Thank You Gordie Howe, Farewell but Never Forgotten

On June 10th, 2016, the same day as the legendary Muhammad Ali’s funeral, another legendary sport’s icon but from the hockey world, “Mr. Hockey” himself, Gordie Howe, passed away peacefully at his son Murray’s home in Sylvania, OH. He was 88.

Before there was Wayne Gretzky, Mario Lemieux and Bobby Orr, there was Gordie Howe. Born in Floral, Saskatchewan, Canada, his family moved to Saskatoon, SK shortly after. At 16-years old, after years of playing hockey since the age of 8 and working construction with his father during the summers, Howe left home to pursue his lifelong dream of becoming a professional hockey player.  In 1944, Howe was discovered by the Detroit Red Wings organization and they assigned him to their junior team, the Galt Red Wings in Galt (now Cambridge), Ontario, (aka my hometown) where he barely played but lived and worked there for a year… but more on that later.

In 1946, Howe made his NHL debut for the Detroit Red Wings which began the legendary professional journey of his career. Strong, tough and fearless, Howe scored, fought and elbowed his way into stardom and the NHL record book. He won 4 Stanley Cups (all with Detroit), 6 Hart Trophies for Most Valuable Player, 6 Art Ross Trophies for most points in a season and made 23 All-Star game appearances (which is still a record).

Howe was feared but respected by his peers on that ice, a respect that was earned by a delivery of a message with one of his powerful elbows. Elbows that were powerful enough to destroy a nose or jaw. Many players learned the hard way, the very hard way that Gordie was not to be messed with and he liked to have some space when he had the puck.  With teammates Ted Lindsay and Sid Abel, they formed the original “Production line” that swept the NHL with their scoring and physical prowess that led the franchise to two Stanley Cup victories in 1950 & 1952.

After Abel was traded to the Chicago Blackhawks, Alex Delvecchio replaced him at center and the line was re-dubbed the “Production Line II.” They won back to back Stanley Cups in 1954 & 1955. Howe ranked among the top ten in league scoring for 21 consecutive years, and set an NHL league record for most points in a season with 95 in 1953.  Howe also had some legendary feuds, such as against Maurice “Rocket” Richard of the Montreal Canadiens in a battle for NHL supremacy, or against the Toronto Maple Leaf’s Ted Kennedy in a physical war over territory.

He was also famously known for scoring a goal, getting an assist and getting into a fight, all in the same game.  This is now well known around the world as the “Gordie Howe hat-trick.” Though hockey legend has it that Howe only accomplished that feat twice in his entire career. Now that’s power and influence.

In 1971, he retired from the NHL but later signed on with the rival World Hockey Association, where he got to win back to back WHA Avco World Trophy victories (both with the Houston Aeros), and got to play with both of his sons Marty & Mark Howe in both Houston and New England. Howe entered the hallowed halls of the prestigious Hockey Hall of Fame in 1972.

When the WHA folded and what was left merged into the NHL for the 1979-80 season, Mr. Hockey (along with his sons), got to play one more season in the league that he had called home for so long. The New England Whalers became the Hartford Whalers and Howe finished his professional career at the ripe age of 52, finishing with the NHL all-time scoring records of 801 career goals, 1,049 career assists and 1,850 career points.  His NHL playoff numbers were 68 career goals, 92 assists and 160 points.  To add to his professional numbers, Gordie Howe also achieved 174 goals and 508 points in the WHA, along with another 28 goals and 71 points in the WHA playoffs. He became the greatest scorer of all-time and many thought these scoring records would never be broken.

Many were influenced by Detroit’s dominant number 9 but one person stood out and he ended up becoming the one that broke Howe’s scoring records. It was only fitting that the one that became known as “The Great One,” Wayne Gretzky, who grew up idolizing Gordie Howe and his Detroit Red Wings as a child, and would wear Howe’s number 9 Red Wings jersey, (which was his favorite gift ever for Christmas) or whenever he played hockey (at the rink, pond, school or backyard rink) in full tribute to his hero, (that is until Wayne got drafted into the Ontario Hockey League by the Sault Ste. Marie Greyhounds and wasn’t allowed to wear #9 for that team due to another teammate already having claimed it. Coach Muzz MacPherson then suggested the No. 99 for Wayne to use and you know the rest), be the one to take the iconic torch from Mr. Hockey’s giving hand.

Gretzky idolized Howe to such an extent that he even wanted his hair-cuts to mimic Mr. Hockey’s. At a sport’s banquet when Gretzky was 10, he got to meet his hero and idol and Wayne was pleasantly surprised to learn that despite Howe’s reputation as a tough and rugged type of player, he was a kind, humbled and soft spoken gentleman outside of the rink. The picture they took together that day has itself become iconic.

