Joe Bowen has been the Toronto Maple Leafs play-by-play announcer since 1982, and has seen the highs of the club making the conference final four times and the lows of being one of the worst teams in the NHL. On Friday, the 74-year-old announced that he will retire at the end of the 2025-26 season.
“After 44 Years of being the voice of your Toronto Maple Leafs, I have decided that the 2025-26 Season will be my last behind the microphone. I have been totally blessed to be able to do “my dream job” for this long, eclipsing the career of my idol, Foster Hewitt,” Bowen said in a tweet on X. “I will reach over 3800 games sometime this season. Thanks so very much to all who have made this wonderful career possible! Len Bramson and Telemedia Sports for giving a Sudbury native the chance of a lifetime, and all who have followed at MLSE and various radio stations who allowed me to continue in this dream job. I have worked with the absolute best at my side in the booth, Harry Neale, for 12 seasons, but none better than my partner of 28 years, Jim Ralph.
Most of all, thank you to the loyal group known as Leaf Nation for allowing me to invade your vehicle, family room, and hearts over these wonderful years! Your support and interaction has been what has made this “job” so wonderful! You are the most loyal and demonstrative fans on the face of the earth!! I can not THANK YOU enough!!! I sincerely hope that this will be the “One Before I Am Done” Season for the Leafs as they chase that elusive Cup!”
Bowen started as the Leafs radio voice, alongside color commentators such as Bill Watters and Gord Stellick, before adding TV broadcasts alongside Neale to his portfolio on Leafs TV and Sportsnet. Following the purchase of the Leafs by Rogers and Bell, Bowen returned exclusively to the radio, splitting time between TSN 1050 and FAN 590 with color man Ralph. In 2018, Bowen was named the recipient of the Foster Hewitt Memorial Award.
As the NHL Awards wrapped up with the announcement of Connor Hellebuyck as the Vezina and Hart Trophy winner, there were some Leafs who received votes. Anthony Stolarz finished fifth in Vezina voting with one second-place vote. Soon-to-be former Leaf winger Mitch Marner received fourth and fifth place votes for the Hart and finished 13th in voting, while William Nylander got one fifth place vote and was tied for 18th place.
In the First and Second Team NHL All-Star voting, Marner received a third-place vote for left wing (which is strange, because he did not play left wing all season), and finished third behind Nikita Kucherov and David Pastrnak in right wing voting. Nylander finished fifth.
What a beauty Bowen is. Loved him back on Global…..
Looks more and more like Marner is gone. Meltdown is starting already by some…..