As final game looms, voice of the Leafs looks back on ‘dream’ career

For 44 years, Joe Bowen’s signature voice has been the soundtrack of Leafs Nation. But this season will be his last behind the mic — and with the Toronto Maple Leafs officially out of playoff contention, Bowen’s legendary career is down to its final few periods.

His last game on the airwaves will be April 15.

On tonight’s episode of Village Media’s Closer Look podcast, we revisit our recent interview with the voice of the Leafs — and the pride of Sudbury — who has received plenty of love from fans throughout the season.

“It’s been overwhelming, it really has,” Bowen told the podcast. “I've gotten letters, I've gotten texts, emails…It breaks your heart sometimes, but it warms your heart so many times, all of the great stories that everybody has.”

Transcript

SPEAKER_03 0:00

Well, it costs you twenty-five dollars right off the bat because c uh holy makin is copywritten and uh I accept empties and or uh recyclables.

SPEAKER_05 0:35

Here's what I didn't do last night go home and build anything or weld anything or plumb anything. Uh but it was nice to see some feedback from uh parents of teens who watch the show and said, you know what, thanks for doing this.

SPEAKER_01 0:47

I hope that people did uh have a chance to watch it. If you're thinking of, you know, we're at that if you're at that stage where your kids in grade 11, grade 12, they're not sure what they want to do. It's a it's an eye-opening thing. And again, I keep coming back to the way the economy is changing, the way jobs are changing so rapidly, right? We don't even really know what it's gonna look like in five years. You have to ask yourself, where will there be a career in five years? Well, we know and and it's what uh Ian talked about yesterday about how we know these trades are gonna be in high demand for years to come, right? Yeah, yeah. And ultimately comes down to good paycheck. It's a good paycheck. It's steady work, and uh, it's a great living, it's a great career. So I think it's uh if we opened a few eyes and got a few clicks on uh their website, that's something. Then guys like us still trying to figure out what we want to do when we grow up. Oh man, we're we just don't want to grow up. That's the problem. He did say it's never too late, but soon enough we might we might end up giving them a call.

SPEAKER_05 1:35

Well, and how many times do you hear of people having to pivot, you know, in their 30s, 40s, even 50s? Could you imagine us being building decks? My goodness. Could you imagine anyone sitting on that deck? Do not walk on that deck. I'm telling you right now. Unless you're very well.

SPEAKER_01 1:48

If I ever found you under my sink, that'd be it for me.

SPEAKER_05 1:53

No guarantees on this handiwork from this fella, let me tell you. I know. Speaking of great careers. Yes, uh, the one and only Joe Bowen, hard to believe that it's winding down. Also hard to believe uh the Toronto Maple Leafs not in the playoffs this year. What a disaster. Total disaster. That's a whole other show. Not that we're a sports podcast, but you know what? In Toronto and in Canada, uh it's news. When the Maple Leafs don't make the playoffs, they fire their GM, the team is in shambles. Yeah. Uh, but the one bright star through all of this is the guy who has called them for decades the one and only Joe Bowen.

SPEAKER_01 2:23

Joe Bowen. And we were had the pleasure of having him on the podcast back in December. And at that time, he was still holding out hope that the Leafs would be okay. It was, yeah. You know, he announced before the season that that would be his last. He was retiring. And the hope was that it would be this would be the year they'd get that elusive cup that they've been trying to get the whole time he's been there. And uh it's not gonna happen this year. They're they're out of the playoffs, which means I was looking at the calendar, he's just days away from his last game. The last home game is next Monday, right? And the last the last game is the fifteenth. Yeah. So today's the seventh. He's a week away from from hanging it up. Yeah. And uh, it was such a great conversation with Joe. Uh, he's such a likable guy, a Sudbury guy, a Sudbury kid who's grown up to be the voice of the Maple Leaves. And uh, as he, you know, we get ready to for him to hang up the mic for good. I think it's a great opportunity just to listen to that interview again. If you missed it and you're a Leafs fan, and even if you're not a Leafs fan, if you're a sports fan, yeah, especially you love the fact that broadcasters bring so much to the game, you got to listen to this interview.

