http://www.foxnews.com/sports/2016/06/1 ... tcmp=hpbt4

DEVELOPING: Gordie Howe, a Detroit Red Wings legend credited as one of the greatest hockey players of all time, died Friday at the age of 88, Fox 2 reported, citing family friends.

A cause of death was not immediately known. Howe had suffered a stroke in 2014.

Known as "Mr. Hockey," Howe helped lead the Red Wings to four Stanley Cup championships over 25 years. He retired in 1980 with 801 goals, a feat that no player except Wayne Gretzky has topped.

Howe joined the Red Wings in 1946 and would remain with the team until 1971. Soon afterwards, he was inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame.




Very sad news. He was one of the greats if not THE greatest hockey player.

I was lucky enough to see him when he played with his sons in the WHA.

Very sad news, but not really a surprise - he'd been in ill health for quite a while now. Several strokes, although treatment in Mexico seemed to help him a lot.

Larry is correct - at the absolute worst, top five player all-time. Personally, I rank him behind only Bobby Orr.

I was lucky enough to meet Gordie when they opened Gund Arena in Cleveland. He appeared to drop the first puck and was signing autographs in the first intermission. For whatever reason, we decided to get in line early - good thing, because they cut off the line before the first period ended. You couldn't ask to meet a more gracious and humble man - he exuded pure class. I still have the autographed puck in a curio cabinet.

It's a damn shame how the Red Wings and Jack Adams treated him - as big a star as he was, he was horribly underpaid for years because he trusted them to treat him fairly.

I highly recommend his autobiography - outstanding to hear his story in his own words.

RIP, Gordie.

RIP to a true hockey legend.

RIP.

He always seemed to be on the Ice. I remember seeing him fly around the ice w/o helmets in those days. he was abig and fast. No wonder they called him "Mr. Hockey".

RIP, hockey will miss you.



Rick A.

In the Ali thread, I said:

It kinda fits here too. Gordie Howe didn't change the world like Ali did, but he represented this country's view of itself in ways that few people who don't spend a lot of time with Canadians can appreciate. Off the ice, he was nice, friendly, approachable, easy going. But when the chips were down, he was tough as nails, and not unwilling to get the elbows up if that's what it took to get the job done. And very few ever did it better. Thankfully, we'll always have the Gordie Howe hat trick to remember him, long after the sport changes (goal, assist, fighting major)

A lot of people will talk him in context of all time hockey players. And while I certainly consider him a top 5 player, I also know this to be true: he's the only one of the 5 I didn't want to get into a fight with.

Thanks for the memories, Mr. Hockey.

Jason

Once again Jason a great post. You sure know how to size up a person's make-up and contributions.

My hat's off to you my friend.

Rick A.

R.I.P. I knew of him mainly from The Simpsons episode.

There's a great story in the afterword of Gordie's book, told by his kids. They mentioned that Gordie would take things into his own hands if the officials didn't. They were playing in San Diego in the WHA, and the arena still had mesh around the boards instead of glass. A guy in the corner kept trying to kick Gordie in the head, so before a face-off in that corner, Gordie skated to Marty and said, "Watch this." He let the defender ride him into the boards, and the guy leaned back to kick him and suddenly was down. He got up with a bloody mouth - Gordie had butt-ended him through the mesh. They said Marty only knew what happened because Gordie told him to watch - it happened so fast no one else saw.

Mark also said that Brad McCrimmon told him a story - the first time he played against Gordie, they went into the boards together, and McCrimmon went straight to the bench with a cut over his eye. The trainer asked what happened, and McCrimmon said, "Oh, it's nothing. Gordie's stick caught me, but it was an accident and he apologized." He said the players on the bench all started laughing, then pointed to their scars saying, "Yeah, he apologized for this, too - that was no accident."

that's me, the current day Speaker for the Dead

Jason

P.S. Really worried about Bill Russell, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, and Willie Mays for some reason, now. These things come tend to come in threes.

You are scaring me Jason.

Rick A.:

RIP