While other hockey greats could skate and put the puck in the net, “Mr. Hockey” could do more than that, Howe, who died Friday at the age of 88, was a physical force as well as an offensive superstar.
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Howe suffered a stroke in late October 2014 while at his daughters home in Lubbock, Texas, losing some function on the right side of his body.
“His career inspired, he gave rise to many, many dreams in many, many Canadians of what could be and what might be”, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said.
Gordie Howe was known to generations of players and fans as Mr. Hockey.
Howe surpassed Richards NHL record of 544 goals in 1963.
MINUS: It’s example #4639 in how you can’t shake a reputation once you get it: Justin Schultz. Those are kind of things you love about hockey player, the way they work, the way they compete. And for four of those years, the team was led by Howe, an old man, by hockey standards, who came out of retirement so that he could play with his sons Mark and Marty who had been signed by the Aeros.
In February 2015, he was honored by other hockey greats including Wayne Gretzky, Bobby Hull and Brett Hull. “No sport could have hoped for a greater, more-beloved ambassador”, NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman said in a statement.
Off the ice, Howe received a number of national honours. Playing with his sons, though, was what Howe said he was most proud of from his career.
“He had a great vision of the game, a great scorer, puck control”, Buffalo Sabres great Gilbert Perreault said in a phone interview. Both records were later shattered by Gretzky, who broke into the league that same season.
Gordon Howe was born March 31, 1928, in tiny Floral, Saskatchewan, and raised nearby on the Canadian prairie in Saskatoon.
Howe’s passing was a huge loss, as he was hockey royalty and the greatest player to have ever played for the Original Six juggernaut Detroit Red Wings. Fans cheered as they collectively thanked Mr. Hockey for all he contributed to the game. Most commonly, his legacy is referenced when someone accumulates “Gordie Howe Hat Trick” – which occurs when a player records a goal, an assist and gets in a fight during a game. The family has requested donations be made to the Gordie Howe Traumatic Brain Injury Initiative, the Howe Foundation or the Gordie Howe Fund for Alzheimer’s Research in lieu of flowers.
Turns out, Hawley was scheduled to play in a golf tournament with Howe a couple of weeks later, so he took his poster with him.
Crosby said he considered himself “pretty fortunate” to have met the Hall of Famer, but even those who never met Howe were impressed by his legendary toughness and longevity as well as his humility.
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Howe was married to Colleen Joffa Howe for 55 years until her death in 2009. But the Howe family learned that more than 1,000 videos, compact discs and DVDs had been destroyed.