SPEAKER_05 3:20

For more than four decades, one voice has been the soundtrack of Leafs Nation. He's called The Heartbreak, the Hope, the Overtime Winners, and the Holy Mackinac. After all those years behind the mic, the unmistakable voice of the Toronto Ape Leafs is calling it a career. We're thrilled to have the legendary Joe Bowen joining us tonight on Closer Look. Uh Joe, welcome to the show. Uh, it's great to have you here.

SPEAKER_03 3:43

Well, it costs you$25 right off the bat because uh Holy Mackinac is copywritten, and uh I accept empties and or uh recyclables.

SPEAKER_02 3:54

Uh but I expect that that that uh payment should be forthcoming very quickly.

SPEAKER_01 3:59

Oh, Scott will send it to you right away, Joe.

SPEAKER_05 4:01

Fair enough.

SPEAKER_02 4:01

Oh, perfect. Ah boy, Scott.

SPEAKER_05 4:03

Uh Joe, when the uh season is done, you will have called uh over 38 uh hundred NHL games that started back in uh 1982 uh at the famed Chicago Stadium. That's a pretty impressive stat for a Sudbury guy uh who started his career doing play-by-play for the Wolves. Uh, did you ever, in your wildest dreams, uh Joe, imagine uh seeing happened what uh has over the last 44 years?

SPEAKER_03 4:27

No, honestly, I can't. Um I was just happy to get one game in, and it uh honestly didn't look like that was going to happen either. But um I mean, my dream was to to play for them like every other red-blooded kid. Uh I was gonna replace Johnny Bauer between the pipes, and uh uh a distinct lack of athletic ability uh prevented that from happening. So this was uh the second best alternative for it to be sure. But no, I I I never envisioned that. I mean, um I I know when I left Halifax, uh my very good friend Mike Cranston, who I worked with doing morning shows out there and uh also in Sudbury, uh he he kind of put his arm around me and he said, you know what? You're going up there, you're gonna own that town. And I laughed at him and I thought, yeah, if I last a week, maybe I'll last a week. Well, uh, it's been 44 years, uh come this uh next season or this next uh year. Um, and I've uh appreciated every bit of it and every moment of it.

SPEAKER_05 5:32

And Mike Cranson, uh, an absolute gem. Uh my career, uh Joe, is his background in radio in North Bay the Sioux and some work in Sudbury, too. So I I I know Mike quite well.

SPEAKER_03 5:42

Oh, he uh he literally taught me so much, and one of the things that he taught me was to have fun. Right. Um uh you can't be afraid of the microphone. Um, you've got to incorporate it and invite people to be in your bar, in your rec room, in wherever you are, uh to enjoy it. And uh, I've been very fortunate to work with a lot of great people that uh have the same opinion and and the same kind of talent.

SPEAKER_01 6:11

You definitely have that gift. You do bring us right into the room when you're doing a game, Joe. Were you that way as a kid playing goalie in the Sudbury growing up? Or you did you have that voice? Did you have that aspiration to sort of call the game while you're playing net? Oh, I think everybody can everybody does.

SPEAKER_03 6:24

I mean, when you're a kid and uh and you know what I miss, and and I don't know what it's like up in Sault Ste. Marie, but I mean, we were outdoors every night. Yep. We were in my backyard shooting against the uh the garage door, and I drive around downtown here or in Markham and and whatnot, you never see kids outside. Of course, the the stupid politicians have banned having uh hockey nets on the street. So you can't car, you know, you got the hell out of the way. Well, we can't even do that now. And uh, unless everything is organized for kids now, you don't see them out just having fun. But oh God, when I was out there, yeah, we were all being Foster Hewitt or Danny Galavan or somebody uh just having fun while we uh pretended we were on our way fast tracking to the National Hockey League.

SPEAKER_01 7:14

It's a great point. I we talk about it all the time. I mean, I wonder how these elite AAA kids are playing. You don't see them out slapping the puck against their garage. Where I grew up, every kid's garage was a disaster. Totally. Now everyone everyone's prestige. I'm sure it was the same for you.

SPEAKER_03 7:26

Some refrigerators and some washers and dryers.

