A Tribute To Gordie Howe (Mr. Hockey) Now In ICU

Gordie Howe, the Hockey Hall of Famer who is simply known as ‘Mr. Hockey’ by everyone associated with the game suffered a “significant stroke” Monday, his 3rd since October. His daughter, Cathy Purnell, said Howe was stable and “a little bit alert” Tuesday morning. 

“He’s a fighter,” Purnell said, “”the man is tough. He has this will to keep going, all things considered.”  You bet Mr. Hockey is a fighter and tougher than most. Don’t count the 86 year old right-winger out yet.

When hockey players, old and young, so-called experts and just plain fans talk about who was the greatest hockey player of all time the list generally comes down to 3 players:  Wayne Gretzky, Bobby Orr and Gordie Howe. Wayne Gretzky, has said, "he wanted to eat, sleep, look like and play hockey like Gordie Howe”.  Orr said simply Gordie Howe is the best athlete of all-time in any sport.

The ‘Great One’ breaks ‘Mr. Hockey’s’ all-time scoring record

Gordie Howe and a very young Wayne Gretzky

You couldn’t go wrong picking any of those three legends but Howe was special just for the fact of his amazingly long career in hockey while playing at an extremely high all-star level even well into his 40’s. He broke in with the Detroit Red Wings as an 18 yr. old in 1946. He played his last game for the NHL’s Hartford Whalers in 1980 at age 52.  52!!!  Let me add those numbers up for you – 1946 to 1980 – that’s 35 years of playing one of the toughest games there is.  That’s 5, count-em, 5 decades.

He shoots! He scores!

Long before ‘The Great One’, Wayne Gretzky, broke into the NHL at 18 years old and began to demolish every scoring record in the history of hockey, most of those scoring records belonged to Gordie Howe.  He ranked among the top ten in NHL scoring for twenty-one consecutive years.  Howe won the Stanley Cup with the Red Wings four times, won six Hart Trophies as the league's most valuable player, and won six Art Ross Trophies as the leading scorer. In his mid-40’s he scored over 100 points twice, a feat most NHL players never achieve.  Did I mention he was tough?

Gordie Howe was always right in the midst of the battle 

Howe was born (March 31, 1928) to Ab and Katherine Howe in a farmhouse in Floral, Saskatchewan; he was one of nine siblings.  Coming from humble beginnings, he overcame poverty, nutritional deficiencies, paralyzing shyness, and other obstacles to leave home at the age of just 16 to embark on his dream of making it to the NHL. After 2 years in the minors, Howe made his NHL debut on October 16, 1946 playing right wing for the Detroit Red Wings, scoring in his first game at the age of 18.

As his career just started going, however, Howe sustained the worst injury of his career, fracturing his skull after an attempt to check Toronto Maple Leafs captain Ted Kennedy into the boards went awry 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. The next season, he returned to record 86 points, winning the scoring title by 20 points. Did I mention Gordie Howe was tough?

Gordie Howe and Maurice “The Rocket” Richard were fierce competitors

The Rocket and Mr. Hockey

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 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 out cold with a punch after being shoved.  Howe was just 18 then and most players learned then never to shove Gordie Howe!

Don’t Mess with Mr. Hockey!

Still, in hockey, there were always a few nonbelievers.  One night back in 1959, New York Ranger tough guy Big Lou Fontinato,  then one of the NHL’s most feared enforcers, took exception to the way Gordie had carved up Eddie Shack with his famous sharp elbows. Lou rushed at Howe and knocked him heavily into the boards. It was on! 

Howe got up, snatched Fontinato’s jersey with his left hand and unloaded a series of haymaker right hands to Lou’s kisser. The big Ranger gamely traded punches, but they were like feather dusters compared to the howitzers Howe was tossing.

It was one of the ugliest and one-sided beatings in the history of hockey. Big Lou, battered and beaten, had to be rushed to the hospital to be treated for multiple cuts and bruises as well as a badly shattered nose.  Yes, Gordie Howe was tough!

Gordie Howe, Marty Howe, Mark Howe

After 25 years with the Detroit Red Wings, a chronic wrist problem forced Howe to retire after the 1970–71 season – but, not for long!  A year later, the Houston Aeros of the newly formed World Hockey Association (WHA), signed Gordie’s sons, Mark and Marty. Wanting to achieve his dream of playing pro hockey with his son’s, Gordie underwent an operation to improve his wrist. 

Gordie Howe – at 52 yrs. old playing for Hartford in the NHL

Howe led the Aeros 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  Howe played with the Aeros until1977, when he and his sons joined the NHL New England Whalers.

Mr. Hockey

Here’s hoping that Mr. Hockey wins another fight – the fight of his life!!

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