Detroit Red Wings Hockey Legend Gordie Howe (1928-2016) - Sitcoms Online Message Boards

Zoneboy · 06-10-2016, 12:14 PM

Link

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. The man forever known as "Mr. Hockey" was 88.

Son Murray Howe confirmed the death Friday, texting to The Associated Press: "Mr Hockey left peacefully, beautifully, and w no regrets."

Howe shattered records, threw elbows and helped the Detroit Red Wings win four Stanley Cups, becoming an idol to Wayne Gretzky and countless other Canadians while also helping the sport attract American fans.

His final NHL season came at age 52 when Gretzky was a rookie — a fitting symmetry since Howe was the league's most prolific scorer until the "Great One" broke his career marks for goals and points.

With finesse and a heavy dose of grit, the Hockey Hall of Famer set NHL marks with 801 goals and 1,850 points — mostly with the Red Wings — that held up until Gretzky came along. Howe was also so famously fierce that a "Gordie Howe Hat Trick" became synonymous with the combination of having a goal, an assist and a fight in one game.

Howe suffered a stroke in late October 2014 while at his daughter's home in Lubbock, Texas, losing some function on the right side of his body. He suffered another stroke a short time later and family members said chronic back pain, advanced stages of dementia and high blood pressure were taking a toll. The body Howe relied on as an athlete stayed relative strong, but memory loss became a problem that family members noticed before the death of their mother, Colleen, in 2009.

Howe was a giant of the game and no list of the NHL's greatest players has him anywhere but near the top alongside players like Bobby Orr, Maurice Richard, Mario Lemieux, Guy Lafleur, Bobby Hull and Gretzky. Like few others, Howe's impact on the game stretched over decades.

Besides the four Cups, the talented right winger won six Hart Trophies as NHL MVP and six Ross Trophies as the league's top scorer. Howe began playing for the Red Wings in 1946, leading them to seven straight first-place finishes in the regular season. He was a part of what was known as "The Production Line" with fellow future Hall of Famers Ted Lindsay and Sid Abel during his 25-year run with the franchise.

"When Gordie came into the NHL, hockey was a Canadian game. He converted it into a North American game," former NHL President Clarence Campbell said when Howe retired the first time in 1971 because he was playing with arthritis in his left wrist and for a last-place team.

Howe's wife orchestrated a plan to get "Mr. Hockey" back on the ice two years later. She helped him live his dream of playing professional hockey with his sons, Mark and Marty, in the World Hockey Association. And at the age of 45, Howe still had it. He scored 31 goals and had 69 assists, was named MVP of the NHL's rival league and led the Aeros to the 1973 WHA title — a run that was the focus of a movie: "Mr. Hockey: The Gordie Howe Story."

Howe had 41 points for the Hartford Whalers during the 1979-80 season in what was his 26th and final year in the NHL.

When Howe finally retired for good from the NHL, he was 52. And with a single shift with the Detroit Vipers in the International Hockey League in 1997, he played professionally in a sixth decade at the age of 69.

He referred to his play as "poetry in slow motion" late in his career, a far cry from his score-and-smash style in his 20s, 30s and early 40s.

Of course, Howe's prowess in scoring was matched by his skill with the rough stuff. Unlike anyone in quite the same way, Howe handled his business with his elbows and fists almost as often as he did with wrist and slap shots. He ranked among the NHL leaders in penalties minutes three times, spending 100-plus minutes in the penalty box during those seasons. When he resumed playing as a parent with sons on the same sheet of ice, opponents often found out not to mess with his boys.

"If I can skate, I'll get even," Howe once said.

Howe needed more than 400 stitches to close cuts, lost several teeth, broke ribs and nose. He had a serious head injury in 1950 that led to emergency surgery to relieve pressure on his brain. Despite the blood and broken bones, he didn't miss many games during his NHL-record, 1,767-game career and played in all 80 during his final season that ended after his 52nd birthday.

