NHL: The best goalie from each franchise’s history (Updated 2023)

Best NHL goalie from each franchise: Toronto Maple Leafs – Johnny Bower

In the late 50s and 60s, Johnny Bower was the talk of anything and everything to do with professional hockey. He created the poke check and made it famous for bringing relentless aggression to the ice anytime a player tried to attack the net with him in front of it.

When it comes to the Toronto Maple Leafs, Bower will go down in history as their best goalie ever. He won four Stanley Cup championships with the team and is considered by many to be hockey royalty thanks to how he revolutionized the positional group.

Bower earned many huge accolades in his career from the Calder Cup, Vezina Trophy, and even has a star on Canada’s Walk of Fame. Needless to say, Bower was also inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame, AHL Hall of Fame, and had his famous No. 1 retired by the Maple Leafs as well.

The amount of success, innovation, and proficiency that Bower accomplished during those glory days of hockey are some of the things that have yet to be duplicated. It was one of those times in life you just had to be there to witness such glory right before your eyes. Yes, Bower was that extraordinary, that elite, and that surreal doing what he did best as a complete, all-around goalie.