Hockey Den: The Premier Hockey Card and Memorabilia Destination
Visit us at
www.hockeyden.net, watch the 08-09 Upper Deck Montreal Canadiens Centennial box break, and enter to win your choice of any card from the break!
________________________________________________________________________
Who knew? #1: Gordie Howe
There are many things we know about Gordie Howe. We know about the toughness, the longevity, the scoring prowess. Yet as much as we do know about Mr. Hockey, there are a number of things that tend to fly under the radar in terms of his life, both in and out of hockey. They may or may not impact our thoughts of him as a player in the least, but they are interesting tidbits of information about the man nonetheless!
- He suffered from mild dyslexia as a child
- He was invited for a tryout with the New York Rangers when he was 15 years old
- While playing for the Omaha Knights of the USHL, Howe was errantly left off of the Detroit Red Wings protected player list. Frank Selke, an employee of the Toronto Maple Leafs, noted this. Rather than ruining his good relationship with then Red Wings coach Jack Adams by snapping up Howe for the Leafs, Selke notified Adams of this error. It was duly corrected.
- Howe’s signing bonus his first year with the Red Wings? A team letterman’s jacket.
- Although his namesake, he actually collected only two “Gordie Howe Hat Tricks” (a goal, assist and fight in a game) during his career.
- During his first matchup against Maurice “Rocket” Richard in Montreal, the rookie responded to shove by the Rocket by punching him. This lone punch was enough to knock Richard to the ice.
- Howe played some semi-pro baseball in the offseasons until the Red Wings requested that he quit. He did, however, continue taking batting practice on a relatively regular basis with the Detroit Tigers, and both Tommy Lasorda (MLB Manager) and Al Kaline (Detroit Tigers player), who witnessed these outings, felt that he would have been a good to great professional baseball player with regular playing time.
- He placed in the top 5 in NHL scoring for 20 consecutive seasons
- Howe topped 100 points in a season only twice in his career. The first time was in the NHL. He was 40 years of age (103 points in the 68-69 season). The second time was in the WHA, with 102 points at 45 years of age. Note, Howe achieved the first 100+ point season by scoring 4 points in the last game of the season on March 30, 1969. He turned 41 the following day (his birthday is March 31, 1928)
- In 1972, Howe was offered the job as the first coach of the New York Islanders
- While playing for Houston in the WHA, Howe was driving one day and witnessed a thief steal a two women’s purses. Howe got out of his car and chased the thief until the he eventually threw the purse away. After Howe brought the purses back to the women they asked, "How can we repay you?". Howe responded by asking that they attend some Houston Aeros games.
- If you count their WHA careers as well as their time in the NHL, Howe more goals at 975 (WHA = 174, NHL = 801) than Gretzky at 940 (WHA = 46, NHL = 894)
- Howe played in at least one All Star game in each decade from the 1940s to the 1980s
- Mr. Hockey was an ambidextrous shooter, able to take a shot from left or right.
- He was the oldest player ever to play an NHL game (52 years old)
- At age 69, Howe played a single shift for the Detroit Vipers of the now defunct IHL, making him the only player to play professional hockey in six different decades
- He estimated that he had over 500 stitches on his face across his playing career
Shawn Gates
[email protected]
Twitter: ShawnHockeybuzz
Facebook: Shawn Gates
_________________________________________________________________________
Remember to visit
www.hockeyden.net, watch the 08-09 Upper Deck Montreal Canadiens Centennial box break, and enter to win your choice of any card from the break!
________________________________________________________________________
“WHAT IF…?” Articles
#1 What If The NHL Contracted To 24 Teams?
#2 What If Quebec Traded Lindros To The Rangers Instead Of The Flyers?
#3 What If Calgary Drafted Martin Brodeur Instead Of Trevor Kidd?
#3a What If Calgary Drafted Martin Brodeur Instead Of Trevor Kidd?: A RESPONSE
#4 What If The WHA Never Existed?
#5 What If The Position Of Rover Had Not Been Eliminated?
#6 What If Pittsburgh Had Not Been Awarded A Team In 1967?
#7 What If Steve Smith Had Not Scored In His Own Net In Game 7?
#8 What If The NHL Had a Cross-Conference Playoff Structure?
#9 What If The NHL Asked For Fan Ideas For Improving The Game??
#10 What If Henderson Had Missed The Net In Game 8?
#11 What If You Could Sneak Into A Stanley Cup Celebration?
Join the Discussion:
»