Gordie Howe facts for kids

Quick facts for kids Gordie Howe OC
Hockey Hall of Fame, 1972
Howe with the Detroit Red Wings in the 1960s
Born	(1928-03-31)March 31, 1928 Floral, Saskatchewan, Canada
Died	June 10, 2016(2016-06-10) (aged 88) Sylvania, Ohio, U.S.
Height	6 ft 0 in (183 cm)
Weight	205 lb (93 kg; 14 st 9 lb)
Position	Right wing
Shot	Right (sometimes left)
Played for	Detroit Red Wings Houston Aeros Hartford Whalers
National team	Canada
Playing career	1946–1971 1973–1980

Gordon Howe (March 31, 1928 – June 10, 2016) was a Canadian ice hockey legend. He played for an amazing 26 seasons in the National Hockey League (NHL) and six seasons in the World Hockey Association (WHA). Most of his career (25 seasons) was spent with the Detroit Red Wings.

People called him "Mr. Hockey" because he was so good. Many think he was the most complete player ever and one of the greatest of all time. When he first retired, his 801 goals, 1,049 assists, and 1,850 total points were all NHL records. These records stood until Wayne Gretzky broke them. Gordie Howe was chosen for the NHL All-Star team 23 times. He still holds the NHL record for most seasons played. In 2017, he was named one of the "100 Greatest NHL Players".

Howe started his NHL career with the Red Wings in 1946. He won the Art Ross Trophy six times for leading the league in points. This is the second-highest number of wins in NHL history. He also led the NHL in goals four times. For 21 years in a row, he was among the top ten scorers in the NHL. He won the Stanley Cup with the Red Wings four times. He also won the Hart Memorial Trophy six times as the NHL's most valuable player.

Gordie Howe first retired in 1971 and was quickly added to the Hockey Hall of Fame. But he came back to play two years later! He joined his sons Mark and Marty on the Houston Aeros in the WHA. Even in his mid-40s, he scored over 100 points twice. He also won two Avco World Trophies (1974 and 1975) and was named the WHA's most valuable player in 1974. He briefly returned to the NHL in 1979–80, playing one season with the Hartford Whalers. He retired for good at age 52.

Howe was famous for his scoring, strength, and how long he played. He changed what it meant to be a great forward. He is the only player to have played in the NHL in five different decades (from the 1940s to the 1980s). He even played one shift in a game in 1997, meaning he played professional hockey in a sixth decade! The "Gordie Howe hat trick" is named after him. It means getting a goal, an assist, and a fight in the same game. He only did this twice in his career. In 2008, he received the first-ever NHL Lifetime Achievement Award.

Early Life and Hockey Start

Gordie Howe was born on a farm in Floral, Saskatchewan, Canada. He was one of nine children. When he was just nine days old, his family moved to Saskatoon. His father worked hard during the Great Depression. In the summers, Gordie helped his father with construction work.

Gordie had a mild form of dyslexia when he was young. But he was very strong for his age. By his mid-teens, he was already six feet tall! Doctors worried about his bones and told him to do chin-ups to make his back stronger. He started playing organized hockey when he was eight. Gordie left school during the Depression to work. He left Saskatoon at 16 to focus on his hockey career.

Becoming a Hockey Star

Howe was special because he could shoot with both his left and right hands. This was rare for players using the straight sticks of his time. When he was 15, the New York Rangers invited him to their training camp. He played well, but he wanted to go home and play with his friends. So, he turned down their offer.

Gordie Howe (second from left, back row) with the Omaha Knights in 1945–46.

In 1944, a scout for the Detroit Red Wings saw Howe play. The Red Wings signed him and sent him to their junior team, the Galt Red Wings. In 1945, he moved up to the Omaha Knights in a minor professional league. As a 17-year-old, he scored 48 points in 51 games.

Playing for the Detroit Red Wings

Gordie Howe made his NHL debut with the Detroit Red Wings on October 16, 1946. He was 18 years old and scored a goal in his very first game! He wore number 17 at first. But after his rookie season, he was offered number 9, which he wore for the rest of his career. He quickly became known as a great scorer and a skilled playmaker. He was also willing to fight when needed.

The term "Gordie Howe hat trick" was created because he often fought. It means getting a goal, an assist, and a fight in the same game. But Howe himself only had two such games in his long career! He was incredibly strong and dominated his opponents. He played in the NHL for 20 seasons in a row, always finishing in the top five for scoring. He also scored 20 or more goals for 22 seasons in a row, which is an NHL record.

Howe made his NHL debut for the Detroit Red Wings in 1946.

Howe helped Detroit win four Stanley Cup championships. His team also finished first in the regular season for seven years in a row (1948–49 to 1954–55). This has never been done again in NHL history. During this time, Howe and his linemates, Sid Abel and Ted Lindsay, were called "The Production Line". They were named this because they scored so much, like the car factories in Detroit. In the 1949–50 season, these three players finished as the top three scorers in the NHL!

In 1950, Howe had a very serious injury during the playoffs. His skull was fractured, and his cheekbone and nose were broken. He had emergency surgery and missed the rest of the playoffs. But his teammates still won the Stanley Cup.

