Gordie Howe: Biography from Answers.com

Former professional hockey player Gordie Howe (born 1928) earned the distinction of the most durable player of all time, playing 26 seasons spanning five decades in the National Hockey League, and during that time was one of the game's most prolific scorers.

When Gordie Howe broke the National Hockey League (NHL) scoring record of Maurice "Rocket" Richard, the debate among hockey buffs was whether Richard or Howe was the best player of all time. Years later when Wayne Gretzky broke Howe's record, the debate was renewed, this time Gretzky versus Howe. Gretzky himself declared to Hal Quinn of Maclean's that Howe "is the best hockey player there ever was." Howe, for his part, told Jay Greenberg of Sports Illustrated, "If you want to tell me [Gretzky's] the greatest player of all time, I have no argument at all."

Howe was born in Floral, Saskatchewan on March 31, 1928. He was the fifth of nine children. At three months of age, his family moved to nearby Saskatoon where his father was a mechanic, laborer, and construction worker. The family was poor as many of their neighbors were during the Great Depression. Once when a neighbor was selling some used belongings to get some cash, Howe gained his first pair of skates. "She had a sack of stuff my mother bought for 50 cents, " Howe recalled, reported Larry Batson in his book Gordie Howe. "I dug into it and found some secondhand skates. I grabbed a pair for myself. They were so big I had to wear a couple extra pairs of socks." He was then about five years old.

Devoted to Hockey

Howe immersed himself in hockey, playing day in and day out throughout the year, using a puck, tennis ball, or even clumps of dirt. He was a big boy but was initially clumsy. He did not make it the first time he tried out for a local midget team. By the time he was 12 years old, however, Howe had developed into an excellent skater.

During the summers, Howe worked with his father at construction sites. He described it as "throwing concrete, " noted Batson. The heavy work helped give him the exceptional strength that he would use to develop one of the fastest shots in hockey. At the age of 15, Howe was a 6-foot 200-pounder, very big at that time for a hockey player.

Pro Tryouts

Howe had already caught the eye of the professional scouts and, when he was 15, the New York Rangers invited him to a tryout camp. The camp director, though, was unimpressed. "You're too awkward, son, " he remarked to Howe, reported Batson. "You'll never make the major leagues." Despite this rejection, the next year Howe landed a tryout with the Detroit Red Wings. Jack Adams, coach and general manager of the team, was definitely impressed by young Howe and signed him to a contract.

There was just one snag in the contract negotiations with Howe. Adams recalled, as Roy MacSkimming wrote in Saturday Night, "He looked at [the contract] but didn't sign it. So I asked him what was wrong, wasn't it enough money? He just looked at me and said 'I'm not sure I want to sign with your organization, Mr. Adams. You don't keep your word. You promised me a windbreaker and you never gave it to me.' You can imagine how quickly I got that windbreaker."

Howe, then 17 years old, was assigned to the Red Wings' minor-league farm team in Omaha, Nebraska. He had an excellent season and the next year was given a shot at making the major-league club. He made the Red Wings and in his first game gave a glimpse of what was to come. "Gordon Howe is the squad's baby, 18 years old, " Paul Chandler wrote about the contest, as E.M. Swift of Sports Illustrated related. "But he was one of Detroit's most valuable men last night. In his first major league game, he scored a goal, skated tirelessly and had perfect poise. The goal came in the second period, and he literally powered his way through the players from the blue line to the goalmouth."

Production Line

It was in 1947 that new Red Wings' coach Tommy Ivan put together the Production Line, a forward line consisting of Howe, Ted Lindsay, and Sid Abel. According to MacSkimming, it was "the most successful, exciting, and dominant attacking line of its era." The three had an "instinctive rapport."

It took Howe three seasons to "mature" as a professional, wrote William Barry Furlong of the New York Times. He scored a total of 35 goals those first three years "or as many goals as he scored in his fourth year alone." From that point on, Howe was a consistent scorer. "Beginning in 1949-50, " Swift noted, "Gordie Howe started a string in which for 20 consecutive years - two solid decades - he finished among the top five scorers of the NHL."

A Serious Accident

In 1950, though, Howe's career almost came to an abrupt end. In the first playoff game against the Toronto Maple Leafs, Howe collided with Toronto's Ted Kennedy and flew head first into the sideboards. His skull was fractured and he suffered a concussion. He also had his cheekbone and nose broken. In the hospital, surgeons had to operate to relieve the pressure on his brain. He was in critical condition for days.