SPEAKER_01 7:29

Yeah, exactly. Look, it's isn't Sidney Crosby's in the Hall of Fame, isn't that right? Yeah, exactly. Joe, I have to get an uncomfortable question out of the way first. Did you ever imagine after all these decades calling these games that you wouldn't have called a Stanley Cup championship for the Leafs?

SPEAKER_03 7:42

Oh, I I suppose. Uh I never called a Memorial Cup for Sudbury. Uh I uh I I I worked with uh uh um Harry uh oh well no I've just lost his name here uh from Sault Ste. Marie. Uh Harry Wolf. Um back in the day when when we when we uh cooperated with uh the two cities hosting the Memorial Cup. Um but I never called the Sudbury Wolves a Memorial Cup. I didn't call a Calder Cup final for the Nova Scotia Voyager. So yeah, I you hope that you get the ultimate prize. But I, you know, I never really sat down and thought, yeah, we'll probably have one or two uh during the tenure that I'm here. Um we've had some great runs and come really, really damn close.

SPEAKER_04 8:30

Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 8:30

Um, but it hasn't happened. And uh hey, if I was the Boston Red Sox announcer or the Chicago Clubs announcer, it would have been 86 years or 104 years. There you go. So uh you you you can't uh you can't, yeah, you just never know.

SPEAKER_05 8:47

Uh Joe, let's talk about uh your interaction uh with fans. Uh always positive for the most part.

SPEAKER_03 8:52

Oh yeah. I uh I mean I I think I could probably count on two fingers uh when some guy maybe fueled with a little too much Crown Royal uh decided to uh and and it's always it's it's always kind of neat because they think that I'm gonna take immediately to management coaching uh ownership what needs to be changed in their mind. I'm like a postman. You're the conduit. Joe will tell them that this has got to change, and by God, it's gotta change now, or I'm never allowed to watch again. Well, sometimes that happens, but I I usually laugh it off and have a good chuckle at it.

SPEAKER_01 9:34

Oh, you know what I love about listening to you, Joe, is that the intensity is never not there. You are in that game every period, every play. How do you keep that level of intensity?

SPEAKER_02 9:45

Alcohol.

SPEAKER_03 9:49

You're stealing our tricks, Joe. That's our line. Oh, hey, Crown Royal is a wonderful, wonderful tool if you use it in moderation. No, I you know what? I mean, I I get excited. I'm a fan. I'm a huge fan of everything. Uh I love the Toronto Maple Leafs. I love the Fighting Irish of Notre Dame. I am an owner of the Green Bay Packers. I love the Toronto Argonauts. I've been a Boston Red Sox fan since uh 1967 or so. Um, and I think that I'd probably carry that idea of being a fan to the the booth. And uh and and I think I react that way um on on any given night. And um both positively and sometimes negatively, right? Um because it doesn't really work out the way you want it to. Um, but you know, having said that, I I think that that's probably been my quote unquote modus operandi, and um uh it's lasted this long, and and uh I'm glad that uh I did it uh with uh the Frank Sinatra song. I did it my way.

SPEAKER_05 11:08

Joe, are you uh feeling sentimental these days?

SPEAKER_03 11:11

About what? Two ex-wives? No, gotten over that. I'm gonna be fine, I think. It's amazing of a Crown Royal. Why would you all of a sudden get personal? I thought this was gonna be a fun damn interview. Is that gonna cost me another 25 bucks? Well, I have to say, I have to say hello to my very dear friend Dennis Bolton up there. I hope he's gonna be watching. Uh, played minor hockey with him and he lives up there. And when my son David was playing tier two hockey, we would get up there and and uh play both in uh the two sous and whatnot and would run into him. So I had to get that out of the way. I appreciate it. I think what Scott I don't save 35 cents on a stamp for a Christmas.

SPEAKER_01 11:50

There you go. I think what Scott's asking is obviously the fans in Toronto are are lamenting that these are your final your final season. They're with thinking back to all the great moments that you had in their memories of you being the soundtrack of their life, the soundtrack of their being a Leaves fan. And I'm just wondering if you feel that same way at all, if it's trickling in a little bit.

