(AP Photo/File). FILE – This is an October 1996 file photo showing Detroit Red Wings hockey player Gordie Howe poses in Detroit, Mich. Gordie Howe, the hockey great who set scoring records that stood for decades, has died.
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Howe still holds the record for most National Hockey League games played.
Howe needed more than 400 stitches to close cuts, lost several teeth, broke ribs and nose.
He won the Art Ross trophy as the NHL’s top point producer six times between 1951 and 1963 and the Hart Trophy as the NHL’s Most Valuable Player six times from 1952 to 1963. He was 88. Son Murray Howe confi.
The Red Wings announced Howe’s passing on Twitter with a photo and the message: “Thank You Mr. Hockey 1928-2016”.
It’s out of fashion now to hearken back to days when a certain amount of savagery was not only desirable but necessary, but those who played with or against him speak fondly of Howe’s own code of conduct. He successfully demands a higher salary, but a rift develops with team management.
1971: Howe retires from the Red Wings. The Red Wings organization and the National Hockey League would not be what they are today without Gordie Howe.
His wife, Colleen, died in 2009 after a long battle with Pick’s disease. Howe closed out the matter with his second and final Gordie Howe Hat Trick.
1974: The three Howes debut with the Aeros. Gordie puts together a 100-point season and leads his team to the championship, earning the title of league MVP for that year. CNN reported his son Marty as confirming the news.
1979: Howe begins a new NHL season after the league absorbs the Whalers. He plays all 80 games of the season despite being over 50 years old. If you add his goal and assist totals from the WHA, you get 975 career tallies, and 1,383 helpers. He retires for good at the end of the season.
February 2012: Howe’s sons reveal that their father is suffering from a form of dementia.
The hockey hall-of-famer had previous health struggles, suffering a “significant” stroke in 2014.
Henderson said teammate Ted Lindsay once told him Howe was the baddest on the block right off the bat.
Henderson played with Howe in the 1960s in Detroit, recalling an Olympian presence in the rink named the Olympia.
Howe remains an icon in the city of Detroit and for players such as former Red Wings All-Star Chris Chelios.
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Gordie Howe, the rough-and-tumble Canadian farm boy whose boundless blend of talent and toughness made him the NHL’s quintessential star during a career that lasted into his 50s, has died.
