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Gordie Howe

 

Gordie Howe, 1969
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Gordie Howe, 1969 (credit: Courtesy of the National Hockey League)
(born March 31, 1928, Floral, Sask., Can.) Canadian-born U.S. ice-hockey player, regarded as one of the greatest of all time. In 26 seasons (1945 – 71) in the NHL, in 25 of them playing right wing with the Detroit Red Wings, he set all-time career records for goals (801), assists (1,049), and points (1,850). (His records were later broken by Wayne Gretzky.) Howe went on to play for or manage non-NHL teams before retiring in 1980. A tough-minded competitor, he was known for the "Gordie Howe hat trick" — a goal, an assist, and a fight.

For more information on Gordie Howe, visit Britannica.com.

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Biography: Gordie Howe
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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.

Further Reading

Batson, Larry, Gordie Howe, Amecus Street, 1974.

Vipond, Jim, Gordie Howe Number 9, Follett Publishing Company, 1968.

Maclean's, October 23, 1989, p. 62.

Maclean's, March 21, 1994, p. 49.

Furlong, William Barry, The New York Times Encyclopedia of Sports, Arno Press, 1979, pp. 165-167.

Saturday Night, November, pp. 62-68, 96.

Sport, May 1989, p. 60.

Sports Illustrated, October 23, 1989, pp. 50-53.

 
Columbia Encyclopedia: Gordie Howe
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Howe, Gordie (Gordon Howe), 1928-, Canadian hockey player. One of the great forwards in the game's history, he played with the Detroit Red Wings of the National Hockey League (1947-71), leading the league in scoring six times and winning Most Valuable Player honors six times. He then retired, but in 1973, with his sons Mark and Marty, joined the new World Hockey Association (WHA). He won the WHA's Most Valuable Player award in 1974 and retired again in 1980 as the career professional leader in goals (801) and assists (1,049); both records have since been broken by Wayne Gretzky.
Quotes By: Gordie Howe
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Quotes:

"You've got to love what you're doing. If you love it, you can overcome any handicap or the soreness or all the aches and pains, and continue to play for a long, long time."

"You find that you have peace of mind and can enjoy yourself, get more sleep, and rest when you know that it was a one hundred percent effort that you gave -- win or lose."

Wikipedia: Gordie Howe
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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

Gordon "Gordie" Howe, OC (born March 31, 1928) is a retired professional ice hockey player from Canada who played for the Detroit Red Wings and Hartford Whalers of the National Hockey League (NHL), and the Houston Aeros and New England Whalers in the World Hockey Association (WHA). Howe is often referred to as Mr. Hockey,[1] and is generally regarded as one of the greatest hockey players of all time.

Being most famous for his scoring prowess, physical strength, and the longevity of his career, Howe is the only player to have competed in the NHL in five (1940s through 1980s) different decades. A four-time Stanley Cup champion with the Red Wings, he won six Hart Trophies as the league's most valuable player and six Art Ross Trophies as the leading scorer. He was the recipient of the first NHL Lifetime Achievement Award in 2008.

Contents

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

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

  • 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.

See also

Notes and references


  1. ^ http://www.legendsofhockey.net:8080/LegendsOfHockey/jsp/LegendsMember.jsp?mem=p197204&page=bio#photo
  2. ^ 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. 
  3. ^ 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. 
  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. 
  5. ^ [CBC Sports]http://www.cbc.ca/sports/blogs/2008/10/the_mystique_of_the_gordie_how.html
  6. ^ [1]
  7. ^ Jim Proudfoot (column), Toronto Star, January 8, 1972, p. 41
  8. ^ 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
  9. ^ Diamond, Dan (2001). 'Hockey Stories on and off the Ice'. USA: Andrews McMeel Publishing. p. 65. ISBN 0740719033. 
  10. ^ [2]
  11. ^ [3]
  12. ^ http://www.ctv.ca/servlet/ArticleNews/story/CTVNews/20090306/colleenhowe_death_090306/20090306?hub=TopStories
  13. ^ "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. 
  14. ^ 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. 
  15. ^ Howe Gordie did it

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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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Britannica Concise Encyclopedia. Britannica Concise Encyclopedia. © 2006 Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc. All rights reserved.  Read more
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Columbia Encyclopedia. The Columbia Electronic Encyclopedia, Sixth Edition Copyright © 2003, Columbia University Press. Licensed from Columbia University Press. All rights reserved. www.cc.columbia.edu/cu/cup/ Read more
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Wikipedia. This article is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License. It uses material from the Wikipedia article "Gordie Howe" Read more