In time, Gretzky got to even play with and against Howe in the final year of the WHA, and then again during the 1979-80 NHL season and that year’s All-Star game.

In time they became great friends, and Howe became a mentor to Wayne in life as he was as a hockey player to Wayne while he was growing up. When the time came for Gretzky to break Howe’s NHL all-time scoring records, (while as a Los Angeles King), no one was a bigger supporter of Wayne’s achievements than Howe himself. Mr.Hockey was a class act in every way. On October 15, 1989 while facing his former team the Edmonton Oilers, and with Gordie Howe present, Gretzky scored and broke Howe’s all-time NHL regular season points record with his 1,851st point and Howe was there to congratulate him.

https://youtu.be/n6YQRDp5588

(Fast forward to around the 6:30 mark for Howe’s touching speech about Gretzky and his achievement. Howe should also be called, “Mr. Classy.”)

In 1994, (and still with the LA Kings), Gretzky broke Howe’s all-time regular season goals record with his 802nd.  Gordie was not able to make that trip but according to legend, he called Wayne that night to congratulate him again.  They remained close friends to the very end.

In 1997, Howe played one more professional hockey game with the Detroit Vipers of the International Hockey League at the age of 69, which made him the only player in hockey history to have played in six different decades from the 1940’s to the ‘1990s. A record that still stands, (Wayne never even came close to that one).  One of Gordie’s teammates on the Vipers was future LA King Derek “Army” Armstrong.  In an interview I recently did with “Army,” here is what he had to say about Gordie Howe coming back from retirement to play one more game.

“It’s a pretty cool story. I remember the way he prepared for the game. He was coming into play the whole game, you know he didn’t want to come in and just play a shift. He actually played the first shift and we were asked to play the “left wing lock,” we were playing the “left wing lock” and that system. He ended up getting beat up on the face-off and he almost got a breakaway but the ref blowed it down. That breakaway was called offside but I think it was pretty close to not being offside. Then he went down (played his shift), stayed out for another 20 seconds, he went down. Then one of the defensemen shot the puck and it hit him in the pants and was almost deflected into the net, so it was pretty cool that he almost scored. Then he sat on the bench and he was hoping to play some more shifts but I don’t think the coach put him in for another shift. He was a very competitive guy, very passionate person. Obviously a huge figure in the sport of hockey. Just seeing him sitting down there, seeing his presence and even seeing his professionalism. You know he went through the team, even got work done on him, he was ready to go even though he was a little bit older at that time. His professionalism and dedication to the game was pretty incredible. I think I was 23 and I was watching him thinking, “Holy smoke, this is crazy!”

Original LA Kings’ Captain Bob Wall also idolized Gordie Howe when he was growing up and even got to play with him for a few years during the last days of the “Original Six” era. He told me this when I interviewed him last year,

“Jeff, as a youngster I loved hockey.  I didn’t start playing organized hockey until I was 12 years old.  Then I only played a few games but then I played in 3 organized leagues, one year of bantam and 2 years of midget and then I was drafted into Junior A.  The Detroit Red Wings were my favorite.  Gordie Howe was my idol and even to this day he still is my idol.  I was drafted by Hamilton (for Junior A) and at the time they were the Hamilton Tiger Cubs and they were the junior franchise of the Detroit Red Wings and I thought, “Wow, what an experience this is!”

After the loss of his best friend, business partner and the love of his life, his wife Colleen in 2009 at the age of 76, Howe battled with dementia and strokes before finally passing away. He was a fighter to the end. After learning of the news, the hockey world was saddened by the loss of one of it’s heroes, inspirations and ambassadors but celebrated the life and career that Gordie had by retelling many amazing stories of experiences that many other legends of hockey have had with him throughout the years.

On Tuesday, June 14th at the current home of the Detroit Red Wings, Joe Louis Arena, Howe’s family agreed to hold the public visitations there where Mr.Hockey would be laid to rest underneath his retired number 9 banner and surrounded by his four Stanley Cup winning banners and other items so the fans could also have a chance to say good-bye. His family was there, including his sons Marty, Mark and Murray, daughters and grandchildren.  The pallbearers included Gretzky and Red Wing Legend and current Tampa Bay Lightning GM Steve Yzerman, legendary coach Scotty Bowman and current Detroit GM Ken Holland was there as well, (but I didn’t see any of them as they were behind the scenes with members of Howe’s family.  I learned later on that Gretzky and Yzerman spent the entire day there with the family). The service was open to the public from 9 am to 9 pm and entrance into the arena and nearby parking was made free for everyone.  I made the journey all the way to Detroit for the wake to pay my respects to Mr. Hockey in person and thank him for everything he contributed to my beloved sport of hockey … and to my hometown of Galt/Cambridge, ON.

