Happy Birthday Gordie Howe

On this day in 1928, the first, most famous hockey player of the modern era (when the NHL started appearing on US TV on a regular basis) was born out on a farm in Saskatchewan. I’ve lived in North Dakota for a year too, so I can assure you Gordie is from a part of Canada that is very similar; empty, cold, boring and depressing. 
 
Thanks to some oversight on the NY Rangers’ part, the Detroit Red Wings discovered his scoring talent, put him through their training camp back East and by age 18 he was playing in the NHL. Thankfully, WWII also ended a year earlier so he wasn’t drafted and had his budding career interrupted. 
 
Gordie went on to play for 25 years for one team which is pretty amazing because other great players of his day were traded; Phil Esposito, Terry Sawchuk, etc. He also became the first real celebrity of the NHL when the games were televised on US TV. Many hockey historians think he’s a major reason why the 1967 expansion happened too. Whenever the Red Wings came to spank the LA Kings, the LA media wanted to talk to Gordie. 
 
His 25 years with the Red Wings wasn’t enough though. When the opportunity came to be a major part of the rival WHA league, he took it. He certainly proved it wasn’t a publicity stunt by scoring 100, 99 and 102 points during his first three seasons with Houston. I think he also wanted to have the opportunity to play with his sons Mark and Marty (Mark Howe had a pretty decent NHL career on his own). After Houston, the Howes played for Hartford which then was one of the four teams absorbed by the NHL when the WHA folded. Gordie played one last NHL season before retiring for good. He appeared in 80 games of the season, scored 15 goals, made 26 assists and made it to the All-Star Game. Pretty impressive for a 51-year-old athlete. 
 
Although his scoring title was surpassed by Wayne Gretzky years ago and sadly Gordie has been bitter over it, he will always be Mr. Hockey. He should always be remembered for his endurance and bravery to try something new. Most of all he paved the way for Wayne, Mario Lemieux, Jaromir Jagr, Peter Forsberg and even the current big deal, Sydney Crosby.