The Legend Gordie Howe

In my quest to learn more about sports history, I knew I wanted to learn more about professional hockey history. After all, I live less than 20 miles from the shores of our neighbors to the north, where the game is king. I figured a person to start my research exposes on had to be Mr. Hockey himself, Gordie Howe.

Mr Hockey, Gordie Howe had an amazingly long and productive career spanning 34 seasons, ranging from 1946 all the way to 1980. Think about that...it was from just when WWII ended and black and white TV was starting to come into its own all the way to when MTV hit the airwaves! During that period, he was part of four Stanley Cup Championships with the Detroit Red Wings, took home six Hart Memorial Trophies as the NHL’s most valuable player, and was awarded a half dozen Art Ross Trophies as the league’s highest scorer. Those are only part of the story of this great skater’s career. Its the little stories within the storied career I find most interesting. The Hockey News  website

After his equipment was misplaced before a game, Howe was in a pickle to have the necessary gear he so he could play. He went to all of his tammates and collected ectra items to piece together a uniform. One thing that he could get on loa was a jockstrap. Wanting to protect the nuggets, Howe grabbed the ashtray from the locker room, stuffed it in his underwear, and was good to go. Great story of many on the Bro Bible website.

In his Hockey Hall of Fame bio, there was a pretty cool exchange described with a stud goal tender named Adams:
“The ambidextrous Howe drew Adams’ attention from the start with a sizzling rush down the left-wing and a sharp shot. The next minute he escaped down the right-wing, switched his stick to the other side, and still with a forehand zipped another shot at the goal.”

The  Hockey News Website  revelas some awesome tales of Howe in junior hockey blowing off signing up for classes at a local high school and getting a job fabricating steel items for the World War II efforts.

This one is also from the Bro Bible Website: Rookies in all sports put up with a good amount of torture at the hands of their veteran counterparts. Wayne Gretzky is no exception, as he too had to endure some abuse as a young player before becoming one of hockey’s all-time greats.
He first played against Howe (who was his idol growing up) as a 17-year-old member of the WHA’s Indianapolis Racers during the 1978-79 season, a contest Gretzky recalls fondly thanks to the way Howe welcomed him to the big time:
“Third or fourth shift in the game, I took the puck from him, and before I knew it this big stick was pounding me on the hand. I thought I’d broken my thumb. He took the puck and said, ‘Don’t ever take the puck from me,’ and I said, ‘OK.'”

Credits for today's episode come from Wikipedia, The Hockey News Website  and Bro Bible, hockey-Reference.com and stathead.com

The banner photo above is courtsy of Wikimedia Commons and depicts the 1945-46 USHL Omaha Knights Hockey Club with Gordie Howe