The next season Howe came back. The question was, would he still have the same fire and aggressiveness that he had before? Howe responded by playing in every game and by leading the NHL in goals, assists, and total points that season.

League Leader

Leading the league in scoring became a regular occurrence for Howe. He won the scoring title six times. He was selected the NHL's Most Valuable Player six times. Howe's emergence as a star also led to his team's emergence as a consistent winner. From 1949 to 1955, the Detroit Red Wings won the league title seven straight times and were Stanley Cup playoff champions four times.

In 1951, Howe met Colleen Joffa at a bowling alley where the players liked to hang out. Afterwards, reported Batson, the owner asked her, "How did you like meeting a celebrity?" "Who's a celebrity?" she answered. She had never heard of Howe. However, she did see and hear from him quite often after that, and in 1953, the two were married. They would eventually have four children: Martin, Mark, Cathy, and Murray. The boys soon became involved in youth hockey.

Religious Hockey

Throughout his career, Howe was a proponent of "what he called 'religious hockey': it's better to give than to receive, " wrote Trent Frayne of Maclean's. He was a feared figure on the ice. "Due to his sharp elbows and quick stick, foes considered him sneaky-mean and steered clear of even accidental altercations, " Joe LaPointe of Sport magazine noted. "Howe is everything you'd expect the ideal athlete to be, " an opposing player said to Furlong. "He's soft-spoken, deprecating and thoughtful. He's also the most vicious, cruel and mean man I've ever met in a hockey game." But another hockey great, Bobby Hull of the Chicago Black hawks, defended Howe. Hull asserted, wrote Jim Vipond in his book Gordie Howe Number 9, "Howe is not the demon some people say. If you want to play hockey, he'll play. He just wants to play hockey, but if guys want to fool around they always come out second best."

With the flying elbows and flying pucks of hockey, and no helmets during this time, facial cuts and stitches were a very normal hazard of the game. Howe estimated that he had received 300 stitches in his face, Furlong reported. "I had 50 stitches in my face one year - that was a bad year, " Howe said. "I had only 10 stitches taken last year - that was a good year."

Joined His Sons

Howe surpassed Maurice Richard's scoring record in 1963. By the time he retired from the Red Wings in 1971, at the age of 43, he had the records for goals, assists, and total points. He also had the record for most games played. He accepted a job in the team's front office. But, in 1973, when the Houston Aeros of the new World Hockey Association (WHA) signed his sons Marty and Mark, Howe asked about joining them. Playing on the same professional team as his sons had been a dream. He got himself back into shape and returned triumphantly, scoring 100 points, winning the league's Most Valuable Player award, and leading his team to the WHA championship.

Howe continued to play in the WHA through 1977. He moved to the Hartford Whalers and when that club was merged into the NHL in 1978, he was back for a second tour of duty in his old league. Howe's autobiography, And … Howe!: An Authorized Autobiography was published in 1995. He continued to make special appearances playing in charity games well into the 1990s.

Asked once why he kept playing, Furlong wrote, Howe remarked, "Well, the hours are good and the pay is excellent." And of his incredibly long career, he told Swift, "One of my goals was longevity: I guess I've pretty much got the lock on that." In September of 1997, at the age of 69, Howe announced he would play one game, the October 3 season opener, with the International Hockey League's Detroit Vipers. This would make him the only professional hockey player to play in six consecutive decades.

Early life

Howe was born to parents Ab and Kate Howe in a farmhouse in Floral, Saskatchewan – one of nine children.^[2] When Gordie was nine days old, the Howes moved to Saskatoon,^[3] where his father worked as a labourer during the Depression. In the summers, Howe would work construction with his father.^[2] Howe was mildly dyslexic growing up, but was physically beyond his years at an early age. Already six feet tall in his mid-teens, doctors feared a calcium deficiency and encouraged him to strengthen his spine with chin-ups.^[2] He began playing organized hockey at 8 years old,^[2] then left Saskatoon at 16 to pursue his hockey career.^[3]

