Fans of hockey are not only familiar with the name of Gordie Howe, but most know just about everything about him. Howe overcame incredible odds to become a hockey legend and set an incredible number of records during his playing era.
Born in 1928 in the midst of the depression, Gordie was from a rather poor family in Saskatoon, Canada. A hard working father set a work ethic for Gordie, but the family’s bad financial condition left Gordie as an undernourished and often ill child. Awkward and often shy, he found it difficult to deal with other people. By the time he was five years old, he got his first pair of used ice skates and fell into a love of skating that would last his entire life.
Gordie began to grow and his size became clumsy and large. He had difficulty in practice with coordination, but practice he did. Howe used everything he could find to act as a hockey puck: clumps of dirt and tennis balls. It took him until he was twelve years old to perfect his skating techniques.
His summers were spent working in the construction field with his dad. It was hard and grueling work, but this developed Howe into a 6 foot, two hundred pound 15 year old. His size was much larger than an average hockey player of the time. He was given an invitation to the New York Rangers tryout camp without any success, but later joined the Detroit Red Wings where they were impressed enough to sign him on. By the time he was 17 he was in the minor league of the Red Wings and in the later first game of the major league, he added the new achievement to his name. Three seasons of consistency in scoring thirty five goals proved his worth and by 1949 Gordie was one of the top NHL score players.
Howe’s illustrious career almost came to a halt in 1950 when a playing accident caused a broken nose and cheekbone and a severe concussion and fractured skull. Serious surgery and a lengthy hospital stay couldn’t keep Gordie down. He was back on the ice in the next season and brought the team by leading in total points, assists and goals.
Gordie’s talent in the game brought an incredible array of honors: six time winner of the scoring title, six time title of the “Most Valuable Player” in the NHL, bringing the Detroit Red Wings the league title seven times, from 1949 through 1955 and four time playoff champions in the Stanley Cup. He was a hard player that elevated defensive playing on the ice as self-protection. Fellow players stayed out of his way as he played fast and hard.
Howe retired in 1971, making the decision to work in the front office. However, when two of his hockey playing sons joined the Houston Aeros in 1973, his long time dream of playing the game with his sons became a reality. He got himself into shape, scoring one hundred points, and bringing the team to the championship for the WHA. In his mid-forties, he won the team’s “Most Valuable Player” award.
Howe continued to play into 1977 and wrote his autobiography: “And…Howe! An Authorized Autobiography”. While he worked with a number of charities, he vowed he would play his last game in 1997. At the age of sixty-nine, Howe added one more accolade to his name: he was now known as the only hockey player to play in a total of more than six decades.