TORONTO — Canadian hockey legend Johnny Bower has died.
A statement from his family says the 93-year-old died after a short battle with pneumonia.
Bower was a two-time Vezina Trophy winner who helped the Toronto Maple Leafs win their last Stanley Cup championship in 1967.
Bower, who became known as the China Wall, remained one of the most beloved ex-Leafs years after retiring.
Toronto honoured Bower on the occasion of his 90th birthday on Nov. 8, 2014, during a game against the New York Rangers, his first team.
Bower’s career took off after the Leafs claimed him in a 1958 intra-league draft. Bower went on to play 475 regular-season games and win four Stanley Cups for the Leafs, playing his trade mostly without a mask.
Bower won the Vezina Trophy in 1961 and the Leafs hoisted the Stanley Cup in 1962, 1963, 1964, with Bower and Terry Sawchuk sharing the Vezina in 1965. In 1967, again sharing the job with Sawchuk, he helped Toronto win its last title at the age of 43.
The Canadian Press