Gordie Howe

Gordon "Gordie" Howe, OC (born March 31, 1928 in Floral, Saskatchewan, Canada) is a Canadian hockey player who is often referred to as Mr. Hockey. He is generally regarded as the greatest right winger and one of the greatest players of all time.

Playing career

Howe made his NHL debut in 1946 at the age of 18, playing right wing for the Detroit Red Wings. He quickly established himself as a great goal scorer and a gifted playmaker. Using his great physical strength, he was able to dominate the opposition in a career that spanned five decades. In a feat unsurpassed by any athlete, in any sport, Gordie Howe finished in the top five in scoring for twenty straight seasons. It was said that a Gordie Howe hat trick was a goal, an assist, and a fight.

Howe led Detroit to four Stanley Cups and to first place in regular season play for seven consecutive years (1948-9 to 1955-6), a feat never equalled in NHL History. During this time Howe and his linemates, Sid Abel and Ted Lindsay were known collectively as "The Production Line", both for their scoring and as an allusion to Detroit auto factories. The Red Wings were consistently contenders throughout the 1950s and early 1960s but began to slump in the late 60s.

After twenty-five years, a chronic wrist problem forced him to retire, and he took a job in the Red Wings front office. However, a year later he was offered a contract to play with the Houston Aeros of the newly formed World Hockey Association, who had also signed his sons Mark and Marty to contracts. Dissatisfied with not having any meaningful influence in the Red Wings' office, he underwent an operation to improve his wrist and make a return to hockey possible, and he led his new team to consecutive championships. In 1974, at the age of 46, Howe was selected as the WHA's most valuable player.

When the WHA merged with the NHL in 1979, the 51-year-old Howe signed with the Hartford Whalers for one final season, competing in all 80 games of the schedule. Another milestone in a remarkable career was reached in 1997 when Howe played professional hockey in a sixth decade. He was signed to a one-game contract by the Detroit Vipers of the IHL and, almost 70 years old, made a stirring return to the ice for one shift.

His most productive seasons came during an era when scoring was difficult and checking was tight, yet Howe ranks third in NHL history with 1,850 total points, including 801 goals and 1,049 assists. Careerwise, when his goals and assists from both the NHL and the WHA regular seasons are combined, he ranks first in goals with 975. Howe would also become good friends with Wayne Gretzky, who had idolized Howe as a young player, and who would later break many of Howe's scoring records and milestones.

At the time of his retirement, Mr. Hockey's professional totals, including playoffs, for the NHL and WHA combined, were first. He finished with 2421 games played, 1,071 goals, 1,518 assists, and 2,589 points. Wayne Gretzky has since passed him in goals (1,072), assists (2,297), and points (3,369), but not games played (1,788). It is unlikely that anyone will surpass Howe's total professional games played. Mark Messier retired only 11 NHL games behind Howe at 1,756, but this is still a far cry from 2,421 total professional games.

Howe has been married to Colleen Joffa since April 15, 1953; two of their sons, Marty and Mark, were his teammates on the Houston Aeros and the Hartford Whalers. Colleen is the founder of the Detroit Junior Red Wings, the first junior hockey team in the U.S.

Awards

* Art Ross Memorial Trophy - 1951, 1952, 1953, 1954, 1957, 1963.
* Hart Memorial Trophy - 1952, 1953, 1957, 1958, 1960, 1963.
* Lester B. Patrick Award - 1967.
* Made an Officer of the Order of Canada in 1971.
* Inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame in 1972.
* Played in the NHL All-Star Game 23 times.
* Gary Davidson Trophy - 1974.
* Played in the WHA All-Star Game 2 times.

Career records

* Most NHL regular season goals: 801 (broken by Wayne Gretzky)
* Most NHL regular season points: 1,850 (broken by Gretzky and Mark Messier)
* Most NHL regular season and playoff goals: 869 (broken by Gretzky)
* Most NHL regular season and playoff points: 2,010 (broken by Gretzky and Messier)
* Most NHL & WHA regular season goals: 975
* Most NHL & WHA regular season points: 2,358 (broken by Gretzky)
* Most NHL & WHA regular season and playoff goals: 1,071 (broken by Gretzky)
* Most NHL & WHA regular season and playoff assists: 1,518 (broken by Gretzky)
* Most NHL & WHA regular season and playoff points: 2,589 (broken by Gretzky)
* Most NHL regular season games played: 1,767
* Most NHL regular season and playoff games played: 1,924 (broken by Messier)
* Most NHL & WHA regular season games played: 2,186
* Most NHL & WHA regular season and playoff games played: 2,421
* Most NHL seasons played: 26
* Most NHL & WHA seasons played: 32
* Most decades played in by a professional athlete (including one game in the IHL): 6 (1946-98)
* Most NHL regular season goals by a right winger: 801
* Most NHL regular season assists by a right winger: 1,049
* Most NHL regular season points by a right winger: 1,850
* 7th in NHL all-time regular season assists: 1,049

Career statistics

 
 
