“A great player and a great man. The greatest honor I had in hockey was to be able to say Gordie Howe was my friend and he played for the Whalers”, Howard Baldwin, former owner of the Whalers, said in a statement posted on the Facebook page for Hartford Whaler Nation.
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Early in his career, National Hockey League legend Gordie Howe spent a season with the Galt Jr.
Howe won the Stanley Cup four times with the Detroit Red Wings and was inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame in 1972.
“He retired before I had a chance to really be a hockey fan but just being a Detroit person in general I don’t think you can grow up in this area and not be a hockey fan of the Red Wings”, Keselowski said.
Bobby Baun, who played both against and with Howe during a career that included stints with the Leafs and the Red Wings, called Howe’s death “a tough thing”.
“Mr Hockey left peacefully, beautifully, and (with) no regrets”, his son Murray said in a text to The Associated Press, adding that his father died simply of “old age”, not another stroke like the one he had in October 2014.
Henderson said Howe’s scoring touch went hand-in-sweaty-glove with his ability to establish who was in charge in the corners.
The Detroit Red Wings confirmed Howe’s death on Friday morning.
For me, he’s the greatest hockey player who ever played. “He may have been the most well-rounded athletic player that I’ve ever seen”.
Detroit Lions president Rod Wood: “We not only lost a sports legend today, but also one of the most iconic, impactful and beloved people our community will ever know”. The Great One himself left no doubt about what he thought of Howe.
“No one in their right mind ever wanted to tangle with him”, Lindsay has said.
“Before I get started I think I want to say something about Gordie Howe”.
Though he was slated to attend Galt Collegiate Institute (GCI) while living with a billet family, Howe couldn’t muster the courage to go inside. But each and every hockey game was unique and special to people who paid for their tickets for that night’s action. But Howe said he would only sign if some friends from Saskatoon would be there, too.
Gretzky was 10 when he met Howe at a sports banquet.
A bronze statue of Howe stands in front of the Red Wings’ home, the Joe Louis Arena.
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau also weighed in on the enormity of Gordie Howe’s life and accomplishments.
Even “revolutionary” would work, because Howe practically guaranteed the NHL-rival World Hockey Association its brief existence by coming out of retirement to play six years with his sons, Mark and Marty, with the Houston Aeros and New England Whalers. The relationship between our family and Gordie is three generations long and we are grateful for what he gave to our organization, the National Hockey League and the sport of hockey.
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Part of the reason they got along was because of how important Howe was to Gretzky’s family, he told ESPN.com. “I saw him play forward and defense, I never saw him play goal, but I’m sure he could have”.