SPEAKER_03 12:08

No, it it's been overwhelming. Uh, it really has. Um I've gotten letters, I've gotten texts, emails, uh, I get stopped uh on my way to the games or if I'm out shopping. And some of the great notes that I've gotten is literally, and and Scottie Lauden and and uh others, uh Max Domey and John Tavares and kids who have grown up, uh uh Stevie uh uh also, you know, just you were in the car with us. We went to hockey, we we came back, Stevie Lorenz, I'm thinking of. And and you know, you were part of us growing up, and you were a big part of why I wanted to play, and why I wanted you to call our games maybe sometime, or something of that nature. And then you get people that weren't players, that were just fans, but also they were driving kids to to hockey, or they were, you know, everything else that you were in their car or in their living room or rec room. And uh I mean, I've been really touched with some of them. One gentleman sent me a really nice letter, and he said that his dad uh was a hugely fan, and he was terminally ill. And uh he went up to the hospital to visit his dad on his literally his last night, and um wanted they're gonna watch the hockey game. And his dad said, Could you bring a radio? Wow, uh I want to listen to Joe. Uh I mean that's that that kind of takes it right to the quick. And uh uh I I I've had so many of these interactions uh since the announcement that this would be my last year. And it's really touching, guys. It really is. I I uh it it it it it breaks your heart sometimes, but it warms your heart um so so many times. Um, of all of the great stories that everybody has that uh you are sort of a part of the family. Absolutely. I don't know them by name. Uh sometimes I've never ever seen them, but you you hear their story and you uh you react that way too.

SPEAKER_01 14:28

It's an amazing story. Thank you for sharing that, Joel. That's a very powerful story. And it's true. I think of my love for the sports teams that I love. The players come and go, but that voice on the radio and that TV, it's there forever. You're almost more connected to that. And I'm sure that's what you're feeling right now from the fans.

SPEAKER_03 14:44

Yeah, and and uh technology allows me to hang around a little longer. Um, you know, like I don't have a copy of my first game. I don't have a cassette of it. I don't know why. I probably did at one point, but two marriages and three houses later, uh I don't have it. Um, but I can go on YouTube and I can download all of these calls that we've had over the years that have been put to video or however, that uh are just amazing. And and guys, I'm in the process with Scott Morrison, um, one of my dear friends and a longtime uh beat writer with the Toronto Sun, or writing a book. Great. And one of the things that uh we're gonna do in it is that uh it'll be all of the the BS stories that I have. But um, you know, if we're talking about uh, well, uh the game in Los Angeles in '93 when Doug Gilmore gets cut and Wendell Clark comes off the bench and scores the tying goal. Well, I have that video and audio, but what I'm gonna do is put a uh QR code in the book so that you can listen to that call, and then I can talk about what happened maybe around it. Oh, that's great. Yeah, Gilmore got cut. Yeah, we got to talk to the officials after the game, and this is what they said. You won't believe it, but I'm saving it for the book. But anyway, um that sort of stuff. So so all of those calls that have been made, the Nikki Borishevsky call, the Bless You Boys call, Matt Sundeen scoring, um uh uh uh having Austin Matthews score four goals in his first game. We can incorporate that into the book. So I'm looking forward to that.

SPEAKER_05 16:35

We we were gonna ask you about uh specifically Nikki Borishevsky's goal and Sundee's 500. You've had so many over the years. Well, what are some of your favorites, Joe?

SPEAKER_03 16:44

Well, my favorite, my favorite call is is uh Nikki Borishevsky, and and and for two reasons. One, up until that point, we had no chance. Yeah because ownership didn't care enough, right? Cared about some things, didn't care enough about putting uh the best possible product on the ice. Once that changed and Cliff Fletcher arrived, and obviously making the Doug Gilmore trade and everything else, but that was a watershed mark. It was the franchise turned uh 180 degrees and started, and no, it hasn't worked. No, they haven't won. But it hasn't been for the lack of trying, the lack of uh money, the lack of anything. In fact, the money situation got so bad that they had to change the rule and put a damned cap in because the leafs were with the Rangers going out and spending money and trying to put a better product on the ice. So that goal really kind of the uh if if it kind of got to it, the first years from 82 until 92 were sort of like being in the miners, just an extension of the Nova Scotia voyageurs. But then that goal and that year said, okay, this is the NHL. They are trying to win. Haven't had it happen yet, but it wasn't for the lack of effort.

