Howe suffered a massive stroke in October 2014 and later traveled to Mexico to undergo stem-cell treatment in response.
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He made his debut in 1946, played 26 NHL and six World Hockey Association seasons and held numerous scoring records until the rise of fellow Canadian-born legend Wayne Gretzky.
Altogether – regular season and playoffs – he scored 2,589 career points and was a six-time victor of the Art Ross Trophy as the NHL’s leading scorer and a six-time victor of the Hart Memorial Trophy as the NHL’s most valuable player.
Words can not measure how much respect I held for Gordie Howe, not just as a legendary skilled and tough hockey player but as a wonderful human being. His career with the Red Wings spanned 25 years, during which he won four Stanley Cup trophies and six Hart Trophies for league MVP. His sons Mark and Marty went on to have National Hockey League careers.
Howe, the only player to play in the National Hockey League after turning 50, would play all 80 games in his final season as well as a handful of games after turning 52. But he still wasn’t done. He was also, in the words of one opponent, the meanest SOB who ever put on skates.
State Representative Sandy Levin of the 9th Congressional District wrote, “Like for so many, for my brother Carl and me, Gordie Howe was one of our greatest heroes growing up”.
A prolific scorer, Howe was feared and revered, famous for his flying elbows. But perhaps, biggest of all, he was an iconic name that a casual and non-hockey fan would know.
He actually retired for a brief time in 1971 at age 43: After a two-year stint in the Red Wings’ front office returned to play in the WHA in 1973.
“I always tell kids, you have two eyes and one mouth”.
Total games Howe played in the NHL and the rival World Hockey Association.
Howe is survived by his four children, Marty, Mark, Cathy and Murray, and nine grandchildren.
“Gordie Howe was an incredible ambassador for the game of hockey”, Red Wings general manager Ken Holland said. Howe was a giant of the game, and he will be missed.
Hockey lost a legend Friday when Gordie Howe passed away at 88.
Howe’s wife, Colleen, died in 2009 from Pick’s disease, a neurological condition that causes dementia.
“When I think about players, I consider three ingredients: the head, heart and the feet”, legendary coach Scotty Bowman said, according to USA Today.
One of 11 children, Howe was born in the Canadian province of Saskatchewan on March 31, 1928.
Howe, who took up hockey at age 8, was talented and tough, although his bid to make the New York Rangers-at age 15-ended during training camp because he was homesick.
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Theberge says that game against Mr. Hockey was one of his career highlights. “I can still remember, as clearly as yesterday, some of his goals that only Gordie Howe could have accomplished”. At the age of 69, Mr. Hockey played a single shift for the International Hockey Leagues Detroit Vipers. They became personal and professional partners as the woman known as “Mrs. Hockey” championed the game for children and later became her husband’s agent.