Playing career

Howe received his first taste of pro experience at fifteen years old when he was invited to a tryout for the New York Rangers in Winnipeg, but he did not make the team.^[2] A year later, he was noticed by Detroit Red Wings scout Fred Pinckney. He was signed by the Red Wings and assigned to their junior team in Galt, Ontario. However, due to a maximum amount of Western players allowed by the league and a preference to develop older players by the Red Wings, Howe's playing time with the team was initially limited. In 1945, however, he was promoted to the Omaha Knights of the minor professional United States Hockey League (USHL), where he scored 48 points in 51 games as a seventeen-year-old. While playing in Omaha, Frank Selke of the Toronto Maple Leafs organization noticed that Howe was not properly listed as Red Wings property. Having a good relationship with Detroit coach Jack Adams, he notified Adams of the clerical error and Howe was quickly put on the team's protected list.^[2] Signing with the Red Wings for his first season, it is said he received a team letterman jacket as a signing bonus.^{[citation needed]}

Howe made his NHL debut in 1946 at the age of 18, playing right wing for the Detroit Red Wings, for which he wore #17 as a rookie. When Roy Conacher moved on to the Chicago Blackhawks after the 1946–47 season, however, Howe was offered Conacher's #9 which he would wear for the rest of his career. (Although he had not requested the change, Howe accepted it when he was informed that "9" would entitle him to a lower Pullman berth on road trips.) Howe quickly established himself as a great goal scorer and a gifted playmaker with a willingness to fight. In fact, he fought so often in his rookie season to the point that he was told by coach Jack Adams, "I know you can fight. Now can you show me you can play hockey".^[2] The hockey term, Gordie Howe hat trick, which includes a goal, assist and a fight, was coined after Howe in reference to his penchant for fighting. It should be noted, however, that Howe himself has only two recorded Gordie Howe hat tricks in his career,^[4] on October 10, 1953 and March 21, 1954.^[5] Using his great physical strength, he was able to dominate the opposition in a career that spanned five decades. In a feat unsurpassed by any athlete, in any sport, Gordie Howe finished in the top five in scoring for twenty straight seasons.

Although famous as #9 during his long career, 18-year old Gordon Howe actually wore #17 throughout his rookie season with the Detroit Red Wings in 1946–47.

Howe led Detroit to four Stanley Cups and to first place in regular season play for seven consecutive years (1948–49 to 1955–56), a feat never equaled in NHL history. During this time Howe and his linemates, Sid Abel and Ted Lindsay, were known collectively as "The Production Line", both for their scoring and as an allusion to Detroit auto factories. The trio dominated the league in such a fashion that in 1949–50, they finished one-two-three in league scoring. Howe had been in his prime during a defensive era, the 1940s and 1950s, when scoring was difficult and checking was tight.

As his career just started going, however, Howe sustained the worst injury of his career, fracturing his skull in a collision with Toronto Maple Leafs captain Ted Kennedy into the boards during the 1950 playoffs. The severity of the fracture was such that he was taken to the hospital for emergency surgery in order to relieve building pressure on his brain.^[2] The next season, he returned to record 86 points, winning the scoring title by 20 points.

As Howe emerged as one of the game's superstars, he was frequently compared to the Montreal Canadiens' Maurice "Rocket" Richard. Both were right wingers who wore the same sweater number (9), were frequently contenders for the league scoring title, and could also play rough if needed. During their first encounter in the Montreal Forum, when Howe was a rookie, he knocked Richard down with a punch after being shoved. The Red Wings and Canadiens faced off in four Stanley Cup finals during the 1950s. When Richard retired in 1960, he paid tribute to Howe, saying "Gordie could do everything."^[6]

The Red Wings were consistently contenders throughout the 1950s and early 1960s but began to slump in the late 60s. When Howe turned 40, in 1967–68, the league expanded from six to twelve teams and the number of scoring opportunities grew as the game schedule increased. Howe played the 1968–69 season on a line with Alex Delvecchio and Frank Mahovlich. Mahovlich was big, fast, and skilled, and Delvecchio was a gifted playmaker. The three were dubbed "The Production Line 3" and at forty-years-old, Howe reached new scoring heights, topping 100 points for the only time of his NHL career with 44 goals and a career-high 59 assists.

