel Clark had a famous feud with famed Russian import Slava Fetisov, paying him back for a hit in a quick KO.
“That fight was a beaut,” Bowen recalled. “The best part about Wendel was no discussions about ‘Do you wanna go?’ He had to fight that way because he wasn’t big and had to be the aggressor. He did very well with that strategy.”
That same season saw Bowen call the bout between Jersey’s giant goalie Sean Burke, who pounded on Toronto netminder Mark LaForest. ‘Trees’ had badly misjudged Burke’s height from the other end of the Gardens.
Brendan Byrne Arena had a quirky set-up, its broadcast positions and press box low at centre ice level, giving Bowen a great sense for the sights – and smells.
“I was working with Gord Stellick, who ate something bad at dinner and let out a huge gaseous emission. I said on air ‘someone must have left the door open, I’m getting a whiff of the swamp.’ ”
There was no way such prime seating would be sacrificed again in 2007 when the Prudential Center opened in Newark. The Leafs have had more success at ‘The Rock,’ at least in the regular season, after two promising playoff runs ended in 2000 and 2001.
Bobby Holik shut down Mats Sundin, the Leafs were held to six shots on goal in one elimination match. Toronto was up 3-2 in the other set before Jersey rallied for fallen defenceman Scott Niedermayer after Tie Domi needlessly elbowed him at the Air Canada Centre.
“Tie was having maybe the best game of his entire career,” lamented Bowen. “And he just lost his mind. That was a tough one.
“But there was lots of great hockey to watch between those teams.”
Lhornby@postmedia.com
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