"You've got to love what you're doing," Howe once said. "If you love it, you can overcome any handicap or the soreness or all the aches and pains, and continue to play for a long, long time."

Mark Howe said his father was "the toughest, meanest guy I've ever seen on a pair of skates," and that's why he was able to play for decades.

"No one in their right mind ever wanted to tangle with him," Lindsay has said. "Gordie had a lethal pair of elbows, was strong as a moose and knew every angle."

Gordon Howe was born March 31, 1928, in tiny Floral, Saskatchewan, and raised in nearby on the Canadian prairie in Saskatoon. His father was a laborer and Howe pitched in early, growing strong with the work.

"He was born in a barn and the house he grew up in was no bigger than a garage," Mark Howe said. "They had nothing, like many people during the Depression. Someone was going door to door, selling bags of stuff for $1 and in one of those bags, dad got his first pair of skates."

Howe left as a teenager to pursue a career in hockey. Howe made his NHL debut for the Red Wings at the age of 18. In Howe's second season, he was an All-Star for the first of a record 23 times.

"Finally, I saved enough to buy my mom and dad a brand new home — with running water," he once recalled. "I think that's the biggest thing I ever achieved. That's what I wanted, and I saved my money to buy it."

Howe was 6 feet tall and weighed 205 pounds during his career, making him bigger than post of his peers. His ability to skate, shoot and pass made him a threat to make plays every time he had the puck. No one, according to Hall of Fame coach Scotty Bowman, was quite on par with Howe's style of play that led to a lot of points and punches.

"He could fight, intimidate, play offensively," Bowman recalled.

Howe surpassed Richard's NHL record of 544 goals in 1963 and after the turn of the century, the humorous Howe would walk around Joe Louis Arena in Detroit carrying around a teacup poodle named Rocket. Howe ranked among the top five in scoring for 20 straight seasons.

Gretzky would later break his records for goals, points, MVP trophies and scoring titles while wearing No. 99 in a tribute to Howe, who wore No. 9 during a lower-scoring era of the game. He finished his career in 1999 with 894 goals.

"I thought I had something they would never touch," Howe said. "But I knew when they started scoring 80 goals in a season I was in trouble."

Mark Messier reached 1,887 points in 2004 during his 25th NHL season and pushed Howe from second to third in the record books.

"I haven't celebrated coming in second too many times in my life," Messier said back then. "But I'll tell you, because of what Gordie has done, for us mere mortals who have played this game, being No. 2 is not so bad."

Howe, without a doubt, was most proud of his family. He raved about Colleen, whom he married in 1953. 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. She died in March 2009 at age 76 after battling Pick's disease, a rare form of dementia similar to Alzheimer's. Their children, Murray, Mark, Marty and Cathy, each took turns having him sleep at their houses for weeks or months at a time after their mother died.

Playing with his sons, though, was what Howe said he was most proud of from his career. "The fact that I had an opportunity to skate five years with them," Howe told The AP in 2011, "I think that's every father's dream."

opus · 06-10-2016, 01:17 PM

robyrob · 06-10-2016, 03:06 PM

a sad day

Mr Hockey

Sal · 06-10-2016, 11:40 PM

Today is a sad day in Canada as hockey fans all over the country pause to pay tribute to Gordie Howe, who was considered the greatest player of all time before Wayne Gretzky came along and broke most of his records except those for durability and longevity. He played for a long time because he never slowed down even at an advanced age when I would watch him play with the Hartford Whalers on an incredible forward line with fellow legends Bobby Hull and Dave Keon. The most impressive of his many achievements in my opinion might be the fact that he finished in the top 5 point scorers for 20 consecutive seasons. He was a great player but also a good person as well who took seriously his image as a role model for fans like Wayne Gretzky, who idolized him his entire life and first got to meet him when he was 11 years old and took a now-historic photo with him.