Following his personal best 103-point season, however, conflict with the Red Wings organization arose after Howe discovered he was just the third-highest paid player on the team with a $45,000 salary. Furthermore, while owner Bruce Norris increased Howe's salary to $100,000, he blamed Howe's wife, Colleen, for the demand.^[2] Howe remained with the Red Wings for two more seasons, but after twenty-five years, a chronic wrist problem forced him to retire after the 1970–71 season and he took a job in the Red Wings front office. At the beginning of 1972, he was offered the job as first head coach of the New York Islanders, but turned it down.^[7]

A year later, he was offered a contract to play with the Houston Aeros of the newly formed World Hockey Association, who had also signed his sons Mark and Marty to contracts. Dissatisfied with not having any meaningful influence in the Red Wings' office, he underwent an operation to improve his wrist and make a return to hockey possible, and he led his new team to consecutive championships. In 1974, at the age of 46, Howe won the Gary L. Davidson Trophy, awarded to the WHA's most valuable player (the trophy was renamed the Gordie Howe Trophy the following year).

In the final season of the WHA, Gordie had the opportunity to play with Wayne Gretzky in the 1979 WHA All-Star Game. The format of the game was a three-game series between the WHA All-Stars against HC Moscow Dynamo. The WHA All-Stars were coached by Jacques Demers and Demers asked Howe if it was okay to put him on a line with Wayne Gretzky and his son Mark Howe.^[8] In Game One, the line scored seven points, as the WHA All-Stars won by a score of 4–2.^[8] In game two, Gretzky and Mark Howe each scored a goal and Gordie Howe picked up an assist as the WHA won 4–2.^[8] The line did not score in the final game but the WHA won by a score of 4–3.

When the WHA folded in 1979, the Hartford Whalers joined the NHL and the 51-year-old Howe signed on for one final season playing in all 80 games of the schedule, helping his team to make the playoffs with fifteen goals. One particular honor was when Howe, Phil Esposito, and Jean Ratelle were selected to the mid-season all-star game by coach Scotty Bowman, as a nod to their storied careers before they retired. Howe had played in five decades of all-star games and he would skate alongside the second-youngest to ever play in the game, 19-year-old Wayne Gretzky. The Joe Louis Arena crowd gave him a standing ovation twice, lasting so long, he had to skate to the bench to stop people from cheering. He had one assist in his side's 6–3 win.

Howe became good friends with Wayne Gretzky, who had idolized Howe as a young player, and who would later break many of Howe's scoring records and milestones. Gretzky has said on various occasions that the reason he wore #99 was because he felt he was not worthy to wear Howe's #9.^{[citation needed]}

Another milestone in a remarkable career was reached in 1997 when Howe played professional hockey in a sixth decade. He was signed to a one-game contract by the Detroit Vipers of the IHL and, almost 70 years old, made a return to the ice for one shift.^[2] In doing so, he became the only player in hockey history to compete in six different decades at the professional level, having played in the NHL, WHA and IHL from the 1940s to 1990s.

Howe's #9 banner hanging in Joe Louis Arena.

His most productive seasons came during an era when scoring was difficult and checking was tight, yet Howe ranks third in NHL history with 1,850 total points, including 801 goals and 1,049 assists. When career regular season goals from both the NHL and the WHA are combined, he ranks first in goals with 975.

At the time of his retirement, Howe's professional totals, including playoffs, for the NHL and WHA combined, were first. He finished with 2,421 games played, 1,071 goals, 1,518 assists, and 2,589 points. Wayne Gretzky has since passed him in goals (1,072), assists (2,297), and points (3,369), but not games played (1,767). It is unlikely that anyone will surpass Howe's total professional games played. Mark Messier retired only 11 NHL games behind Howe at 1,756 (and counting minor league action and playoffs, 2,048 total professional games), but this is over five seasons away from 2,478 total professional games (including minor league action). Howe is one of a handful of NHL players who had an ambidextrous shot, and was capable of shooting both right and left.^[9]

Retirement

Howe appearing at Gordie Howe Night as partial owner of the Vancouver Giants in 2008.

In 1998, The Hockey News released their List of Top 100 NHL Players of All-Time and listed Howe third overall, ahead of Mario Lemieux, but behind Wayne Gretzky and Bobby Orr. Of the list, Orr was quoted as regarding Howe as the greatest player.^[2]

On April 10, 2007, Howe was honored with the unveiling of a new bronze statue in Joe Louis Arena. The statue is 12 feet tall and weighs about 4,500 pounds. The man who was commissioned to create the art was Omri Amrany. The statue contains all of Howe's stats and history. Another statue of Howe was erected in downtown Saskatoon, Saskatchewan on the corner of 20th Street and 1st Ave. He is depicted wearing a Detroit Red Wings sweater. The statue has since been relocated to the Credit Union Centre.