Remember when I mentioned that he played and lived here in my hometown of Galt/Cambridge, Ontario as a junior? Well I was too young to witness Gordie Howe playing in the NHL (though I do remember the IHL game), but as a fanatic of the sport of hockey and Wayne Gretzky, I learned as much as I possibly could about Gretzky’s idol and the man whose records he was breaking. In time I learned that my own hometown had a brief but fun history with Gordie Howe, as he was sent here by the Detroit Red Wings to play with their junior A club, the Galt Red Wings for the 1944-45 season.  The Wings played at the (now legendary for being the oldest hockey arena that is still operational in the entire world today), Galt Arena Gardens.  A place and part of town that I became very familiar with as I grew up.

 

I learned that Howe didn’t get to play much for the Wings due to the team having already signed too many players from western Canada, which meant that the league wasn’t allowing Howe to play any regular season games.  He was stuck to just playing the exhibition games and participating in practice, (though due to a loophole, he did get to play one regular season game against Hamilton in November of 1944).  Still Howe had a great attitude about the experience, learned what he could from his teammates and former NHL player and Galt Red Wings’ head coach Al Murray (who famously lived on the same street as the arena) and he enjoyed his year in Galt. So much so that years later, he would return every once in awhile to visit the old Gardens every now and then, (like in 1999 and 2000 when I was working and couldn’t go to either of his meet and greets! DOH! Trust me, I regret that!), and speak fondly of his time in Cambridge.

I even found out, (which was confirmed by author David Menary, in his great historical book, “Gordie Howe, A Year in Galt,”) Howe even ate hot-dogs at a certain house across the street from the arena, that had a large open window from the basement, where the owner would sell hot-dogs to the players and fans during intermissions of the games. I learned about this house years ago when I started dating my girlfriend Theresa back in high school. She would later become my wife, but I fondly remember when one day her father took me down to their basement, for what I assumed would be the end of me or at least the old, “Take care of my daughter or I will … ” speech, but instead he told me the story about the previous owners of their house, selling hot-dogs to players and fans during the games back in the day, and showed me the indents on the far wall in the foundation of the house to where that large window used to be. That’s right, my wife Theresa was raised in a house where Gordie Howe and later Terry Sawchuk (who played in Galt a year later and would go on to play with Gordie in Detroit and eventually become the first number one/starting goaltender of the LA Kings franchise), would eat hot-dogs in! (Is that cool or what?!?!? Of course my future father and mother-in-law didn’t buy the house until decades after this happened and after the basement had been renovated and the window was removed in place of concrete but it is still an awesome story).

Before I left for Detroit for Gordie Howe’s wake, I paid tribute to Mr. Hockey by walking the footsteps that he had walked, many decades before. I started at the old Canadian Pacific Railway Train Station, where Gordie and other players were dropped off and introduced to Galt, Ontario.

Legend has it, that as soon as Howe stepped out of the train, he immediately walked down the train tracks and stepped into the first factory he saw and applied for a job so that’s where I headed down to. That factory was the old Galt Art Metal/Galt Metal Industries on Dundas Road. An area that I’ve walked and driven by a billion times, (and twice where I got a speeding ticket). Since 1944-45 was the last year of World War II, (but they didn’t know that at the time), Howe and others were tasked with the manufacturing of components for the Mosquito bombers, tiny exploder caps, bomb noses and bomb tails for mortar shells for the allied war effort.

I then followed the tracks, (but not all the way since I didn’t want to get hurt as the trains still go by there frequently, so I took the nearby sidewalk instead) to a place that I used to work at, Galt Collegiate Institute, where Howe was supposed to attend high school while he played.  He decided to work instead and spent little time here but I payed homage to it just the same.

Then my walk ended at the good old Galt Arena Gardens and I got back in my car and drove the 3 and a half hour trip to Detroit, (which passes by Jake Muzzin‘s hometown of Woodstock, ON and Drew Doughty‘s and Jeff Carter‘s hometown of London, ON). The drive was easy and in no time I arrived to Joe Louis Arena.

I got in line with hundreds of other fans and entered a side entrance into the arena. Before I knew it, I was on the ice, (but without the actual ice as they took the ice out for the summer). We were only allowed to take photos from afar and nowhere near the casket which was more than fine and something everyone respected.  Slowly we walked up the where Mr. Hockey was laying and I shook the hands of his sons Murray and Mark, who were greeting and thanking everyone for attending.

