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But I teared up moments after I filed Johnny Bower’s obituary.

For one thing, he was just that guy. You loved him. Kids loved him, who never saw him play. Old farts who did see him play. Curmudgeons loved him.

He was kind. He was generous with his time.

He was the face of the best times of . Through good times and bad, Bower was a constant presence.

I was a kid when Bower retired. My mother, still a faithful Leafs watcher at age 92, will talk Leafs all the time. When it comes to 海角社区官网goalies, Bower is her reference point. “Is he as good as Bower?” she’ll ask. If the answer is yes, then okay. And if I happen to make the case at any point along my Leaf-watching years for, say, Mike Palmateer, or Felix Potvin, or Curtis Joseph, and then that guy lets in a goal, she’d say: “Johnny would have had that one,” and we’d move on.

It’s not like he knew me. Wouldn’t expect him to. But we chatted from time to time. But his death also also reminded me how lucky I am. I get to meet these guys. The Bowers. The Sittlers. The Clarks. I get to have casual conversations with some of the greatest players who ever played the game, and wore the Blue and White. That’s my job.

My byline is on Johnny Bower’s obit. To me that’s overpowering. Humbling. I am the chronicler of the biggest team for the biggest newspaper in the biggest marketplace for the biggest fanbase.

For better or worse, I write what happens to the Maple Leafs. For too long, things were bad. Lately, things have been much better.

But Tuesday night, man, Tuesday was heavy.

RIP Johnny.

GOT A QUESTION? Email me at askkevinmcgran@thestar.ca and I’ll answer it in Friday’s mailbag.

Can’t believe I forgot to include Honky The Christmas Goose in my Obit. How could I forget?

Johnny Bower and The Rinky Dinks. Legend has it they outsold the Beatles briefly. (I’m not looking it up. Somebody else look it up.)

鈥淗onky, Honky the Christmas goose,

Got so fat that he was no use.

Till he learned how to blow his nose

Honk, the way a goose nose blows!鈥