Height: 6-0
Weight: 205
Shoot: R
Born: 31 Mar 1928, Floral SK (d. 2016)
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Regular Season & Playoff Scoring Record (key)
| year | team | |||||||||||
| 1973-74 | Houston | |||||||||||
| 1974-75 | Houston | |||||||||||
| 1975-76 | Houston | |||||||||||
| 1976-77 | Houston | |||||||||||
| 1977-78 | New England | |||||||||||
| 1978-79 | New England | |||||||||||
| Totals: |
• Father of Marty Howe and Mark Howe.
• Winner, Gary Davidson Trophy (Most Valuable Player), 1973-74.
• Member, Hockey Hall of Fame.
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Excerpts from Pro Hockey, WHA 1975-76 (by Dan Proudfoot)
The best indication of Gordie Howe's ability, at the age of 47, is that folks still don't want him to quit. "Gordie, you got 99 points last year," they'll say. "Why hang the skates up?" Or, "Gordie, why don't you hang in there and play when you're 50. Think how great you'd make the middle-aged fans feel." Howe only shakes his head and blinks, as is his custom. In 27 years of professionnal hockey he scored 851 goals and, 1,157 assists for a total of 2,008 points. He owns too many records to remember. "Last year was tough enough," he says. "At my age I got stiff so easily. I had to skate every day. Coach (Bill) Dineen would tell me to take a day off and I''d show up anyway and people would say it was a wonderful thing for an old fellow like Howe to insist on practicing — but I was only there because if I stopped for a day I'd seize right up." So this year Gordie Howe has decided to retire for sure. He decided to play in the opening game of Houston's new Summit Arena, but no more. "I'll go to training camp," he says. "I'll lose some weight. I have to have two wardrobes, you know, summer and winter, so I'll get rid of some baby fat to get back into my winter clothes... and then I'll play the one game and that'll be it." Howe's second planned retirement comes under far happier circumstances than his first, when an arthritic wrist forced him out of Detroit Red Wing uniform in 1971. Wings made him a vice-president, in charge of nothing at all. Houston Aeros, on the other hand, have named Howe president. "Last time I had nothing to do," said Howe, "this time, I can't stop going. There's too much." Aeros coaxed Howe out of retirement in 1973, when they signed his two sons, Mark and Marty. It had been Howe's dream to play professionally with his sons, and they turned out to be a highly successful combination. Together they were part of two WHA Avco World Trophy championship teams, together they played for Team Canada in the 1974 series against the Soviet Union Nationals. And now, with his playing days apparently over, Aeros want to take advantage of the game's greatest name. Howe certainly has ideas and energy to put to use: one of his first moves was to hire additional staff to promote the Aeros in Houston. "Ihere was zero promotion," he says. "You know, many people in Texas don't know anything about hockey. But get them into the arena two or three times and they're hooked." Howe also concentrated on signing goaltender Ron Grahame, the best in the WHA, who was pursued by the NHL Boston Bruins. "Ron is a loyal guy," said Howe. "Most people don't realize how deep are the feelings that run through a team, and Ron is close with his teammates here. The team feelings, I might add, are what make it so extremely difficult to retire." Ben Hatskin, chief executive officer of the WHA, announced April 4, 1975, that an award had been established in Howe's name, to be presented to the most valuable player of the playoffs each year. The first winner, ironically, was Ron Grahame of the Houston Aeros. |
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Excerpts from Pro Hockey, WHA 1976-77 (by Dan Proudfoot)
Gordie Howe, now 48, supposedly retired in the autumn of 1975, just as he supposedly retired in 1971. But he played the opening game of The Summit, Houston's beautiful new facility, and then just kept on going. Why should he quit now? He still scores at better than a point-per-game pace, and there's tremendous pressure on him to continue until he gets his 1,000th goal. ... Howe scored his first NHL goal on Oct. 16, 1946, at which time more than two-thirds of the present WHA players hadn't been born. But Gordie's still accepted as one of the boys, thanks to his puckish sense of humour and to his incredible ability. At any rate, Howe can't quit as long as he's enjoying as many career firsts as developed in 1975-76. He scored his first over-time goal, he played with his sons Mark and Marty in an all-star game for the first time, and he was suspended for the first time, after shoving a referee. Of course, he also became the first playing team president in hockey history. An opposing coach wondered out loud if Gordie might be getting a little too old. "I have great respect for Gordie Howe," said Bobby Kromm of the Winnipeg Jets, "but he makes a lot of mistakes. He makes mistakes he didn't make two years ago. Of course, you must remember, he's 48 years old." It must also be remembered that Howe, no matter how old, led his team in scoring in 1975-76. Incredible. |
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Excerpts from Zander Hollander's Guide to Pro Hockey, 1978-79 (by Reyn Davis)
Hockey's most amazing individual ... Born to play hockey, he's entering his 31st season ... Virtually monopolizes the game's records: most goals (941), most assists (1,333), most points (2,274) and most regular season games (2,048) ... Scored his 1,000th career goals (playoffs and regular season) at 1:36 of the first period on December 7, 1977, in Birmingham against John Garrett, on assists from John McKenzie and Mike Antonovich with the Bulls' Paul Henderson in the penalty box ... In 25 seasons with the Detroit Red Wings, he set 11 NHL records, winning the Hart Memorial Trophy (MVP) 5 times and the Art Ross Trophy (scoring championship) on 6 occasions ... A teammate of two of his sons, Marty and Mark ... Led the Whalers in goals (34), assists (62) and points (96) nad had the team's highest efficiency rating (+46) last season ... A legend wherever hockey is played ... Relaxes by whipping crossword puzzles ... Loves to go fishing, especially on deep seas and enjoys golf ... A friend of presidents ... A warm personality and a deep humility grace his character |
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