Houston Sports - Gordie Howe

Gordie Howe

Born: March 31, 1928

Sport: Hockey (4-time Stanley Cup Champion, 23-time All-Star, 6-time MVP, 6-time top scorer, Hall of Fame)

This week will see the start of a championship series for two different sports leagues - the NBA and NHL.  While Houston has a storied basketball history, which we've already discussed with several of our previous posts, our connection with hockey is a bit less-known.  But in what may come as a surprise to casual visitors to a city known better for its hot-and-humid summers than its prowess on ice, we can boast a strong connection to one of the greatest players to ever strap on skates.  Originally hailing from Canada, the man who became known as "Mister Hockey" came to Space City for a significant period of time and legitimized the sport to local fans, many of whom had relocated to Houston from northern cities and who were excited to see the game played at the very highest level.  Today, in advance of the Stanley Cup Finals dropping the puck, we will learn a little bit about Gordie Howe.

Sam Houston Coliseum, Gordie Howe's home with the Aeros during the 1970s

Born in the small town of Floral, Saskatchewan, as one of nine children, Gordie didn't have to wait long to get moving, as the family moved to the city of Saskatoon just nine days later.  In the midst of a major depression, the young man began playing the nation's most popular sport at a young age, but quit school to help his father earn money by working in construction.  He was large for his age, and after turning down an offer from the New York Rangers at the age of 15, Howe left home one year later to play hockey professionally, signing on with the junior team affiliated with the Detroit Red Wings.  Two years later in 1946 he was 18 and played his first NHL game, scoring a goal in that debut.  During his rookie season, Howe wore the number 17 but accepted the number 9 (which he would wear the remainder of his career) the following year when young Gordie discovered the lower number that had been vacated by a traded teammate would give him priority for better sleeping quarters on trains during road trips.  Howe's size and attitude were imposing and as a young player he was known as much for fighting as playing skill, leading to the term "Gordie Howe Hat Trick" being applied to any player recording a goal, assist, and fight in a single game.  By the end of his career he'd spent the equivalent of 28 full games in a penalty box.

Team and personal success came hand-in-hand for Gordie Howe, as he advanced to the playoffs for his first twelve consecutive seasons, won his first Stanley Cup with the Red Wings in 1950 (despite a serious injury that limited him to just one playoff game), won his first Art Ross Trophy for most points scored in 1951, and won a Stanley Cup alongside both the Art Ross Trophy and the Hart Memorial Trophy as the league's MVP in 1952.  His dominance throughout the 50s and 60s was unprecedented, and Howe set offensive records that stood for years.  After 1955, however, Detroit declined as an NHL powerhouse and they didn't win another championship for the remainder of Howe's time on the team.  After 25 seasons, the final 22 of which he eclipsed 23 goals, Howe retired in 1971 with an unparalleled resume.  He was quickly inducted into the Saskatchewan Sports Hall of Fame the same year, and the Hockey Hall of Fame a year later, while he worked in the Red Wings' front office.  In 1973, however, the newly-formed World Hockey Association announced that Gordie Howe would come out of retirement to play alongside his two sons, Mark and Marty, with the Houston Aeros.  The three Howes skated together for four seasons in Houston, with Gordie winning the league MVP award in 1974 and leading the team to two titles, both that year as well as in 1975.  Alongside future Hall of Fame players such as Bobby Hull, Mark Messier, and Wayne Gretzky, Howe was instrumental in the league's success that eventually resulted in a merger with the NHL.  After playing two additional seasons for the WHA's New England Whalers, he remained with the newly-formed Hartford Whalers the year they joined the NHL, pushing his career goal total to 801 and his point total to 1,850.  Both records were eventually broken by Gretzky, who had played against Howe in the 1980 NHL All-Star Game - the first for the 19-year-old "Great One" and the last for the 51-year-old "Mister Hockey".  Howe once again retired shortly after his 52nd birthday, the oldest man to ever record time in the NHL and the only person to play in 5 different decades.  In 1997 he skated one shift for the Detroit Vipers of the IHL at the age of 69 to extend his professional career to a sixth decade.

After such an amazing career built on unmatched longevity and skill, Gordie Howe's list of recognitions and accolades continued to grow.  Already named to the Order of Canada and included in numerous halls of fame, he soon added membership in Canada's Walk of Fame and received the very first NHL lifetime achievement award.  From 2001 until his death in 2016 he was a part owner of the Vancouver Giants, a major junior team that plays in the Western Hockey League, and his heirs still maintain a stake in the franchise.  Detroit's Joe Louis Arena not only hung his retired number in their rafters, but named one of the entrances after the star player and placed his statue just inside.  When the NHL released its list of the game's 100 greatest players in 2017, Gordie Howe was listed third behind Wayne Gretzky and Bobby Orr, both of whom were quoted as saying the late legend was the greater player.  In retirement, Howe had championed charitable activity focused on degenerative diseases such as Alzheimer's after his wife's death in 2009.  Today a bridge connecting Detroit to Canada is being built that will bear the name of the man who also connected the two places: the Gordie Howe International Bridge.  And here in Houston, we'll always remember him as the first and greatest hockey star our city has ever known.

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