Hockey Legend and long-time NHLer Gordie Howe died Friday morning in Ohio, and with his death, a light has gone out in the world. His banner still sits high in Joe Louis Arena, but our hearts are heavy. The news is especially hard to take, with the Stanley Cup Finals reaching his climax. The championship will have to go on without Mr. Hockey himself, but he will surely live on, because the legacy he has left behind is unforgettable.
Though I am only 19 years old, and only started to fall in love with the sport of hockey at the age of nine, the the first name I really knew, and the biggest one I can remember is Gordie Howe. Better known as Mr. Hockey, Howe truly changed the game with his unorthodox style of hockey, one that brought toughness, goal-scoring ability and ultimate perseverance every time he laced up the skates. He had courage, leadership and excellence, and exemplified what being a hockey player was all about.
First off, let’s go over the stats that still resonate as record-defying in the National Hockey League. In 26 NHL seasons, he finished with 801 career goals, 1,049 assists, four Stanley Cups, six Hart Trophies, Six Art Ross Trophies, five Rocket Richard Trophies and 23 NHL All-Star games. Not to mention, he finished with two Gordie Howe hat-tricks. If you add his goal and assist totals from the WHA, you get 975 career tallies, and 1,383 helpers.
What I love about Howe is the way he was not only an excellent skater and goal-scorer, but he was probably one of the toughest guys, if not the toughest, dressed in the lineup. He played with unbelievable grit and passion, and wasn’t afraid to deliver a hit or play with some physicality in order to win.
ESPN wrote one of my favorite pieces about how, where it discussed his best quality: he just kept going.
"Not even more than 300 stitches, damaged knee cartilage, broken ribs, a broken wrist, several broken toes, a dislocated shoulder, an assortment of scalp wounds, a painful ankle injury and a near-brush with death could derail his date with destiny. And to think, growing up he thought he “would have been happy to play just one season.”"
Howe’s coaches also dubbed him the “finest passer, the best play-maker and the ablest puck-carrier in the game.”
Perhaps the scariest moment of his career came on March 28, 1950. Just 21 years old (three days shy of 22), Howe was playing in a rough playoff match against the Toronto Maple Leafs. When he went to slam Ted Kennedy into the boards,Kennedy lifted his stick, which caught Howe’s eye. After crashing head-first into the boards, Howe lied on the ice with a lacerated eyeball, bloody broken nose and a concussion.
He was rushed to the hospital, where he was also said to have suffered a shattered cheekbone, concussion, hemorrhaging inside his skull and severe brain damage. However, the doctors managed to relieve the pressure on his brain, drilling a hole above his right eye. The operation left Howe with a tic, and therefore, his teammates gave him the nickname “Blinky.”
Perhaps one of the best qualities that Howe possessed was that of never giving up. A young Howe failed the third grade twice, and at just15 years old, attended a Rangers tryout camp in Winnipeg, only for that too fall through the cracks. However, he returned the next year, when a Red Wings scout saw hm and sent him to the Wings’ training camp in Windsor, Ontario. He was playing NHL hockey two seasons later, at age 18.
He played 32 seasons of professional hockey (NHL and WHA combined) and not once did he decide to back down. He was the ultimate energizer bunny, probably the greatest to play. Howe left the NHL at age 45 playing alongside sons Mark and Marty in the WHA for six seasons. Years later, Howe returned to the NHL to play with the Hartford Whalers in 1979-80 before retiring at age 52.
"“He was hockey, hockey, hockey all the time, even in July when he used to break shingles off the house practicing shooting both right- and left-handed.” – Catherine Howe, Gordie’s mother."
Next: Reliving Wayne Gretzky's Career
Today, we remember Gordie Howe. Not just because of his goal-scoring ability, or the records he set or the awards he won, but for so much more than that. We remember Mr. Hockey, the perseverance, the determination, the years of hockey, the toughness. We remember every stitch, every hit, every fight, every lace of the skates, every goal, every point, every game and every shift. Rest in peace, Mr. Howe.