Playing with pain: Howe needed more than 400 stitches to close cuts, lost several teeth, broke ribs and his nose many times.
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Gordie Howe worked all his remarkable life to earn the respect and awe that came with being “Mr. Hockey”.
“He played the game hard”, MacGregor remembers about Mr. Hockey.
Gordies commitment to winning was matched only by his commitment to his teammates, to his friends, to the Red Wings, to the city of Detroit and above all to his family, Bettman said. “He didn’t wind up to shoot, like so many of today’s golfers, but next time the goalie dared to peek, the puck was behind him”. Hence, the goal was awarded to Kelly. He played an additional 419 games in the WHA, scoring 174 goals and amassing 508 points.
“To think that we lost Muhammad Ali and Gordie Howe in the same week or 10-day span is incredible”, said Sharks coach DeBoer. Howe still ranks second all time in goals.
Today, video replay would quickly correct the erroneous awarding of a goal. And yet when Howe first signed his contract with the Red Wings, his signing bonus was a team jacket.
Isn’t that typical of the man? She also raved about his gracious interaction with everyday people and his ever-playful manner.
Howe’s death at the age of 88 on Friday led to an outpouring of gratitude from numerous current and former hockey stars for the impact he made on their careers. His combined NHL/WHA regular season/playoff stats are simply awesome – 2,421 games, 1,071 goals, 1,518 assists, 2,589 points and 2,419 penalty minutes (which equates to about 40 hours in the sinbin).
SaskTel Centre Coliseum Operator Gary Musty raises a Gordie Howe flag and sets all other flags to half-staff outside of Sasktel Centre in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, Friday, June 10, 2016.
Those totals, as eye-popping as they are, do not tell the entire story.
Howe shattered records, threw elbows and helped the Red Wings win four Stanley Cups, becoming an idol to Wayne Gretzky and countless others while also helping the sport attract American fans in a development key the NHLs growth.
But the most impressive number may very well be 52. Like I said, I never saw Howe play a single game in my life, as a matter of fact, his last National Hockey League appearance occurred four years before I even took my first breath on this planet.
Howe’s wife orchestrated a plan to get “Mr. Hockey” back on the ice two years later.
Howe played in all 80 of the Whalers’ regular-season games in 1979-80, registering 15 goals and 26 assists.
“There is no nickname more fitting for him than ‘Mr”.
Cournoyer made the comments with a heavy heart, noting that so many top players from the old days have died in the last few years, including Canadiens Jean Beliveau, Elmer Lach, Dickie Moore and Tremblay.
“He played all those years and we packed every house that we came to”, Mahovlich said in 2014.
Re-reading the piece, there are no great wisdoms buried in there – I wish I had been a better writer back then – but what shines through is Howe’s mischievous kindness. Youngsters would often receive a playful elbow.
Even from afar, he was accessible. Wait, what do I mean probably?
Barely a week later, I received a response. He was in town for a sports banquet and I, as the Regina Leader-Post’s hockey writer at the time, was assigned to do a story. But Calgarians who have gotten to know him say he was as gracious and humble off the rink as he was aggressive and skilful on it. “He could switch hands on the stick when he needed to and be just as effective”.
We then arranged a time for an interview, which was conducted at the Turvey Centre.
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The most impressive part: Everyone except Howe thought he was a big deal. He obliged everyone with a smile.
