Joe Bowen likes to joke that the last real job he had took him 5,000 feet underground, working at mining company Inco in his hometown of Sudbury.

“It got me through high school,” says the 74-year-old broadcasting legend.

Bowen worked in radio and television for the rest of his life, the last 44 years in his dream job: the voice of the Maple Leafs .

“When you say it like that, it’s overwhelming,” Bowen said in a conversation with the Star from his broadcast booth in the Foster Hewitt Gondola at the Scotiabank Arena. “I mean, I had a dream when I was a kid. The Leafs were my team. Wouldn’t it be great if I got to do their games?

“When I realized that I was going to try to get into broadcasting and do stuff, that was a pipe dream. You know, that’s not going to happen. And then when it

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