In Johnny Bower’s rookie 1953-54 season with the New York Rangers, he recorded five shutouts while playing in all 70 games. Three of those blanks were against the Chicago Blackhawks. This is not surprising, considering the Hawks finished dead last in the six team league, 37 points behind the fifth place Rangers.
Still, these were not blowouts, by any means. The first was 2-0, the second 3-0 and third was a 0-0 tie. His other two shutouts came against the Montreal Canadiens and Detroit Red Wings, the two top teams in the NHL that year.
Bower’s first NHL shutout was recorded on January 14, 1954 at Chicago Stadium. The Rangers won the game 2-0 on a second period goal by Glen Sonmor and a third period marker by Wally Hergesheimer. The opposing goaltender was Al Rollins. Despite the dismal year for Chicago, Rollins was awarded the Hart Trophy as the league’s MVP.
Despite his decent rookie season, Bower played just seven more games for New York over the next three seasons and was mostly relegated to the AHL. His NHL career had a re-birth in 1958-59 after being picked up by the Toronto Maple Leafs.
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