Happy 85th Birthday "Mr Hockey"

[Por_sha911]

If you have to ask "who?" then move along, nothing here to see.
Here's a shot of him battling my fav Bruin defenseman:

[widgeon13]

Gordie Howe

[Por_sha911]

aw shucks, you spoiled the secret

[flatbutt]

85 and I'd bet he could outskate me.

[widgeon13]

Originally Posted by Por_sha911

aw shucks, you spoiled the secret

Sorry about that but I knew who you were speaking of before even looking.

Orr is actually 20 years younger.

[vonsmog]

Orr is doing a little "holding the stick" in that photo!!

[Por_sha911]

Its only a penalty if you get caught.
Fun fact:
While watching the Hawks/Wings massacre today, the announcers claimed that Gordie's son Mark was quoted as saying something along the lines of "People say that my dad played dirty. He did."
I think he could have just answered "so?" Gordie was at the game with Terrible Ted. Talk about dirty...

[widgeon13]

My wife's stepfather played for the New York Rangers and Boston Bruin Cubs back in the 30's. Toughest guy I've ever met and he was good, helped the Cubs to a title back in 34-35, CAHL.

[911nut]

What's funny is that Gordie is the sweetest guy you could ever meet, off of the ice. He loves kids and is really good with them as he's kind of a big kid himself. Put him on the ice with a stick in his hand and he's all business, though.
I was at a Red Wings fantasy camp in 1986 with Gordie, Marcel Provovost, Johnny Wilson, Nick Libett, Gary Bergman and Bill Gadsby. Gordie was 58 and looked like he could still suit up for the Wings. We played our last game at Joe Lewis arena (oldtimer Wings vs. campers) after a Wings/Whalers game and when it was announced that Gordie was in the building, damn near everyone in the building stayed. When I hit the ice there had to be 12,000 people in the stands, which is the ultimate indication of how beloved Gordie is in Detroit.

[flatbutt]

Originally Posted by 911nut

What's funny is that Gordie is the sweetest guy you could ever meet, off of the ice. He loves kids and is really good with them as he's kind of a big kid himself. Put him on the ice with a stick in his hand and he's all business, though.
I was at a Red Wings fantasy camp in 1986 with Gordie, Marcel Provovost, Johnny Wilson, Nick Libett, Gary Bergman and Bill Gadsby. Gordie was 58 and looked like he could still suit up for the Wings. We played our last game at Joe Lewis arena (oldtimer Wings vs. campers) after a Wings/Whalers game and when it was announced that Gordie was in the building, damn near everyone in the building stayed. When I hit the ice there had to be 12,000 people in the stands, which is the ultimate indication of how beloved Gordie is in Detroit.

Many of them are. Especially with kids. I'm not minimizing Mr Howe but I've known a few real tough athletes. They all left it in the arena. Howe, Hull, Mikita, Orr, Worsley , Esposito, Messier. Stevens all the old school guys were tougher than a ten cent steak. But I can't recall hearing about them being rowdy off of the ice.

[Buckterrier]

Happy birthday Gordie. Wasn't it Mark Howe who basically had his groin ripped open from the post in the ice holding the net net in place? Isn't that when the NHL went to magnets?

[flatbutt]

Oh man I forgot about that. Saw alot of guys get hurt on those.

[craigster59]

Hey! They're not wearing helmets! How'd he make it to 85?

[911nut]

Originally Posted by flatbutt

Many of them are.

I agree but if anyone had a right to be arrogant, it would be Howe, who is the Babe Ruth of hockey. He could do it all; score, playmake, skate and fight. His most famous fight ended the career of Lou Fontinato of the Rangers, the most feared and toughest enforcer of his time. Howe didn't need anyone riding shotgun for him. Somewhere there's a picture of him getting dressed for a tryout with the Rangers when he was 16 years old. He had the body of a Greek god.
Seems like the most arrogant hockey players I met were bit players from the 6 team NHL. Gary Bergman and Joe Klukay come to mind...