The next season (1950–51), Howe came back stronger than ever. He played in every game and led the NHL in goals, assists, and total points. He won the scoring title by 20 points! This started a four-year period where Howe was incredibly dominant. He won four scoring titles in a row. In 1952–53, Howe became the first NHL player to score 90 points, finishing with 95 points and 49 goals.

Howe had rivalries with other great players. He often played against Maurice Richard of the Montreal Canadiens. Both were right wingers who wore #9 and were top scorers. They were also tough players. Howe once knocked Richard out with a punch! The Red Wings and Canadiens played against each other in many Stanley Cup finals in the 1950s and 1960s.

He also had rivalries with players from the Chicago Blackhawks, like Stan Mikita and Bobby Hull. Hull once said that Howe was "strong as a bull and tougher than a night in jail." But when they played together in an All-Star Game, Hull said it was "nice finally having Gordie on my side."

In the late 1960s, the Red Wings team started to struggle. But when Howe turned 40 in 1967–68, the NHL expanded, creating more scoring chances. In the 1968–69 season, Howe played on a line called "The Production Line 3." At age 40, he scored 103 points, which was his best in the NHL. He had 44 goals and a career-high 59 assists.

Howe relaxing at "Gordie Howe Hockeyland" in St. Clair Shores, Michigan, around 1966.

After this great season, Howe found out he was not one of the highest-paid players on the team. He stayed for two more seasons, but a wrist problem forced him to retire after the 1970–71 season. He then took a job in the Red Wings' office.

By the end of his NHL career, Howe had won the Hart Memorial Trophy six times as the NHL's most valuable player. He was also named to the NHL's First All-Star Team 12 times and the Second All-Star Team eight times. In 1971, he was made an Officer of the Order of Canada. His number 9 jersey was retired by the Red Wings on March 12, 1972.

Playing in the WHA

One year after retiring, Howe was offered a contract to play for the Houston Aeros in the new World Hockey Association (WHA). His sons, Mark and Marty, had also signed with the team. Howe was not happy with his job in the Red Wings' office, so he had wrist surgery to play hockey again. He led the Aeros to two league championships in 1974 and 1975. In 1974, at age 46, Howe won the Gary L. Davidson Trophy, which is given to the WHA's most valuable player.

Howe played with the Aeros until 1977. Then, he and his sons joined the New England Whalers. In the final season of the WHA, Gordie got to play with Wayne Gretzky in the 1979 WHA All-Star Game. Howe, Gretzky, and Mark Howe played on the same line and scored many points together.

Return to the NHL with the Hartford Whalers

When the WHA closed down in 1979, the Hartford Whalers joined the NHL. Even though the Red Wings still had Howe's NHL rights, they agreed not to claim him. Howe played one last season in the NHL, appearing in all 80 games. He scored 41 points (15 goals and 26 assists) and helped his team make the playoffs. At 52 years and 10 days old, Howe became the oldest player to play in an NHL game.

Near the end of the season, the Whalers signed Bobby Hull. Howe, Hull, and Dave Keon played on the same line. Howe was also chosen for the mid-season All-Star Game, which was held in Detroit. He played alongside 19-year-old Wayne Gretzky. The crowd gave him a huge standing ovation. He had one assist in the game.

Retirement and Legacy

Howe's star on Canada's Walk of Fame. He received the honor in 2000.

Gordie Howe was inducted into Canada's Sports Hall of Fame in 1975. In 1998, The Hockey News named him the third greatest NHL player of all time, behind only Wayne Gretzky and Bobby Orr. Both Gretzky and Orr said they thought Howe was the greatest player. In 2000, Howe was inducted into Canada's Walk of Fame.

On April 10, 2007, a new bronze statue of Howe was revealed at Joe Louis Arena in Detroit. The West Entrance of the arena was also named the "Gordie Howe Entrance." Another statue of Howe was put up in downtown Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, his hometown. It shows him wearing a Detroit Red Wings jersey.

In 2015, it was announced that a new international bridge connecting Detroit and Windsor would be named the Gordie Howe International Bridge. This bridge is set to open in 2024.

Canadian actor Michael Shanks played Howe in the TV movie Mr. Hockey: The Gordie Howe Story in 2013.

After his wife, Colleen Howe, passed away in 2009, Howe focused on helping with Alzheimer's research. He started the Gordie and Colleen Howe Fund for Alzheimer's.

Personal Life and Passing

Howe met his wife, Colleen, at a bowling alley. They married four years later in 1953. A middle school in Abbotsford, British Columbia, is named after Gordie and Colleen Howe. Also, a traffic bridge, campground, and football stadium in his hometown of Saskatoon are named after Gordie Howe.

Two of their sons, Marty and Mark, played hockey with him on the Houston Aeros and the Hartford Whalers. Mark had a long NHL career and was inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame in 2011, just like his father. Their third son, Murray, is a doctor, and their daughter, Cathy, lives in Texas.

Colleen Howe was very involved in hockey too. She helped start the Detroit Junior Red Wings and managed Gordie and Mark's finances. She passed away in 2009 at age 76 after a long illness.

