TORONTO — Some pre-game challenges made for a memorable debut when Joe Bowen became the voice of the Toronto Maple Leafs over four decades ago.
He took them on with aplomb and was soon on his way to a Hall of Fame career that continues this year with his 42nd season on the mic.
After working as a play-by-play man for the OHL's Sudbury Wolves and AHL's Nova Scotia Voyageurs, Bowen got the Maple Leafs job in 1982."I was nervous as hell," Bowen said in a recent interview."I wanted to get to the rink early. I got in a cab with the biggest man I'd ever seen in my life to that point. driving this cab and down we went West Madison Street. We were going through the worst part of Chicago.
Bowen had rehearsed some opening lines for his big night but technical difficulties were a problem. The pre-game show had to be scrapped and the engineer worked furiously to get the main broadcast on the air. "We're in our infancy as far as this is concerned," Bowen said by way of comparison."But you've got 32 teams all trying to do the same thing, so it's pretty difficult."When Toronto was eliminated by the Florida Panthers in the second round, Bowen — who didn't know if his contract would be renewed — got choked up as he thanked longtime broadcast partner Jim Ralph and supporters on the air.
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