Gordie Howe’s Funeral Will Be Open to the Public

“He was nicknamed Mr. Hockey because of his accomplishments on the ice but he was also Mr. Hockey off the ice”.

In 1980, at the age of 52, Howe became the oldest player in National Hockey League history, and the only to play in five decades.

Son Mark Howe is a scout with the Red Wings, and, like his father, in the Hockey Hall of Fame.

Howe left as a teenager to pursue a hockey career.

USA ice hockey legend Gordie Howe has died at age 88. His name is on the Stanley Cup four times and he won another two championships and one MVP in the WHA. You’re talking, at the time, to the best player ever to play.

Howe, who spent the first 25 seasons of his career with the Wings, still holds franchise records for games played (1,687), goals (786), points (1,809), power-play goals (211) and game-winning goals (121).

When he retired for a second time in 1980, Howe was the NHL’s regular season leader in career goals and points.

For almost four minutes, fans at Joe Louis Arena in Detroit gave Gordie Howe a standing ovation at the 1980 All Star Game.

FILE – In this November 14, 2013, file photo, hockey great Gordie Howe acknowledges a standing ovation from the crowd as he watches the Vancouver Canucks and San Jose Sharks play during an NHL hockey game in Vancouver, British Columbia. Few brought more of that to the game than Howe, whose boundless blend of talent and toughness made him the NHL’s quintessential star during a career that lasted into his 50s.

“I always got a kick out of the “Gordie Howe hat trick” (jargon for getting a goal and an assist and getting into a fight in a single game)”, Brown added with a chuckle. For all players fortunate enough to play for the Wings, we should take time to thank and honor Gordie, for he is a significant reason why Detroit is such a special place to play. He retired in 1971 because of wrist injuries, but returned to play in the World Hockey Association and then once more in the NHL with the Hartford Whalers alongside sons Mark and Marty.

“I must have made him mad somehow, though I don’t remember why”, Hamilton said. Even casual fans, or sports fans who didn’t follow hockey, were able to identify with Howe and recognize who he was.

His kindness was an irony lost on no one who saw Howe play: On the ice, he was the polar opposite – his elbows leveled many an opponent, but his personality enchanted. “I don’t know of anybody that’s called Mr. Baseball or Mr. Football”. Wherever you want them.

“As a human being, he was incredible”, Holland added. He suffered another stroke a short time later and family members said chronic back pain, advanced stages of dementia and high blood pressure were taking a toll.

Howe had been battling health issues and was near death before undergoing an eight-hour stem cell therapy treatment in Tijuana, Mexico on December 8, 2014. Howe participated in a clinical trial, which the family credited with helping him walk and do some of things he enjoyed, including making people laugh. “No sport could have hoped for a greater, more-beloved ambassador”. The previous year before starting stem cell therapy, Howe told his family he wanted to die.

If anything, Howe thinks the rules should be more old school.

Howe’s wife Colleen, who served as his representative financially, died in 2009 after a long illness. She managed the business affairs of Howe and sons Mark and Marty. I was 18 years old.