I have chosen these links below for you to read and watch as you learn about and commemorate the life and career of the man who will forever be known as "Mr Hockey":

Sportsnet

TSN

NHL

Detroit Red Wings

Detroit Free Press

Hockey Hall Of Fame

Legends Of Hockey

NHL All Star Game 1980

opus · 06-11-2016, 11:21 PM

Anyone remember this Simpsons ep?

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Marvo301 · 06-12-2016, 06:40 PM

We will not soon see his like again. Not only was Gordie Howe one of the greatest players of all time but off the ice he was the greatest ambassador the game of hockey has ever had or ever will have.

Gordie Howe

TMC · 06-17-2016, 04:06 AM

Back in 1978, Gordie Howe got the PR director of the Whalers fired and the word at the time was his wife Colleen was responsible. The PR person also was working for the Howe family and Colleen thought she could handle the Whalers PR better.

So the fired PR guy and his son starting thinking about setting up the Connecticut Sports Network and they did.

The PR guy was Bill Rasmussen and the Connecticut Sports Network?????

Dianne3 · 06-27-2016, 06:29 PM

I missed this thread when I was on here last.

I watched some on the funeral. His son the doctor gave an eloquent eulogy.

06-10-2016, 12:14 PM	#1
Zoneboy RIP, I'LL NEVER FORGET YOU :( Moderator Forum Superstar Join Date: Jul 13, 2003 Location: AT HOME WISHING ALL THIS WAS JUST A DREAM AND THAT I'LL WAKE UP FROM THIS NIGHTMARE. Posts: 34,498	Detroit Red Wings Hockey Legend Gordie Howe (1928-2016) Link 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. The man forever known as "Mr. Hockey" was 88. Son Murray Howe confirmed the death Friday, texting to The Associated Press: "Mr Hockey left peacefully, beautifully, and w no regrets." Howe shattered records, threw elbows and helped the Detroit Red Wings win four Stanley Cups, becoming an idol to Wayne Gretzky and countless other Canadians while also helping the sport attract American fans. His final NHL season came at age 52 when Gretzky was a rookie — a fitting symmetry since Howe was the league's most prolific scorer until the "Great One" broke his career marks for goals and points. With finesse and a heavy dose of grit, the Hockey Hall of Famer set NHL marks with 801 goals and 1,850 points — mostly with the Red Wings — that held up until Gretzky came along. Howe was also so famously fierce that a "Gordie Howe Hat Trick" became synonymous with the combination of having a goal, an assist and a fight in one game. Howe suffered a stroke in late October 2014 while at his daughter's home in Lubbock, Texas, losing some function on the right side of his body. He suffered another stroke a short time later and family members said chronic back pain, advanced stages of dementia and high blood pressure were taking a toll. The body Howe relied on as an athlete stayed relative strong, but memory loss became a problem that family members noticed before the death of their mother, Colleen, in 2009. Howe was a giant of the game and no list of the NHL's greatest players has him anywhere but near the top alongside players like Bobby Orr, Maurice Richard, Mario Lemieux, Guy Lafleur, Bobby Hull and Gretzky. Like few others, Howe's impact on the game stretched over decades. Besides the four Cups, the talented right winger won six Hart Trophies as NHL MVP and six Ross Trophies as the league's top scorer. Howe began playing for the Red Wings in 1946, leading them to seven straight first-place finishes in the regular season. He was a part of what was known as "The Production Line" with fellow future Hall of Famers Ted Lindsay and Sid Abel during his 25-year run with the franchise. "When Gordie came into the NHL, hockey was a Canadian game. He converted it into a North American game," former NHL President Clarence Campbell said when Howe retired the first time in 1971 because he was playing with arthritis in his left wrist and for a last-place team. Howe's wife orchestrated a plan to get "Mr. Hockey" back on the ice two years later. She helped him live his dream of playing professional hockey with his sons, Mark and Marty, in the World Hockey Association. And at the age of 45, Howe still had it. He scored 31 goals and had 69 assists, was named MVP of the NHL's rival league and led the Aeros to the 1973 WHA title — a run that was the focus of a movie: "Mr. Hockey: The Gordie Howe Story." Howe had 41 points for the Hartford Whalers during the 1979-80 season in what was his 26th and final year in the NHL. When Howe finally retired for good from the NHL, he was 52. And with a single shift with the Detroit Vipers in the International Hockey League in 1997, he played professionally in a sixth decade at the age of 69. He referred