Personal life

Howe met his wife, Colleen Joffa, at 21 years old, while she was 17, at a bowling alley.^[2] After four years, they married on April 15, 1953. Together, Colleen and Gordie have a middle school named after them in Abbotsford, British Columbia. Two of their sons, Marty and Mark, were his teammates on the Houston Aeros and the Hartford Whalers. Mark would go on to have a long NHL career, playing 16 seasons for the Philadelphia Flyers and the Red Wings. Colleen was one of the founders of the Detroit Junior Red Wings and represented both Gordie and Mark financially during their careers.^[2] Their third son, Murray, is a doctor, and his eldest son Gordon, is named after Howe.^{[citation needed]} He has one daughter Cathleen.

His wife Colleen Howe was diagnosed with Pick's disease, an incurable neurological disease that causes dementia, in 2002.^[10]^[11] She died on March 6, 2009, at their home in Bloomfield Hills, Michigan.^[12]

Awards and achievements

Stanley Cup Champion - 1950, 1952, 1954, 1955
Art Ross Memorial Trophy – 1951, 1952, 1953, 1954, 1957, 1963.
Hart Memorial Trophy – 1952, 1953, 1957, 1958, 1960, 1963.
Lester B. Patrick Award – 1967.
Lionel Conacher Award – 1963.
Made an officer of the Order of Canada in 1971.
Inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame in 1972.
Inducted into Canada's Sports Hall of Fame in 1975.
Avco World Trophy - 1974, 1975
Inducted into Canada's Walk of Fame in 2000.
Awarded the first annual NHL Lifetime Achievement Award – 2008
Played in the NHL All-Star Game 23 times.^[13]
Named to the NHL First All-Star Team 12 times.
Named to the NHL Second All-Star Team 9 times.
Gary L. Davidson Trophy – 1974.
Played in the WHA All-Star Game 2 times.
Finished in the top five in NHL scoring for 20 consecutive seasons.^[3]
The last active person that played during the 1940s and the 1950s. He's tied with Bobby Hull for the latter, as they both played in the final game for Hartford in the 1980 playoffs.
In 1998, he was ranked #3 on The Hockey News' list of the 100 Greatest Hockey Players, the highest-ranking right wing on the list.
His number, 9, was retired by both the Detroit Red Wings and the Hartford Whalers. Although the Houston Aeros Howe played for no longer exist, the AHL team of the same name has also retired his number.
Inducted into 11 Halls of Fame in total.^{[citation needed]}

Records

Most NHL regular season games played: 1,767
Most NHL and WHA regular season games played: 2,186
Most NHL and WHA regular season and playoff games played: 2,421
Most NHL seasons played: 26
Most NHL and WHA seasons played: 32
Most NHL regular season goals by a right winger: 801
Most NHL regular season assists by a right winger: 1,049
Most NHL regular season points by a right winger: 1,850
Most NHL regular season points by a father/son combo (with son Mark): 2,592
First player to score over 1000 goals. Includes both WHA and NHL regular season, playoff combined totals.
Oldest player to play in NHL: age 52

