Early Christmas Present for Johnny Bower

Just an amazing, heart-warming story here about an early Christmas present for Johnny Bower:

A big-hearted Whitby dad gave Johnny Bower a pre-Christmas gift the Leafs legend never thought he would see again.

After lining up at the Whitby Mall for Bower’s advertised visit, Roger Spivey took the 87-year-old Mississauga resident aside and told him his old goalie pads were in his car.

Bower said he never had a chance to keep them as souvenirs.

“Players weren’t allowed to have any of their gear,” based on rules set by Harold Ballard, the late penny-pinching owner of Maple Leaf Gardens and the team’s principal share-holder, he said.

“We all tried a couple of times, taking a couple of sticks, but I got caught and Mr. Ballard wasn’t very pleased with me,” Bower said. “You had to turn it in and trainers usually handed them down to the minors.”

Hesitant about their authenticity, plus Spivey’s motives, he spotted his initials on the old leather-covered pads.

“I was in tears,” Bower said.

Here's the full story.