It was 20 minutes to a time normally set aside for the opening faceoff, but Joe Bowen had only just finished dinner. The long-time Maple Leafs play-by-play voice chuckled after he answered the phone, saying he had plenty of time to chat: “As luck would have it, my social calendar is fairly slow.”

The 68-year-old broadcast veteran has plenty of company in that regard, as COVID-19 shutters arenas — and everything else — across the world. Bowen took time out from his not-at-all-busy-schedule to field questions forwarded by readers of The Athletic:

How did you come up with “Holy Mackinaw” as your catchphrase?

OK, well that’s simple. My dad used to bellow it when I was a youngster, sitting on his lap watching Johnny Bower make great saves. My dad passed away when I was 14, just going into high school, and I never got to ask him where he got it from. I bellowed it out one night during a game against Chicago, when Felix Potvin made a big save. I looked across and Bill Watters, who was doing the colour with me, had fallen down and was laughing hysterically. I thought, “Well, maybe I’ll use it again.”

Advertisement

What’s your earliest memory of cheering for the Leafs?

It’s vivid. Sitting with my dad. He passed in 1965. So the three — back-to-back-to-back — championships with the Leafs. Maybe the most vivid thing I remember about that was sitting with him and Johnny Bower, our idol and hero, did the splits and tore his groin. He was replaced by some stiff who could easily have been driving a Zamboni. This stiff named Don Simmons, who I had never heard of, was replacing my idol. We didn’t have a chance to beat Chicago. Of course, they did, and they won the Stanley Cup.

Which song do you wish the Leafs would use as their goal song?

Oh god. How about ‘Big strong man,’ by The Wolfe Tones. Everybody will have to Google it. (Editor’s note: We saved you the search.)

What is the favourite call you have made?

Oh boy. I don’t know. Maybe top three? Nikki Borschevsky’s goal. The ‘Bless you boys’ call from Ottawa, when they were hanging on by their thumbs. And probably Auston Matthews’ fourth goal. Hopefully, my most memorable one is yet to come.

What is the worst game you’ve ever called?

(Bowen laughs) There’s a lot of those. I think I’ve managed to drive them from my memory. I can remember going to Pittsburgh on Boxing Day in 1991. And Kevin Maguire scored a goal to tie the game 1-1, and Mario Lemieux and company scored the next 11. Poor Grant Fuhr was in goal for all 11. Quickly thereafter, we couldn’t find a game on the Leafs schedule we thought they could win, and Jan. 2, Cliff Fletcher makes the trade with Calgary (for Doug Gilmour) and the whole picture turns on its axis and goes 180 degrees.

What does a typical Leaf game look like for you at home?

It’s changed over the years. We used to go to the morning skates all the time, because you needed to get statistical information in a hard copy paper handout. The internet has allowed us to do a lot of that game prep at home and only have to fight the traffic going down to the rink once, which is a delight. I go quite early. I leave the house around three in the afternoon. I’ll run into the other broadcasters. If there’s someone on the visiting team, I’ll kind of lay in wait down by the garage where they come in and have a word with them, maybe, just to do whatever preparation. Then it’s upstairs, and get everything organized that I need to have. When the puck is dropped, off we go.

Advertisement

What do you and colour analyst Jim Ralph usually talk about in the commercial breaks?

Anything that happens to pop into our fertile imaginations. I mean, a lot of it is the game. Maybe we become more critical: “How could he do that? Why can’t they get the puck out a couple of times?” Or, “What a great goal that was, he’s playing so well.” I think it’s just a lot of stuff that maybe wouldn’t make the air.

Can you listen to your own voice when it’s played back to you?

That’s a great question. And no, I can’t. When I first started, you would get a copy of the game, and you would critique yourself. Or if you had someone who really knew what they were doing, they would critique it for you. I critique as we go along: “Why’d you say that? You could have done this differently,” and that sort of thing. I don’t go back and listen to the game from last night. I’m flattered the television people, oftentimes, will use my call on their highlight packages the next day. And that’s probably where I would hear myself.

Where is the most obscure place you’ve been recognized by a fan?

Easy. It was in the dressing room at Notre Dame Stadium, and the hallway that leads down to the ‘Play Like a Champion’ sign. My friend John Heisler, who worked there, had gotten me access during the offseason. I’d never been in the room. I was walking around, being like Rudy Ruettiger. If they’d had a stool there, I’d have probably got on and done the (Knute Rockne) speech. Another family was being shown around. The youngster came up to me and said, “Mr. Bowen, can I have your autograph?” And I could have been at the Taj Mahal and been flattened less.

Any tips for getting into the broadcasting field?

Make sure you have a skilled labour credit. Either tool and die or electrical. Something where you will be able to make enough money to allow you to have fun doing this. My career is just filled with good fortune. It’s an industry that has blossomed, and now is just tearing itself down, to make it that much more difficult. So have a Plan B that can put food on the table while you enjoy the aspects of being in this industry.

Who influenced you in broadcasting?

A number of people. Obviously, as a child watching on TV, Foster Hewitt. Bill Hewitt and Danny Gallivan, who I hated but admired so much — and still do. I feel that he is the best there ever has been, and the rest of us are fumbling around for places No. 2 through wherever.

Advertisement

Which former player do you think could help the current Leafs the most?

Wendel Clark. He would fix a lot of things. Character. Leadership. Toughness. Physicality. Obviously goal-scoring ability. The whole package. He’d have to be a healthy Wendel Clark, though.

What was your favourite moment watching Mats Sundin play?

There was a lot of those, too. The overtime winning goal where he scored his 500th goal, against Calgary.

As the Cup drought goes on, how do you reconcile the idea your career may end before the Leafs win the big one again?

You know what? I haven’t really thought about it. The reconciliation is, it’s too bad. I’m going to be near a long list of former Leafs players who have never won a Stanley Cup, or have been able to broadcast one, for that matter. Disappointment? Obviously. I sincerely hope that they’re able to do this on my watch. But I will be a huge fan. And I’ll be there before most at the parade, on the side of the street saluting whoever has taken over for me, who is fortunate enough to do the broadcast of a winning team.

(Photo: Carlos Osorio / Toronto Star via Getty Images)