Leafs surprise longtime broadcaster Joe Bowen with a very touching retirement gift

Longtime Toronto Maple Leafs broadcaster Joe Bowen is in his final season of calling the game and the team that he loves more than anything.

The Hall of Famer is one of the most colorful broadcasters in NHL history and he has been the voice of the Leafs for multiple generations now.

Today, the Leafs organization presented Bowen with some pretty special gifts to recognize his outstanding career with the team.

Check it out:

I've got to say... whomever it was from the Leafs who put this all together did a tremendous job.

A copy of Bowen's first game sheet is remarkable. A golden microphone... perfect. The trip to Notre Dame, just the icing on the cake. Well done.

The best part of this video though was learning the origin of Bowen's "Holy Mackinaw!" catch-phrase though.

More from Bowen on this from NHL.com:

"It was something my dad would say. Sometimes you'd hear him say it when we were watching the great Maple Leafs goalie Johnny Bower. The first time we used it on the air ever was about five years into my career. Felix Potvin made a huge save in Chicago Stadium, ironically. I just blared out 'Holy Mackinaw!' I wouldn't have used it again, except Bill Watters, who was doing the color commentary with me, fell off his chair laughing. I don't know why it came out of the recesses of my mind then, but through seven years of junior hockey and three years in the American Hockey League, I never used it. But it's stuck all these years since then."

It sure has, Joe.

Take a bow on an outstanding career.