SPEAKER_05 18:17

You you mentioned uh ownership. Um, if we can talk about the uh Harold Ballard uh years for a couple of minutes, maybe the the culture, the mood, uh the atmosphere within the organization.

SPEAKER_03 18:28

Well, it was interesting. Yes, yes, um, I mean, he was uh a cantankerous uh I mean he he he he wanted to hog the headlines. Um it was his damn team, and by God, you needed to know that. Um uh you you you filled his coffers and and everything else, but he wanted the headlines instead of sitting at the back, enjoying the ride, and then having them hand the Stanley Cup to uh him after the players had touched it. So that was what would made it difficult, I suppose. But uh um, I mean, for a young kid uh getting an opportunity to just be in the National Hockey League, uh, you probably cut Mr. Ballard a lot more slack uh than maybe others who had been there and uh gone through uh uh more years of it uh since the 67 Stanley Cup.

SPEAKER_01 19:29

Joe, you're writing a book, like you said. Can you share one story with us that you've never told anyone that you're working on? Something in the book, something that just just a great behind-the-scenes story of your from your group.

SPEAKER_03 19:38

I've told everybody all of the ridiculous stories that I have. Uh let's think well, I I'll tell you this story. And um, I've been blessed working with so many wonderful people. Um and and Bill Waters is a dear, dear friend of mine. Wilbur was the biggest uh player agent in the league. And he walked in the door one day when we were auditioning people to do color with me. He says, Oh, I can do better than him. And Vicky McKee said, Okay, if you're if you think you're that good going up, we were doing auditions during an exhibition game. So Wilbur comes up, and sure enough, he is good. He's very good, knowledgeable, got more insight into the National Hockey League than anybody that we were gonna have. So we ended up working together for eight or nine years almost. Anyway, we're in the old Chicago stadium, and Wilbur has gone out and he's bought a brand new mohair, long, full length, a beige coat. Had to be a grand if it was a dollar in those days. And he was so proud of it. He looked, they looked like Babe Ruth walking down the street with this thing on. Anyway, at the top, we had to go up 97 stairs to get to the top of the uh the old Chicago stadium. And right where that uh stairwell was was a men's washroom where about two minutes into the game, more was flowing out of it than what was going into it, if you get my drift. And across from the the washroom, there was a concession stand. And they sold beer and popcorn and hot dogs or whatever up there. But literally in that building, there was no elevators or escalators. It had to be lugged up the stairs. So we finished the game and we're walking down, and Mr. Waters has a bit of a myopic condition, not being able to see as well as he should. And some poor kid had lugged up a mason jar of relish. There were 97 stairs to make it to the top. He made it to the 96th stair. And this thing of relish is smashed to smithereens, plus what was flowing out of the men's washroom, and Wilbur hits the top. The step and down he goes. 15 stairs to the next to the next landing. And I'm I thought he was dead. I mean, any other human being, that would have been a major catastrophe. But all I hear, no, Jesus, curse, it's wearing. And he gets up. And he's not cut. I don't know how that the coat saved his life. But it was ripped to hell. And all there was was relish in his hair. His coat was torn to shreds. And he was just beside himself. So that was that was my Chicago Stadium, one of my many Chicago Stadium stories.

SPEAKER_01 22:48

Joe, you and Scott are going to write a great book. I can feel it already. There's going to be a lot of great stories in there. All right.

SPEAKER_05 22:53

I'm almost afraid to ask this because it's going to cost me another 25 bucks. Uh, the phrase holy Mackinac, where did it come from?

