Battalion coach remembers Leafs legend

Battalion head coach Stan Butler is remembering Johnny Bower, the legendary Leafs goalie who passed away this week.

Butler says one fond memory is from 1967 when he was 11 years old and won tickets to a Leafs game at a hockey banquet in East Toronto.

“I was lucky enough to win them, it was my first NHL game and Johnny was the guest speaker at the banquet and he gave me those tickets,” Butler says.

The two also worked together years later when he was in Brampton.

“Him and I both sat on the Peel Regional Police Crime Stoppers, so I got to spend time with him there and I always shared that story with him, which he got quite a kick out of, he was a great guy, a class act,” Butler says.

He says Bower was a winner and knew what it took to win, but but when talking with him, he was a very humble man.

Johnny Bower, who won four Stanley Cups with Toronto and two Vezina Trophies as the NHL’s best goaltender, was 93.

Photo: A large display at the Air Canada Centre pays tribute to Canadian hockey legend Johnny Bower, following his passing, in Toronto on Tuesday, December 27, 2017. The death of Hockey Hall of Famer has unleashed a flood of tributes from within the hockey world and beyond. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Christopher Katsarov