Bowes came to TRHS?hockey as diamond in the rough: coach

From the first moment he stepped on the ice at Allison Gardens as a freshman defenseman with the Tantramar Titans coach Don MacIntyre knew he had a "diamond in the rough."
"Stephen Bowes was the complete defenseman," says the man who guided the Titans for many years. "He could shoot, move the puck, hit hard and loved the rough going. But he enjoyed the offensive part of the game as well - he simply did everything well and was a most coachable young man."
MacIntyre recalls how quickly Bowes matured and after one game the opposing coach came over and said "it's too bad you will be losing that number 4 this year" when in fact it was Bowes' rookie campaign.
On another occasion the team went to West Brantford, Connecticut, for a series of exhibitions. Your columnist contacted a cousin in the area to alert him of the upcoming games. After attending one of the contests he called and said "it was so unfair, that number 4 totally dominated the game from start to finish and our guys never had a chance."
Stephen Bowes was born in Saint John 50 years ago but moved with his family to Sackville when he was only 10 and had the opportunity to get involved in organized hockey shortly after. He played at the pee wee and bantam levels and recalls that Dr. Ross Barclay was his first coach and a man who not only was a fine coach but one who took a special interest in his players, often taking them to his office where he taught them some of the intracies of the game. He compared the style used by Dr. Barclay as similar to that of NHL guru Roger Nielson.
Later he played under the guidance of Gerry Bartlett and the team brought home a provincial bantam championship. Greg Tweed, Colin Wheaton, Wade Ward and Ted Doncaster were teammates. And he recalls that the late Bill Milner spent most of the championship game pacing and fretting.
His three seasons under MacIntyre as a Titan saw two AA championship banners hung at the local school. The powerhouse had such well-known stars as Colin Wheaton, Eric Sloan, Mac Fisher and Greg Tweed and featured depth in all departments.
Bowes recalls both years the Titans faced Minto in the finals and interest in both communities was awesome as the rinks were filled to overflowing for each battle.
Following graduation from Tantramar, Bowes moved on for two injury-plagued seasons with Jack Drover's Mount Allison Mounties. Also from Titan ranks on the Mounties at that time were Eric Sloan and John Moore.
"We were playing against people much older and more experienced but that was a great opportunity," Bowes says.
However, a broken jaw during his rookie season and a knee injury in his second limited his ice time and so he decided to move on. The next step was as an import with Labrador City in the Newfoundland Senior League. At that time, operating costs were high and the budget was tight so he decided to "get a job" and moved to Calgary for a few years.
In 1982, Bowes returned to this area, settling in Moncton, where for the past 20 years he has been employed by Irving Tissue at their Majesta plant. He currently is safety manager after having held a number of management positions.
On his return, Bowes hooked up with the Sackville Combines and stayed with them for four years before retiring from the game. However, he has continued to stay sharp in a gentlemen's league and just last December he snapped home a pair of goals in the annual Titan alumni game.
He serves as a coach of the Moncton Midget AAA Flyers and has coached at both the pee wee and bantam triple A teams.
Along the way Bowes and Kim Doncaster were married. Kim was an outstanding basketball player, both at Tantramar when the team won the AAA provincial crown and later with the Mounties.
They have four children, the oldest being Matt who was athlete of the year at Moncton High last year and who will be entering Mount Allison this year. Becky (17) is in her final year of high school and plays varsity hockey and soccer; Eric (11) is involved in hockey and soccer; while Allie (10) is into all sports, but this is no surprise knowing the background of both parents.
In discussing his playing days, Bowes describes himself as having been a "grinder"?who enjoyed the physical aspect and playing at 200 pounds he feels he was usually given his space.
Looking back to his days with the Mounties, he recalls two of the most famous players of all time in these parts - Kevin Foran and Ross Yates - were teammates. Foran holds the all-time scoring record in Canadian university hockey while Yates went on to establish new records in the American League before moving up to the NHL for a spell with the Hartford Whalers. Dan (Chief) Simon and Dan Fergus were also members of that team.
Hockey was not his only activity as Bowes was a member of the provincial lacrosse team that travelled to national tournaments and also was with the Canada Games team. Doug Strandberg and the late Raff Henderson were local organizers and coaches. He also played Titan football under coach Bruce McMillan at Tantramar.
When asked what advice he might offer young people as they look forward to high school, Stephen Bowes said "do what you enjoy but it is good to try more than one thing, be it sports or in any other field, and don't stick to just one activity as you learn various skill sets in each. Find what you like by trying everything and then give your full effort - don't be a floater - and give your best."
Stephen Bowes has practiced that slogan and has every intention of staying in sports by coaching and offering encouragement to young men and women and we just might see him again whenever the Titans have future alumni games.