R.I.P. Gordie Howe
Hockey icon Gordie Howe passed away this morning, June 10th, 2016, at the age of 88.
By: Nick Schwarzmann
They called him “Mr. Hockey”. To anyone who wasn’t around to see Gordie Howe play, that title might seem a tad presumptuous. It’s not uncommon for ball players to be declared the “Mr.” of their respective franchises, such as Ernie Banks or Tony Gwynn, who are heralded as “Mr. Cub” and “Mr. Padre”, respectively, but for one man to be called the “Mr.” of an entire sport, well, that’s simply unheard of.
To say Howe’s title of Mr. Hockey was inaccurate, though, would be inaccurate in and of itself. Howe was the picture of longevity, having played 32 seasons of professional hockey between the NHL and its rival league, the now-defunct World Hockey Association. Howe holds the NHL record for most regular season games played in a career with a whopping 1,767 games. Howe also holds the distinction of being the only NHL player to have played in five different decades. From the late 1940s to the early 1980s, Howe was a constant fixture in the game, and when he finally retired for good in 1980, Howe was the NHL leader in career points, goals, and assists, records that would eventually be broken by Wayne Gretzky, the only other man who could possibly be regarded as “Mr. Hockey”.
Gordie Howe was also a cultural icon. The hockey colloquialism of “Gordie Howe Hat Trick” -the act of scoring a goal, making an assist, and getting in a fight all in one game- was named after Howe and his prowess in fighting on the ice. Oddly enough, Howe only ever completed his own hat trick twice in his career.
Outside of the hockey world, Howe’s influence can be seen in the 1986 classic coming-of-age film Ferris Bueller’s Day Off, as Howe’s Detroit Red Wings #9 jersey was worn by the film’s main supporting character, Cameron Frye, whose sporting of the jersey was nothing short of ironic due to the character’s non-confrontational nature when considering how much of a rough, physical player Howe was on the ice. Not enough can be said about the fact that the jersey of a Red Wings player made its way into the film, directed by Chicagoan John Hughes, who called the film his “love letter to the city”. Considering the fact that the Red Wings and the Chicago Blackhawks are pretty heated rivals, the fact that a Detroit player was immortalized in a film that goes hand in hand with the city of Chicago truly speaks a lot about Howe’s impact as a player.
2016 has been a devastating year in terms of losing beloved celebrities. We’ve seen the likes of Alan Rickman, Glenn Frey, David Bowie, Gary Shandling, Merle Haggard, Prince, and Muhammad Ali all taken from the world too soon. Today, hockey lost its man. Rest in peace, Gordie Howe. Your legacy that you left on hockey will long outlive you.