I gave them my condolences before Mark, himself a hockey hall of famer like his father, thanked me for coming and then asked me where I was from? I answered Cambridge, ON and he responded with, “Galt! Oh yes, that’s where my father’s career started after he left Saskatchewan.” I respectfully nodded while answering, “Yes sir.” He patted me on the shoulder and thanked me again for coming all this way and that it meant a lot to him and his family.  This touched me greatly. Here is a man and his family, grieving over the loss of their father, grandfather and yet they were still going out of their way to thank each and every person for coming.  Which is what would normally happen during a regular wake but this one was scheduled to be 12 hours long and started back at 9 am!  It was about 2 pm by the time I got there!  Respect to the Howe family. It reminded me of all the stories of how polite and good mannered Gordie was off the ice.  He taught his sons very well because that must have been mentally and physically exhausting for them to do that while mourning. I then made my way up to Gordie Howe and his casket, said a prayer and thanked him for all of his contributions to the amazing sport of hockey… and for always speaking kindly of my hometown. I then hoped that he rested in peace and in paradise and with power. He was a true legend. 

I was then led to some long tables that were displaying items from Gordie’s career, such as two cotton sweater jerseys that Howe wore with the Detroit Red Wings during his prime, his hockey gloves and stick, a trophy he won for most goals in the NHL decades before the Rocket Richard trophy was created, jerseys that all three Howe men wore with the Houston Aeros, amongst other wonderful things.

I was then escorted up the stairs where the seats are, where I could take pictures again. After saying one more thank you and then good-bye, I left the seating area and headed towards the hallway where the Gordie Howe statue was, right in between the statues of his “Production line” mates, Ted Lindsay and Sid Abel. Some fans even laid flowers by his statue in a heartfelt touch.

I then exited the arena and noticed that hundreds and hundreds of more people of all ages, and from around the world were still arriving to also pay their respects. It’s truly unbelievable and heartwarming to know that one person meant so much to so many different people. I walked down the long flight of stairs that are located at the main entrance of Joe Louis Arena and I noticed these white walls with signatures on them.  They were large posters that were placed along the outside walls of the arena so fans could write their names and where they were from on there.

From what I could see and tell, I estimated that there was already thousands of signatures on those posters, with still thousands of more fans still to come. A staff member of the arena handed me a marker and found a spot on the wall for me so I could write my name down.  I did but just before I wrote Cambridge on it, I decided to write the name that Gordie was more familiar with.

Gordie Howe was a beloved, respected and feared hockey player. He was an ambassador to the sport of hockey.  He was a loved husband, father and grandfather.  He was an idol and an icon to millions.  I never met Gordie Howe when he was alive but I always admired and respected him and his career.  What started to me as Gordie being the guy that Wayne Gretzky looked up to, became someone that I would look up to as well. Finding out that he had a history in my little hometown brings me a lot of honor and pride. As I mentioned before, I wasn’t able to meet Mr. Hockey in person when he visited Cambridge (what turned out to be many times), and me driving all the way to Detroit to pay my respects was the least I could do to honor a man that had nothing but honor.  Thank you Gordie Howe, and not just for everything you did while playing on an icy surface, but thank you for being the man that you were in life.  Professional athletes of all sports today and people from all over the world should take note of and learn from your example.  You lived and breathed for the things that you loved the most, which was family, sport and life in general. I will try my best to do the same. Thank you and farewell Gordie Howe.  You were and are well loved and will never, ever be forgotten. You will forever be one of the greatest of hockey legends whose achievements, stories and legacy will go on forever. Rest in peace and in paradise now Mr. Hockey, as the third period has ended … and you won the game.

*This article is dedicated to the man, the myth and the legend, Gordie “Mr. Hockey” Howe.

** Special thanks to Mark & Murray Howe and the rest of the Howe family, the Detroit Red Wings organization, the wonderful staff at Joe Louis Arena, Mario Hicks, John Manery, Theresa Walsh-Duarte, Billy & Faye Walsh and Lynn Griggs & Dan Schmalz of the Cambridge Archives of the City of Cambridge, Ontario, for their wonderful help with helping me find the classic photos of the Galt that Gordie knew.

Stay with us at Calisportsnews.com as we will keep you up-to-date on all things hockey and the rest of the California sports teams! All Cali, All the time!

 

 

 

 

 

 

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2 Comments

1. 

   Faye Howell Walsh

   June 16, 2016 at 2:20 pm

   First of all, thank you mentioning our house and our names. Your article about Gordie Howe was very nice of you to do. Plus going to Detroit, to say respects and goodbye to “Mr. Hockey”.
   • 

     Jeff Duarte

     June 17, 2016 at 7:42 pm

     Thank you Faye and it was my pleasure!