Completing 44 seasons calling the Maple Leafs on radio and TV, Joe Bowen is retiring in the spring .

During this final season for the Hockey Hall of Famer, Postmedia will tap into Joe’s vast storybook of select Leafs opponents , many famous players and bygone NHL arenas. With the Leafs in Washington on Friday and Pittsburgh on Saturday, he reminisces about two of the quirkiest rinks and three of the league’s greatest players.

Games against the Capitals and Penguins since the 1990s have been difficult for the Leafs, from when Mario Lemieux was in his prime and since Sidney Crosby and Alex Ovechkin arrived in the early 2000s.

But the uber-talented trio provided some iconic hockey moments in the modern era, always insuring a full house when those stars come out in Toronto. But Bowen is

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