to his play as "poetry in slow motion" late in his career, a far cry from his score-and-smash style in his 20s, 30s and early 40s. Of course, Howe's prowess in scoring was matched by his skill with the rough stuff. Unlike anyone in quite the same way, Howe handled his business with his elbows and fists almost as often as he did with wrist and slap shots. He ranked among the NHL leaders in penalties minutes three times, spending 100-plus minutes in the penalty box during those seasons. When he resumed playing as a parent with sons on the same sheet of ice, opponents often found out not to mess with his boys. "If I can skate, I'll get even," Howe once said. Howe needed more than 400 stitches to close cuts, lost several teeth, broke ribs and nose. He had a serious head injury in 1950 that led to emergency surgery to relieve pressure on his brain. Despite the blood and broken bones, he didn't miss many games during his NHL-record, 1,767-game career and played in all 80 during his final season that ended after his 52nd birthday. "You've got to love what you're doing," Howe once said. "If you love it, you can overcome any handicap or the soreness or all the aches and pains, and continue to play for a long, long time." Mark Howe said his father was "the toughest, meanest guy I've ever seen on a pair of skates," and that's why he was able to play for decades. "No one in their right mind ever wanted to tangle with him," Lindsay has said. "Gordie had a lethal pair of elbows, was strong as a moose and knew every angle." Gordon Howe was born March 31, 1928, in tiny Floral, Saskatchewan, and raised in nearby on the Canadian prairie in Saskatoon. His father was a laborer and Howe pitched in early, growing strong with the work. "He was born in a barn and the house he grew up in was no bigger than a garage," Mark Howe said. "They had nothing, like many people during the Depression. Someone was going door to door, selling bags of stuff for $1 and in one of those bags, dad got his first pair of skates." Howe left as a teenager to pursue a career in hockey. Howe made his NHL debut for the Red Wings at the age of 18. In Howe's second season, he was an All-Star for the first of a record 23 times. "Finally, I saved enough to buy my mom and dad a brand new home — with running water," he once recalled. "I think that's the biggest thing I ever achieved. That's what I wanted, and I saved my money to buy it." Howe was 6 feet tall and weighed 205 pounds during his career, making him bigger than post of his peers. His ability to skate, shoot and pass made him a threat to make plays every time he had the puck. No one, according to Hall of Fame coach Scotty Bowman, was quite on par with Howe's style of play that led to a lot of points and punches. "He could fight, intimidate, play offensively," Bowman recalled. Howe surpassed Richard's NHL record of 544 goals in 1963 and after the turn of the century, the humorous Howe would walk around Joe Louis Arena in Detroit carrying around a teacup poodle named Rocket. Howe ranked among the top five in scoring for 20 straight seasons. Gretzky would later break his records for goals, points, MVP trophies and scoring titles while wearing No. 99 in a tribute to Howe, who wore No. 9 during a lower-scoring era of the game. He finished his career in 1999 with 894 goals. "I thought I had something they would never touch," Howe said. "But I knew when they started scoring 80 goals in a season I was in trouble." Mark Messier reached 1,887 points in 2004 during his 25th NHL season and pushed Howe from second to third in the record books. "I haven't celebrated coming in second too many times in my life," Messier said back then. "But I'll tell you, because of what Gordie has done, for us mere mortals who have played this game, being No. 2 is not so bad." Howe, without a doubt, was most proud of his family. He raved about Colleen, whom he married in 1953. 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. She died in March 2009 at age 76 after battling Pick's disease, a rare form of dementia similar to Alzheimer's. Their children, Murray, Mark, Marty and Cathy, each took turns having him sleep at their houses for weeks or months at a time after their mother died. Playing with his sons, though, was what Howe said he was most proud of from his career. "The fact that I had an opportunity to skate five years with them," Howe told The AP in 2011, "I think that's every father's dream."
	__________________ 'Twas The Night Before Christmas And All Through The Full House Not A Creature Was Stirring, Not Even Mighty Mouse. All My Children We're Nestled All Snug In Their Beds While Visions Of Sugarbakers Danced In Their Heads. Last edited by Zoneboy; 06-10-2016 at 01:22 PM.

