Gordie Howe touched many in Kamloops hockey community

The following story ran in the North Shore News on May 27, 2007.

“His impact on the Red Wings’ organization is still evident today”, Yzerman added in his statement.

He was a hockey giant, the biggest of them all.

If anyone claimed that Gordie Howe was the greatest hockey player of all time, you would no doubt get an argument.

Later, when he moved over to the WHA, I got to watch him play live a lot more often and it never got old.

The visitation is scheduled for Tuesday from 9 a.m.to 9 p.m.at Joe Louis Arena, the home of the Detroit Red Wings, the team Howe played for during much of his Hall of Fame career that started in 1946 and ended in 1980. His swollen elbows, famous for damaging opponents, looked like they had suffered some damage too.

Howe led the Red Wings to the Stanley Cup championship in 1950, 1952, 1954 and 1955.

The man known as “Mr. Hockey” died Friday.

Hockey consumed Howe from the time he was a small boy.

But then he spoke, and the imposing figure became a gregarious legend. His answers followed a mischievous pattern.

Large and bustling, Detroit almost overwhelmed him, Howe said.

“The greatest players define their game for a generation; over more than half a century on the ice, Mr. Hockey defined it for a lifetime”.

Howe is definitely “old school”. “You know I can’t talk now, right?” “I travel the world and constantly hear stories from people who love the Wings and share memories of the glory days when Gordie and his teammates ruled the National Hockey League”. When news had periodically come out about various health scares, you’d want to go donate blood, just in case they needed it.

Howe’s not too anxious about the “hits to the head” that have caused concussions and concern for some. “And I think his legacy will probably get stronger in Houston because he was the hockey team”.

“A player like Gordie Howe doesn’t come around very often, a player that plays as well and as long as he did”, said longtime University of MI coach Red Berenson, who played with and against Howe. Even in his late-40s, Howe was a scoring threat and a protector of his sons. I feel bad for Mark and Marty and the family and for the hockey world. Away from the rink, Howe worked just as hard to become one of the most likable superstars in any sport.

SaskTel Centre Coliseum Operator Gary Musty raises a Gordie Howe flag and sets all other flags to half-staff outside of Sasktel Centre in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, Friday, June 10, 2016.

“You don’t know (the difference) when you’re playing and you’re on the ice”.

“He was the game’s ambassador”, said MacGregor, who played with Detroit from 1960-71.

The one thing that does concern Howe is hitting from behind.

“Everyone that I know who’s met him was so impressed by him”, Brown noted. Pronger was not penalized during the game but received a one-game suspension after it. “He elbowed me in the face”.

“I thought I had something they would never touch, ” Howe said.

Howe, clearly, was most proud of his family. He’s not thrilled with the abundance of penalty calls for obstruction. He was mean as a rattlesnake and you treaded lightly when you came around him.

Hockey legend Gordie Howe’s funeral and visitation will be open to the public, the Detroit Red Wings announced Saturday.

Howe’s wife of 55 years, Colleen – known as “Mrs. Hockey” – died in 2009 after a lengthy battle with Pick’s Disease, an incurable neurological condition that causes dementia.

A neighbor, seeking money for milk for her family, sold Howe’s mother, Katherine, a gunnysack filled with household goods.