SPEAKER_03 23:00

Oh, if you use it twice, it's uh it's$55. Uh guys, uh it came from my dad. Um, my dad passed away when I was 14. And I I cherish his memory. And it's one of the things that I've done with my four boys because he was so involved with uh what I was doing in sports and everything else, and he made time out of a busy career being a general surgeon in Sudbury. Um, he delivered 3,000 Sudburyans and made only two mistakes uh Paul Rimstead and Eddie Schack. And uh I would sit, I would sit with my dad watching uh Johnny Bauer and the Leafs play. And my dad was a goaltender of note, played with the University of Western Mustangs at medical school. And when Johnny would make a save, my dad would blurt it out. Holy Mackinac, what a great save by Johnny. Now, if I wasn't there, maybe he used a different term uh to shield the ears of a young uh boy growing up. That's what he said. And I never thought about it. I never used it in junior hockey, I never used it in American Hockey League, and it was five years uh again uh at the Chicago Stadium, and Felix Potfam made an unbelievable save and out it blurted. And I would never have used it again, except I looked over at my buddy Wilbur Waters, and Bill was laughing so hard he'd fallen off his chair. I thought, well, if I got that rise out of him, I'll use it again. And uh we have, and we hopefully we've done some good with it. We've sold t-shirts. In fact, uh uh the Leafs um with this uh uh ceremony on um next uh on Tuesday, they're selling holy mackkin t-shirts uh uh with uh the real sports apparel. The players have been wearing them, and uh uh if you buy one, um uh a lot of the proceeds are going to hospital for sick kids.

SPEAKER_01 25:11

That's a great thing. That's a great thing. Are you thinking a lot about Tuesday night? Are you wondering how it's gonna go? If you're gonna make it through.

SPEAKER_03 25:17

I have to. I got more people asking for damn tickets than I can possibly scrounge.

SPEAKER_01 25:22

So that was our next question, Joe.

SPEAKER_03 25:24

Yeah, no, you can't come. Get off your wallets and find one. Um uh yeah, the closer it gets, um the more it is. Uh you know, I I I I sometimes have to pinch myself and say, you know, you have to go to work two days after this. There's another damn game. So um it's kind of the the timing of it is interesting. Um the uh Keith Pelley and and company decided that this would be a good time to do it, um, and I'm enjoying it. Um it will have the the Blackhawks uh there, um, which will be kind of ironic. And then one part of the reason for it was that this is their only trip. And Nick Fellino will be a part of it. And I've been a part of the Felino family since I started in Sudbury uh when Michael was playing for the Wolves. So uh they're near and dear to my heart, as are um other Northern Ontario folk from my hometown. Um, so that will be very special. So yeah, I am uh to answer your question quickly. Uh and the more I get involved and what I have to make sure everybody gets to where they have to go and everything else, uh, it's been a busy time. And uh I'll wake up in the middle of the night thinking, what in the hell are you gonna say after this is done on the ice? And uh I'm hoping that I don't end up being a balling mess, but um uh I I think we have a few things and lots of people to thank, that's for sure.

SPEAKER_01 27:04

You just press play on this episode, Joe, and just let that that be the talk and that'll be perfect. Oh, yeah, right. Go ahead. Just a couple more questions, Joe. We know you're busy.

SPEAKER_03 27:14

Uh no, no, no. Yeah, that's uh I'm almost I'm almost finished. My uh weekend. Can you see I've got my Notre Dame title smug? I was admiring that. Yeah, well, I'm a little pissed at what went on this weekend. Yes, wasn't pretty good. Let me just say that.

SPEAKER_05 27:31

Yeah, wasn't pretty. Uh Joe. What what are you gonna miss uh the most? And and what does retirement look like? Maybe uh more Red Sox games, uh a little more time in uh South Bend?