Gordie's younger brother, Vic Howe, also played in the NHL. He passed away in 2015.

Howe lying in state at Joe Louis Arena.

Because of dementia, Gordie Howe spent his later years living with his four children. He had a major stroke in 2014. He passed away on June 10, 2016, at his son Murray's house in Sylvania, Ohio, at age 88.

Howe's casket was brought to Joe Louis Arena, the Red Wings' home at the time. People could visit him there for 12 hours, from 9 a.m. to 9 p.m., in honor of his number 9 jersey. Wayne Gretzky and other hockey legends were among the pallbearers. Howe's funeral was held on June 15, 2016. His ashes, along with his wife Colleen's, were buried in Saskatoon in September 2016, at the base of his statue outside SaskTel Centre.

Gordie Howe's Impact on Hockey

Gordie Howe's name and nickname, "Mr. Hockey," are registered trademarks. He was also called "Mr. Elbows" because of his tough physical play. Many people believe Howe was the most complete player in hockey history. His strength, scoring ability, and speed showed what a perfect power forward should be.

The "Gordie Howe hat trick"—a goal, an assist, and a fight—is now a common term in hockey. It's funny because Howe only did this twice in his career. This is because after he strongly defeated a tough player from the New York Rangers in 1959, few players dared to fight him again!

Howe was known for being a kind and trusting person off the ice. He never questioned his salary from the Detroit Red Wings owners. When it became known that he had scored over 600 goals but was not paid much, his teammate, Ted Lindsay, started a movement to create a players' association. This group would fight for fair wages for all NHL players. This was the start of the National Hockey League Players' Association.

Howe playing in the WHA with his sons helped that new league become popular. This made the NHL look for players from other countries, like Europe, and expand to new cities. Wayne Gretzky was one of the players who chose to join the WHA first. Over the years, Howe and Gretzky became good friends. Gretzky looked up to Howe as a young player and later broke many of Howe's scoring records. Gretzky wore number 99 as a direct tribute to Howe, since 9 was already taken.

In 1997, Howe played professional hockey in a sixth decade! He signed a one-game contract with the Detroit Vipers of the International Hockey League. At age 69, he played one shift. This made him the only player in hockey history to play professionally in six different decades.

Howe's No. 9 banner hanging in Joe Louis Arena.

Howe's first 20 seasons were played when the NHL schedule was only 70 games. Scoring was harder back then. Howe is currently fourth on the NHL's all-time points list with 1,850 total points (801 goals and 1,049 assists). Only Wayne Gretzky, Mark Messier, and Jaromír Jágr have more. Howe is still third on the all-time goals list, behind only Gretzky and Alexander Ovechkin. If you combine his regular season goals from both the NHL and WHA, he has 975 goals, which is more than Gretzky's 940.

When he retired, Howe held the record for most professional games played (2,421), goals (1,071), assists (1,518), and points (2,589) across the NHL and WHA. Gretzky later passed him in goals, assists, and points, but not in games played. After Howe's death, Gretzky called him "the greatest hockey player ever." He even said that Howe's No. 9 jersey should be retired by all NHL teams, just like his own No. 99. Howe's record of 1,767 NHL games played was only passed in April 2021 by Patrick Marleau.

Gordie Howe Bridge in Saskatoon, named after Howe in June 2016.

Gordie Howe was also featured in the TV show The Simpsons episode "Bart the Lover". In the episode, a picture of Howe is used by Bart to trick his teacher.

Honors and Awards

• Howe was made an Officer of the Order of Canada in 1971.
• He received the Golden Plate Award from the American Academy of Achievement in 1978.
• The Howe family received the Wayne Gretzky International Award in 2000 for their big contributions to hockey in the United States.
• He received honorary degrees from the University of Regina (1997) and the University of Saskatchewan (2010).
• In 2016, then-US President Barack Obama honored Gordie Howe in a speech, calling him "the late, great Gordie Howe."

Career Statistics

Regular season and playoffs

Bolded indicates league leader

Awards and Achievements

Records Held by Gordie Howe

• Most NHL regular season games played with one team: 1,687
• Most NHL and WHA regular season games played: 2,186
• Most NHL and WHA regular season and playoff games played: 2,421
• Most NHL and WHA regular season goals: 975
• Most NHL seasons played: 26 (tied with Chris Chelios)
• Most NHL and WHA seasons played: 32
• Most NHL regular season goals by a right winger: 801
• Most NHL regular season points by a father/son team (with son Mark): 2,592
• Most consecutive NHL 20-goal seasons: 22 (1949–1971)
• First player to score over 1,000 goals (WHA and NHL, regular season and playoff combined).
• First player to reach 1,500 games played in NHL history.
• Most times leading NHL playoffs in scoring: six times.
• Oldest player to play in the NHL: 52 years, 11 days (no other player has played past age 48).
• First in Red Wings history for points, goals, and games played; second in assists.
• Most NHL All-Star Game appearances: 23.
• From 1961 until 2021, Howe held the record for most NHL regular season games played.

Images for kids

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  The Gordie Howe Bridge in Saskatoon, named after Howe in June 2016.