Gordie Howe, known as “Mr Hockey” for a tough but skilful playing style that shattered records over a career spanning five decades, died yesterday at the age of 88, the National Hockey League’s Detroit Red Wings said. The cause of death was not disclosed.
Howe suffered two strokes in October 2014 and from advanced dementia in recent years.
Howe, a Canadian who spent his prime playing for the Detroit Red Wings of the National Hockey League (NHL), was considered one of the greatest hockey players of all time.
He may have been eclipsed only by fellow countryman Wayne Gretzky in terms of goals and points, but not in grit and longevity.
Howe attributed his long career, 33 seasons, in such a rough sport to passion.
“You’ve got to love what you’re doing,” he once said. “If you love it, you can overcome any handicap or the soreness or all the aches and pains and continue to play for a long, long time.”
Howe joined the National Hockey League’s Red Wings in 1946 and led them to four Stanley Cup championships before retiring in 1971 after 25 seasons with the team.
He was inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame in 1972 but by the next year he was on the ice again.
He joined the Houston Aeros of the upstart World Hockey Association (WHA), alongside sons Mark and Marty, and taking the team to two consecutive championships.
He would say that playing with his sons was the highlight of his career. All three Howes joined the WHA’s New England Whalers in 1977 and when the league folded two years later, the Whalers joined the NHL, giving Howe one more season in hockey’s top league.
When he retired for a second time in 1980, Howe was the NHL’s regular season leader in career goals and points, both records later broken by Gretzky.
Howe, the only player to play in the NHL after turning 50, would play all 80 games in his final season as well as a handful of games after turning 52.