06-10-2016, 03:06 PM	#3
robyrob certified wackball#3 Moderator Forum Icon Join Date: Aug 03, 2003 Location: hiding under the third booth at Arnold's Posts: 58,217	a sad day Mr Hockey
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06-10-2016, 11:40 PM	#4
Sal Member Forum Veteran Join Date: Jul 20, 2001 Location: Oakville, Ont. Canada Posts: 6,222	Today is a sad day in Canada as hockey fans all over the country pause to pay tribute to Gordie Howe, who was considered the greatest player of all time before Wayne Gretzky came along and broke most of his records except those for durability and longevity. He played for a long time because he never slowed down even at an advanced age when I would watch him play with the Hartford Whalers on an incredible forward line with fellow legends Bobby Hull and Dave Keon. The most impressive of his many achievements in my opinion might be the fact that he finished in the top 5 point scorers for 20 consecutive seasons. He was a great player but also a good person as well who took seriously his image as a role model for fans like Wayne Gretzky, who idolized him his entire life and first got to meet him when he was 11 years old and took a now-historic photo with him. I have chosen these links below for you to read and watch as you learn about and commemorate the life and career of the man who will forever be known as "Mr Hockey": Sportsnet TSN NHL Detroit Red Wings Detroit Free Press Hockey Hall Of Fame Legends Of Hockey NHL All Star Game 1980
	__________________ LIVE TV - Updated August 2026 ANTENNA TV Catchy Comedy ME TV ME TV+ ME TV Toons FETV PLUTO TV - Classic TV Comedy PLUTO TV - Classic TV Families PLUTO TV - Classic TV Variety

06-12-2016, 06:40 PM	#6
Marvo301 I'm NOT a Blockhead! Forum Celebrity Join Date: May 17, 2002 Location: The Great White North Posts: 21,460	We will not soon see his like again. Not only was Gordie Howe one of the greatest players of all time but off the ice he was the greatest ambassador the game of hockey has ever had or ever will have. Gordie Howe
	__________________ Only a life lived for others is worth living. Albert Einstein A life isn't worth living unless it has impact on other lives. Jackie Robinson Be always at war with your vices, at peace with your neighbors, and let each new year find you a better man. Benjamin Franklin

06-17-2016, 04:06 AM	#7
TMC Member Forum Idol Join Date: Jan 09, 2001 Posts: 127,432	Gordie Howe indirectly caused ESPN to be born in 1979 Back in 1978, Gordie Howe got the PR director of the Whalers fired and the word at the time was his wife Colleen was responsible. The PR person also was working for the Howe family and Colleen thought she could handle the Whalers PR better. So the fired PR guy and his son starting thinking about setting up the Connecticut Sports Network and they did. The PR guy was Bill Rasmussen and the Connecticut Sports Network?????

06-10-2016, 01:17 PM	#2
opus VB Forum Superstar Join Date: May 16, 2015 Location: VB Galaxy Posts: 32,821

06-11-2016, 11:21 PM	#5
opus VB Forum Superstar Join Date: May 16, 2015 Location: VB Galaxy Posts: 32,821	Anyone remember this Simpsons ep?

06-27-2016, 06:29 PM	#8
Dianne3 Member Senior Member Join Date: Aug 07, 2002 Posts: 1,061	I missed this thread when I was on here last. I watched some on the funeral. His son the doctor gave an eloquent eulogy.