Regular Season
 
Playoffs

Season
Team
League
GP
G
A
Pts
PIM
GP
G
A
Pts
PIM

1945-46
Omaha Knights
USHL
51
22
26
48
53
6
2
1
3
15

1946-47
Detroit Red Wings
NHL
58
7
15
22
52
5
0
0
0
18

1947-48
Detroit Red Wings
NHL
60
16
28
44
63
10
1
1
2
11

1948-49
Detroit Red Wings
NHL
40
12
25
37
57
11
8
3
11
19

1949-50
Detroit Red Wings
NHL
70
35
33
68
69
1
0
0
0
7

1950-51
Detroit Red Wings
NHL
70
43
43
86
74
6
4
3
7
4

1951-52
Detroit Red Wings
NHL
70
47
39
86
78
8
2
5
7
2

1952-53
Detroit Red Wings
NHL
70
49
46
95
57
6
2
5
7
2

1953-54
Detroit Red Wings
NHL
70
33
48
81
109
12
4
5
9
31

1954-55
Detroit Red Wings
NHL
64
29
33
62
68
11
9
11
20
24

1955-56
Detroit Red Wings
NHL
70
38
41
79
100
10
3
9
12
8

1956-57
Detroit Red Wings
NHL
70
44
45
89
72
5
2
5
7
6

1957-58
Detroit Red Wings
NHL
64
33
44
77
40
4
1
1
2
0

1958-59
Detroit Red Wings
NHL
70
32
46
78
57
--
--
--
--
--

1959-60
Detroit Red Wings
NHL
70
28
45
73
46
6
1
5
6
4

1960-61
Detroit Red Wings
NHL
64
23
49
72
30
11
4
11
15
10

1961-62
Detroit Red Wings
NHL
70
33
44
77
54
--
--
--
--
--

1962-63
Detroit Red Wings
NHL
70
38
48
86
100
11
7
9
16
22

1963-64
Detroit Red Wings
NHL
69
26
47
73
70
14
9
10
19
16

1964-65
Detroit Red Wings
NHL
70
29
47
76
104
7
4
2
6
20

1965-66
Detroit Red Wings
NHL
70
29
46
75
83
12
4
6
10
12

1966-67
Detroit Red Wings
NHL
69
25
40
65
53
--
--
--
--
--

1967-68
Detroit Red Wings
NHL
74
39
43
82
53
--
--
--
--
--

1968-69
Detroit Red Wings
NHL
76
44
59
103
58
--
--
--
--
--

1969-70
Detroit Red Wings
NHL
76
31
40
71
58
4
2
0
2
2

1970-71
Detroit Red Wings
NHL
63
23
29
52
38
--
--
--
--
--

1973-74
Houston Aeros
WHA
70
31
69
100
46
13
3
14
17
34

1974-75
Houston Aeros
WHA
75
34
65
99
84
13
8
12
20
20

1975-76
Houston Aeros
WHA
78
32
70
102
76
17
4
8
12
31

1976-77
Houston Aeros
WHA
62
24
44
68
57
11
5
3
8
11

1977-78
New England Whalers
WHA
76
34
62
96
85
14
5
5
10
15

1978-79
New England Whalers
WHA
58
19
24
43
51
10
3
1
4
4

1979-80
Hartford Whalers
NHL
80
15
26
41
42
3
1
1
2
2

1997-98
Detroit Vipers
IHL
1
0
0
0
0
--
--
--
--
--

NHL Totals
1767
801
1049
1850
1685
157
68
92
160
220

WHA Totals
419
174
334
508
399
78
28
43
71
115

Trivia

* At the height of Howe's career, a ballad was penned by a songwriter named Bob Davies called, "Gordie Howe is the Greatest of Them All" For lyrics, see and scroll in http://www.root-1.co.il/sadduceeprintoutslyrics12.htm
*Bart Simpson used a picture of Howe as part of a practical joke he pulls on Mrs. Krabappel in The Simpsons episode "Bart the Lover." At the end of the episode, Howe's career statistics are displayed on the screen.
*Howe is a member of 11 different Halls of Fame.
*His name and nickname, "Mr. Hockey", as well as his wife's nickname as "Mrs. Hockey", are registered trademarks.
*His tough physical play also earned him the nickname "Mr. Elbows".
*His jersey is worn by the character Cameron Frye in Ferris Bueller's Day Off.
*The last active player to have played during the 1940s and the 1950s.
*The only person in hockey history to compete in 5 different decades at the professional level (e.g. NHL and WHA; 1940s-1980s)
* There is a Statue of Gordie Howe in downtown Saskatoon, SK on the corner of 20th Street and 1st Ave and He is wearing a Detroit Red Wings Sweater
*Gordie Howe has never actually recorded a "Gordie Howe Hat-trick", even though the hat-trick, which requires a player to score an goal, an assist, and win a fight in one game, is named after him.

See also

* Gordie Howe hat trick
* List of NHL players
* List of NHL statistical leaders
* List of NHL seasons
* Hockey Hall of Fame
* List of members of the Hockey Hall of Fame
* Power forward (ice hockey)
* Notable families in the NHL
* List of NHL players with 1000 points

*Order of Canada Citation



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The Wikipedia article is licensed under http://www.gnu.org/copyleft/fdl.html and uses material from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gordie_Howe. A preview of this article is available at http://www.blinkbits.com/en_wikifeeds/Gordie_Howe.