Wow, A Very Cool Night...A Guy Name Bower....

We attended the Oldtimer Game tonight and wow, a very cool night. The pregame public skate brought out Gary Leeman and Bernie Nicholls. They skated with people, signed autographs and chatted with everyone. I asked Bernie for a pic and to sign and puck and he was more than happy to oblige. I chatted with Bernie and asked him a few questions about what he has been up to. He mentioned he was at Gretzky's Fantasy Camp three weeks ago and he is a ready to go moose hunting soon. He is a down to earth guy, very cool to chat with.

We headed up to grab our seats and were pleasantly surprised with someone we ran into.

Theo signed and took pics with about 15 people. He looks very happy with his life now. I grew up in the town next to Theo and was buddy's with his brother growing up. I mentioned this to Theo and he said that Teddy was upstairs. I went up to find him and we chatted for about 15 mins. I bought the Theo Team Canada photo for $20.
Good deal.
I was not prepared to buy a $120 Oldtimer jersey again, so I made sure I got all the things signed that I brought.

Top R-L Igor Kravchuk, Bryan Trottier, Val Bure Theo Fleury, Bernie Nicholls, Val Bure Trottier Card
Hey, I am being a jerk now...Here's the good stuff.....

This was really cool to have Mr. Bower in attendance. He signed for a charge though, a little step but I finally got my own Bower jersey signed in person. I have 4 signed Bower jerseys now, only 1 signed in person. I mentioned I met him in Spiritwood and he smiled and said how much fun that was. So, $40 to get a signed Johnny Bower jersey when he's sitting right in front of you, would you do it? Yah, I didn't even blink....


Signed Theo Fleury Team Canada Jersey (no nameplate yet though)

Ladies and Gentlemen, It's Authentic! Bower...

I spoke with Frozenpond again today and was treated with a pleasant surprise. The website that I sent the jersey to was legit. They asked Mr. Bower if he knew of that site and he did, saying he has worked with them a lot in the past. He was shown this picture and authenticated it for me, saying, "Yah, that looks good, that's my signature." The rep from Frozenpond continued to say when they were watching Mr. Bower sign, some of his "J's" look like this. Good thing I waited for this, I was about to rip the #1 off. Oh yah, I got them to get Mr. Bower to sign a #1 just in case, for $25, yah that will make 3 Bower Jerseys....

Only in Canada

I had a plan about my Johnny Bower jersey. I called Frozen Pond yesterday and asked if I could get a #1 signed by Bower and out it on my 'fake' Bower jersey. I explained my situation and asked of they knew of the www.johnnybower.net site. They looked it up and it was not on the internet anymore. I knew that and assumed that helped with my question about the authenticity of the jersey (see below). The worker looked at the jersey from this blog and said it did look funny. He did say though, Bower signs almost every weekend so why would someone fake it when its actually an easy graph to get. Plus, the person sent a $150 jersey back for $35...Anyway, he took a copy of my jersey from this blog and said he will ask Bower if he knew of the site and if he can tell if that was his signature. Cool...I did not care about the $35 but really wanted to know if it was legit, this should help and for $30, I can replace if not.

Two of the Nicest Leafs, But I Need Some Help

Signed Colby Armstrong Leafs Puck

This is the jersey that I tried to get signed at the Pink Warrior classic last August with no luck. Johnny's website has a send in program, where you just pay for the item ($35 for a jersey)and shipping and they get him to sign it and return to you. Most players from that generation have that, Howe, Orr and at one time, Hull. But I need your help with this one. Once I looked at it, it did not look like Mr. Bower's signature. I have lots of items from him, a jersey from Frozen Pond, cards from UD and the items from the past summer. The Bower looks good but the 'J' doesn't. Please give me feedback, a real Bower signature or not?

Johnny Bower and Gordie

I promised a few more of the Bower stories so here's one more. Bower made no bones about being friends with Gordie Howe. He told this interesting story about playing Detroit. When Bower had to move behind the net to play the puck, Gordie would never touch him. So this played to Bower's advantage a little. When Gordie was heading behind the net, Bower knew he had a few more seconds without getting his head taken off. He stressed, Gordie would put the puck in the net 1000 times before he'd hit Bower. As well, he said he'd seen Gordie before the event in Aug and he was not doing very well. Anyway, "Terrible Ted" Lindsay would take his head off every chance he would get, no question...

Bower and Schenn?

Johnny Bower and the Rocket

Johnny Bower told this one about The Rocket.
He was with the New York Rangers when this happened. He commented that the fans in New York were nasty and would throw anything that was not nailed down at the players. The night the Rangers were playing the Habs, Rocket scored the first goal. Rocket looked at Johnny and said, "Hey Bower, thank you for #1."
Now, remember, Mr. Bower was telling this story and was repeating it with a French accent. Rocket scored the second goal of the game and sure enough skated by Bower and said, "Hey Bower, thank you for #2." Bower said at this time, he was a little mad at the situation. He yelled back at Rocket, "Hey Richard, what are you going to say next?"
Rocket laughed and said, "Thank you for #3, of course."
Bower said within a few minutes, Rocket raced in and Bower said he had the post hugged tight, shifted his weight just a little and Rocket got his third goal of the night. Bower said there was not very much to see, let alone get a puck through and Rocket did just that. The Ranger fans started throwing garbage on the ice and Rocket skated by Bower and said...You guessed it, Rocket said. "Hey Bower, thank you for #3!"

Johnny Bower and Russ Courtnall

Signed at the Pink Warrior Classic in Spiritwood, Saskatchewan. This a incredible fundraiser for breast cancer awareness operated by a remarkable couple.

Upper Deck Ultimate Collection Box Break

I was curious about this product so decided to try a box/pack out. I received it today and cracked it open, the Toews isn't bad but yikes for the price, not great stuff.

07/35
Doesn't the second patch appear to be the 'E' in his name.
What do you think?

105/299

307/399

Wayne Gretzky Jersey Card

2005-06 Upper Deck Artifacts

Treasured Swatches
#118/225