SPEAKER_03 27:44

Yeah, uh lots of that. Uh I want to travel. I've got a great trip lined up that I'm gonna take a Band of Brothers trip, which is a second World War tour from um uh London, England, through uh the the beaches at Normandy and uh all of that, all the way to Birchess Garden and Berlin. Um I'm looking forward to that. I I'll miss the interaction I've had with people like Jim Ralph, yeah. Um uh who used to get booed when he home went home to Sault Ste. Marie. He's still sour about that, guys. Still sour. Oh he doesn't think that he should have been booed as a member of the Ottawa 67s. But uh he's getting over it. I I'm trying to soothe it as much as I can. Uh but he loves Sault Ste. Marie, obviously. Um, so I'll miss that interaction, but I want to do a lot more with the alumni and be involved with them, going out to their events and maybe adding some levity uh at a microphone at their expense. But you know, I've probably called. So one of the things I gotta research is how many players in a leaf uniform, how many players' names have I called? And I'm gonna do that. That's my project tonight after my second uh Crown Oil and diet. To tabulate how many guys have gone through the jute mill uh over 44 years, how many names I've actually called, which would be kind of interesting, but they're so very active here doing some great work uh that I I I was gifted with the uh Foster Hewitt Award, which means that I'm part of the hockey hall of fame. And it was a tremendous honor. Uh I can't tell you how excited and honored I was. But the biggest honor that I have is that I'm an honorary member of the Toronto Maple Leaf alumni. Those guys voted on me being a part of their group. And uh, for a young boy who grew up dreaming of being Johnny Bauer's replacement, this is as damn close as I'm ever gonna get. Um, and I can't thank them enough. And that's the proudest thing that I have uh uh going forward to this night. I'm looking forward to seeing uh as many of them as I can.

SPEAKER_05 30:11

Very cool and uh very well deserved. Okay, Joe, before we let you go, uh our executive producer who's in the room, Derek Turner, is probably the biggest Leaf fan that we know and a pretty big Joe Bowen fan as well. If Derek played on a line with Austin Matthews and Max Domey and scored a game winner, you would quit. You would. Whoa, what would the call sound like? Derek Turner is nearly Turner.

SPEAKER_03 30:39

All right. Austin Matthews brings a puck over the line. Derek Turner goes to the front of the net. Shot right off of the bugle. Holy Mackinac Turner scores a goal. You never play again.

SPEAKER_02 31:00

Oh man.

SPEAKER_01 31:01

Joe, that that was the greatest thing we've ever had on our podcast.

SPEAKER_03 31:05

I apologize. No, I don't imagine you can play the goddamn game very well anyway, so that's probably as close as you're gonna get to score. That's right.

SPEAKER_01 31:13

Like he said, that's why he's stuck sitting here with us, Joe. That was fantastic. What a pleasure. You're a treasure, Joe. You know a lot you will be missed by so many. Uh, we really appreciate this time, Tim.

SPEAKER_05 31:22

And the only thing that would have made this guy the only thing that would have made this better is if we had a crown and we could have uh had a drink together.

SPEAKER_03 31:29

You never know. You never know. We'll probably be able to do that another time.

SPEAKER_05 31:35

We wish uh Mr. Bowen nothing but the best. Uh, and it's interesting because a lot of prominent sportscasters just in the last week, uh either retiring or announcing their retirement. Uh so you've got Joe, who you mentioned uh next Saturday, has his last game. Uh Scott Oak from Hockey Night in Canada, that goes after hours. Yeah. Primarily West Coast games. Yes. Uh, but he's been in broadcasting for 52 years. That's crazy. And then the legendary uh curling uh count 'em up, make the final. 53 years for Vic Router at TS.

SPEAKER_01 32:07

Vic Router, the Pride of Aurelia. That's right. Yeah, that's right. Yeah. Uh you know, uh for how old I am, if you watch curling, it's always been Vic Rower, right? Yeah and he uh he just calls that game game beautiful. It's a hard game to broadcast. I would think it's a hard game to broadcast, right? Um but he does an amazing job. And you know, you when you listen to these guys, you feel like they could go on forever because it looks easy. You sit in the chair and you're and you're calling a game, but there's a grind to that too, right? There's a lot of preparation that goes with it. And it's like anything else, you realize it's time to hang up the mic. So uh wishing those guys all the best. But I just want to thank Joe again for taking the time to talk to us. Absolutely. Again, because he's not just a lease broadcaster, he's uh the pride of Northern Ontario, and he's just a good great guy all around.

SPEAKER_05 32:49

Yep, a solid human. Uh good luck, Joe, in uh the next chapter. Closer look at villagemedia.ca. That's our email uh address. Reach out anytime. We'd love to hear from you. Uh Zach Trenzo at the helm tonight, as always, for Michael Friscolani, our editor in chief. I'm Scott Sexmith. Thanks for your time. We'll see you tomorrow night, right here, 7 o'clock on Closer Look.

SPEAKER_00 33:08

Briscoe in Scott's wardrobe, provided in part by Morris Clothing for Men.