RIP Gordie Howe

Word coming out:

Gordie Howe Dies, Red Wings Confirm

 

I had the good fortune of spending a lot of time sitting and chatting (and learning about hockey) with Gordie during the Whalers' morning skates at the Hartford Civic Center in the mid-'80s. Wonderful warm guy and a great story teller. RIP.

 

Dude, he did that same routine for everyone.

 

I want just one person to say Gordie did them a magic trick.

 

Hey, I loved Gordie Howe.

 

Well, he did turn himself in a sniveling little whiner once.

 

Fun and games aside, too young to have watched him. Maybe SJ oldies can talk about his magical ways. Was he fast? Deft with the stick? Best wrister ever? What was the essence of his game?

 

I haven't even mentioned the elevator rides up to the press box.

 

From the great days of not wearing a helmet. RIP.

 

He lives on thanks to the Gordie Howe hat trick - a goal, an assist and a fight in a game.

 

I remember playing Trivial Pursuit with my dad and sister while growing up in the 1980s, before Gretzky broke all of his scoring records and long before I had even an educated guess about anything involving the history of the sport. Whenever a hockey question came up in the sports category, a safe strategy was to answer "Gordie Howe." It was right about 90 percent of the time.