Career statistics

			Regular season					Playoffs
Season	Team	League	GP	G	A	Pts	PIM	GP	G	A	Pts	PIM
1945–46	Omaha Knights	USHL	51	22	26	48	53	6	2	1	3	15
1946–47	Detroit Red Wings	NHL	58	7	15	22	52	5	0	0	0	18
1947–48	Detroit Red Wings	NHL	60	16	28	44	63	10	1	1	2	11
1948–49	Detroit Red Wings	NHL	40	12	25	37	57	11	8	3	11	19
1949–50	Detroit Red Wings	NHL	70	35	33	68	69	1	0	0	0	7
1950–51	Detroit Red Wings	NHL	70	43	43	86	74	6	4	3	7	4
1951–52	Detroit Red Wings	NHL	70	47	39	86	78	8	2	5	7	2
1952–53	Detroit Red Wings	NHL	70	49	46	95	57	6	2	5	7	2
1953–54	Detroit Red Wings	NHL	70	33	48	81	109	12	4	5	9	31
1954–55	Detroit Red Wings	NHL	64	29	33	62	68	11	9	11	20	24
1955–56	Detroit Red Wings	NHL	70	38	41	79	100	10	3	9	12	8
1956–57	Detroit Red Wings	NHL	70	44	45	89	72	5	2	5	7	6
1957–58	Detroit Red Wings	NHL	64	33	44	77	40	4	1	1	2	0
1958–59	Detroit Red Wings	NHL	70	32	46	78	57	—	—	—	—	—
1959–60	Detroit Red Wings	NHL	70	28	45	73	46	6	1	5	6	4
1960–61	Detroit Red Wings	NHL	64	23	49	72	30	11	4	11	15	10
1961–62	Detroit Red Wings	NHL	70	33	44	77	54	—	—	—	—	—
1962–63	Detroit Red Wings	NHL	70	38	48	86	100	11	7	9	16	22
1963–64	Detroit Red Wings	NHL	69	26	47	73	70	14	9	10	19	16
1964–65	Detroit Red Wings	NHL	70	29	47	76	104	7	4	2	6	20
1965–66	Detroit Red Wings	NHL	70	29	46	75	83	12	4	6	10	12
1966–67	Detroit Red Wings	NHL	69	25	40	65	53	—	—	—	—	—
1967–68	Detroit Red Wings	NHL	74	39	43	82	53	—	—	—	—	—
1968–69	Detroit Red Wings	NHL	76	44	59	103	58	—	—	—	—	—
1969–70	Detroit Red Wings	NHL	76	31	40	71	58	4	2	0	2	2
1970–71	Detroit Red Wings	NHL	63	23	29	52	38	—	—	—	—	—
1973–74	Houston Aeros	WHA	70	31	69	100	46	13	3	14	17	34
1974–75	Houston Aeros	WHA	75	34	65	99	84	13	8	12	20	20
1975–76	Houston Aeros	WHA	78	32	70	102	76	17	4	8	12	31
1976–77	Houston Aeros	WHA	62	24	44	68	57	11	5	3	8	11
1977–78	New England Whalers	WHA	76	34	62	96	85	14	5	5	10	15
1978–79	New England Whalers	WHA	58	19	24	43	51	10	3	1	4	4
1979–80	Hartford Whalers	NHL	80	15	26	41	42	3	1	1	2	2
1997–98	Detroit Vipers	IHL	1	0	0	0	0	—	—	—	—	—
NHL totals			1767	801	1049	1850	1685	157	68	92	160	220
WHA totals			419	174	334	508	399	78	28	43	71	115

In popular culture

Bart Simpson used a picture of Howe as part of a practical joke he pulls on Mrs. Krabappel in The Simpsons episode "Bart the Lover". At the end of the episode, Howe's career statistics are displayed on the screen.
At the height of Howe's career, a ballad was penned by a songwriter named Bob Davies called, "Gordie Howe is the Greatest of Them All".
His Detroit Red Wings sweater is worn by the character Cameron Frye in Ferris Bueller's Day Off. Writer/DirectorJohn Hughes used this as a reference to his childhood growing up in Michigan.
His Red Wings sweater was also worn by the character Kenan Rockmore in the Kenan & Kel season one episode "The Cold War."
The protagonist of Steven Popkes' short story "The Ice" is a promising collegiate hockey player who discovers that he is a clone of Gordie Howe.
Michael Vartan gives a speech about Gordie Howe in the movie Never Been Kissed.
Ska band The Planet Smashers wrote a song about Howe called "Uncle Gordie".
The Canadian band Barenaked Ladies makes a reference to "Gordie Howe's Clothes" in the song "789" on their album "Snacktime".
Howe appears in an episode of Yes, Dear when Mike O'Malley's character, Jimmy Hughes comes up with a list of goals he wishes to accomplish in his lifetime. One such wish is to "mix it up" with Gordie Howe. He is scheduled to play in a charity game with the hockey legend, but Gordie beats him up before the first puck is ever dropped.

Trivia

Lists of miscellaneous information should be avoided. Please relocate any relevant information into appropriate sections or articles. (June 2008)

Other nicknames for Gordie Howe include: Power,^[14] Mr. Everything, Mr. All-Star, The Most, The Great Gordie, The King of Hockey, The Legend, The Man, No. 9^[15]
His name and nickname, "Mr. Hockey", as well as his wife's nickname as "Mrs. Hockey", are registered trademarks.
His tough physical play also earned him the nickname "Mr. Elbows".
Howe was an ambidextrous player, able to use the straight sticks of his era to shoot left or right-handed.

