1955 Vancouver Canucks Program



Here's a cool recent addition to the Den, a 1955 game program of the old Vancouver Canucks of the Western Hockey League. What's neat for myself as a Maple Leafs fan, is that this was the only season that Leaf legend Johnny Bower tended goal for the Canucks (see photo below).

The game against the visiting Victoria Cougars was one of the last few of the 1954/55 Western League campaign. The Canucks and Cougars were fighting to stay in a playoff position, and Bower was battling for the lowest Goals Against Average in the circuit. Vancouver would emerge victorious, shutting out Victoria by a 3-0 score.
The Victoria Daily Colonist wrote of the match; 
"Cougars gave it a good try last night but they wound up scoreless...the shutout enabled Canuck goalie Johnny Bower to tie Cougars Marcel Pelletier for the league lead having six blankings. Bower also took the leading the averages. He allowed 2.77 goals per game while Pelletier's average rose to 2.776. Edmonton's Glen Hall is a close third at 2.84."
The newspaper continued;
"Aggressive George Ford got the first of two goals at 8:23 then turned the tide early in the second period when John Reeve got the puck away from one of the scrambles around the Vancouver net and gave Ford a break. Jackie McLeod on a pretty rush from centre ice, made it all but certain late in the period as he boosted the score to 3-0."


Bower would indeed end up on top of the averages table, finishing with a 2.71 GAA. Bower had played the previous season with New York Rangers in the NHL before being supplanted by the incoming Gump Worsely. Bower played the following three seasons in the AHL, winning the MVP award each season. We would of course finally return to the NHL at age 34 in 1958 with the Maple Leafs, playing an amazing 12 more years.
The Canucks ended up finishing 3rd place in 1954/55 and lost four games to one to the first place Edmonton Flyers and Glen Hall.





 

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