Notes and references

^ http://www.legendsofhockey.net:8080/LegendsOfHockey/jsp/LegendsMember.jsp?mem=p197204&page=bio#photo
^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f ^g ^h ⁱ ^j ^k ^l ^m Dryden, Steve (1998). The Top 100 NHL Players of All Time. Toronto: Transcontinental Sports Publishers. pp. 26-32. ISBN 0-7710-4175-6.
^ ^a ^b ^c MacSkimming, Roy (2003) [1994]. "1". Gordie: a hockey legend (2nd edition ed.). Canada: Greystone Books. pp. 14. ISBN 1-55054-719-4.
^ Marek, Jeff (2007-11-02). "How many Gordie Howe hat tricks did Mr. Hockey notch?". Canadian Broadcasting Corporation. http://www.cbc.ca/sports/hockey/marek/2007/11/how_many_gordie_howe_hattricks.html. Retrieved 2008-03-30.
^ [CBC Sports]http://www.cbc.ca/sports/blogs/2008/10/the_mystique_of_the_gordie_how.html
^ [1]
^ Jim Proudfoot (column), Toronto Star, January 8, 1972, p. 41
^ ^a ^b ^c The Rebel League: The Short and Unruly Life of the World Hockey Association, p.221, McLelland and Stewart, Toronto, ON, ISBN 0-7710-8947-3
^ Diamond, Dan (2001). 'Hockey Stories on and off the Ice'. USA: Andrews McMeel Publishing. p. 65. ISBN 0740719033.
^ [2]
^ [3]
^ http://www.ctv.ca/servlet/ArticleNews/story/CTVNews/20090306/colleenhowe_death_090306/20090306?hub=TopStories
^ "All-Star Game individual records". USA TODAY (Gannett Co. Inc.). 2002-01-31. http://www.usatoday.com/sports/hockey/star02/2002-01-30-records-indiv.htm. Retrieved 2008-05-12.
^ McGourty, John (2008-03-30). "Detroit honors 'Mr. Hockey' at 80". National Hockey League. http://www.nhl.com/nhl/app/?service=page&page=NewsPage&articleid=358595. Retrieved 2008-04-07.
^ Howe Gordie did it

External links

Preceded by New creation	NHL Lifetime Achievement Award 2008	Succeeded by Unknown
Preceded by Red Kelly	Captain of the Detroit Red Wings 1958–62	Succeeded by Alex Delvecchio
Preceded by Jacques Plante	Winner of the Hart Trophy 1963	Succeeded by Jean Beliveau
Preceded by Andy Bathgate	Winner of the Hart Trophy 1960	Succeeded by Bernie Geoffrion
Preceded by Jean Beliveau	Winner of the Hart Trophy 1957, 1958	Succeeded by Andy Bathgate
Preceded by Milt Schmidt	Winner of the Hart Trophy 1952, 1953	Succeeded by Al Rollins
Preceded by Bobby Hull	Winner of the Art Ross Trophy 1963	Succeeded by Stan Mikita
Preceded by Jean Beliveau	Winner of the Art Ross Trophy 1957	Succeeded by Dickie Moore
Preceded by Ted Lindsay	Winner of the Art Ross Trophy 1951, 1952, 1953, 1954	Succeeded by Bernie Geoffrion
Preceded by Bobby Hull	NHL Goal Leader 1963	Succeeded by Bobby Hull
Preceded by Jean Beliveau	NHL Goal Leader 1957	Succeeded by Dickie Moore
Preceded by Maurice Richard	NHL Goal Leader 1951, 1952, 1953	Succeeded by Maurice Richard

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Howe relaxing at "Gordie Howe Hockeyland" in St. Clair Shores, Michigan, circa 1966
Born	March 31, 1928 (1928-03-31) (age 81), Floral, Saskatchewan, Canada
Height Weight	6 ft 1 in (1.85 m) 205 lb (93 kg; 14 st 9 lb)
Position	Right wing
Shot	Right and left
Pro clubs	USHL Omaha Knights NHL Detroit Red Wings Hartford Whalers WHA Houston Aeros New England Whalers IHL Detroit Vipers
Pro career	1946 – 1971 1973 – 1980 1997
Hall of Fame, 1972

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Gordie Howe

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