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This is Gordon Howe of the Detroit Hockey Club. In a few moments I'll tell you about my greatest sports show.
This is Harry Wismer. What you're about to hear is a transcribed story of one of hockey's outstanding players.
And an event our special guest Gordon Howe considers his greatest sports thrill.
And Gordy himself is here to tell us all about it.
But first, here's Bill Reddick with a message of interest from your United States Air Force.
A good basketball captain knows when to press the other team, slow down the offense, or call time out.
In short, he has sound judgment.
Well, former servicemen with sound judgment are investigating today's opportunities in the United States Air Force.
Why? Because in the new age of space, the Air Force needs skilled former servicemen.
If you have the necessary background, you'll receive top training in promising career fields such as electronics,
jet mechanics, radar, and missile systems.
You'll get good starting rank, a guaranteed annual income, and steady advancement.
What's more, you'll get 30-day paid annual vacations, tax-free allowances for food, quarters, and clothing, plus other fine benefits.
See your local Air Force recruiter today about a secure position and a bright future in the age of space.
You'll agree that today and tomorrow, you're better off in the space age Air Force.
And that's more than just a slogan, it's good advice.
Now back to Harry Wisner.
Although the Detroit Red Wings are no longer the kingpins of the National Hockey League,
their star, Gordy Howe, continues as one of the outstanding players in the history of the game.
This remarkable right-winger was only 23 years old when he became the youngest winner of the Art Ross Trophy
as the league scoring champion in 1950 and 51.
Howe led the league's scores for four consecutive seasons, a feat never equaled before or since.
His tremendous play was a vital factor in the string of Detroit's hockey titles
that eventually reached seven before the Red Wings tumbled to second place in the season of 1955 and 56.
Howe was also voted the Hart Trophy twice in succession as the circuit's most valuable player.
Other noteworthy accomplishments in the career of this sensational hockey star include
topping the 80-point total four years in a row and the 40-goal mark three straight times.
And it should come as no surprise to hockey followers that Gordy Howe has filled the right-wing position
on the official NHL All-Star Team eight straight seasons in his first 11 years in the league.
Today, at an age when some players are finished, Gordy Howe is still in his prime.
He moves as gracefully as ever, the smoothest stick handler in hockey,
with his shooting eyes still among the best in the business.
The great red-wing player is second only to Montreal's Maurice Richard among the game's all-time goal-getters.
Richard, in 16 seasons, is the only man to score more than 500 goals.
Howe is nearing 400. No one else, either past or present, is close.
Gordy Howe, born May 31, 1928, is hockey's most versatile player.
Not only does he shoot from both left and right, which allows him to play on either wing
and shoot accurately from any angle, but he is so effective on defense
that he has been used as a defenseman in games during the past few years
when the Red Wings were trying to make a one-goal lead hold-up.
Howe's biggest booster is the Red Wings' general manager, Jack Adams.
But other hockey men in the high echelon, such as Muz Patrick,
the New York Rangers' general manager, are just as high on Gordy Howe.
Gordy Howe is the greatest player who ever played hockey, says Patrick, and I've seen them all.
Adams, who has been on hockey 42 years, 31 of them with the Red Wings,
calls Howe the perfect hockey player.
Except for an injury in 1954, Howe has been virtually indestructible
since he came up to the Red Wings in 1946 and 47.
Starting on the 9th of January the 19th, 1949, Howe played through a record 382 consecutive league games,
not missing a game in six years. His streak finally was stopped on November 3, 1954 by a severe shoulder injury.
Gordy Howe's greatest individual effort may have come in the game of December 25, 1956, Christmas night,
at Madison Square Garden in New York, when he netted a three-goal hat-trick for the 12th time
and added three assists as the Red Wings routed the New York Rangers 8-1.
Gordy Howe scored his first major league goal against goalie Turk Broda at the Toronto Maple Leafs in October of 1946.
He had only seven all that year.
In his second season, Howe was moved up to Detroit's first line with the veterans Sid Abel and Ted Lindsay.
The trio soon became the most powerful line in the game.
Gordy Howe didn't hit his stride until his fourth season with the Detroit Red Wings.
He won his first scoring championship in his fifth year, and in the next four years he rolled up an amazing total of 172 goals,
an average of 43 per 70 game season.
Gordy Howe is the Charlie Gerringer of hockey, his old coach Tommy Ivan once remarked.
By that I mean that he has both the ability and the knack for making the difficult plays look easy and routine.
Since he entered the National Hockey League, Gordy Howe has had some spectacular fights.
Most memorable perhaps is the one he had with his archrival Maurice Richard.
The two stars tangled one night in Montreal, and the officials stood by and let them go at it.
Most hockey brawls involved threatening gestures, a few shoves, a tossed glove or two, and an occasional wallop.
But this one was a honey.
Gordy Howe came out of it with a few bruises, but Richard did not leave with the Canadians when they departed for New York the next day.
A majority of Gordy Howe's fights on the ice came early in his career.
In many of them he became involved in brawls while coming to the aid of his lively 5 foot 8 inch ex-teammate Ted Lindsey.
Jack Adams, Red Wings General Manager, says he finally had to put handcuffs on him.
He ordered him to refrain from using his fists.
As he says, Gordy Howe is more valuable to us playing hockey.
No one in hockey will dispute that point.
Now before you meet our special guest, Gordy Howe in person, and hear about his greatest sports thrill,
here is a message of interest to all young men who want to go places faster.
Recent servicemen, how much are you worth?
Well, probably more than you think, because your past military experience may bring you a good position with a promising future.
Where? In the United States Air Force.
You see, the Air Force urgently needs trained technicians to help run the new age of space.
And former servicemen like yourself can cash in military experience and skills for a promising Air Force career.
If qualified, you'll receive the finest training available in such important fields as guided missiles, jet mechanics, radar, electronics.
With this special knowledge, you'll advance as quickly as your ability allows.
What's more, the Air Force gives you a guaranteed annual income, 30 days paid vacation every year,
tax-free allowances for food, quarters and clothing, and many other benefits.
See your local Air Force recruiter soon and discover that today and tomorrow you're better off in the Space Age Air Force.
Now back to Harry Wisner.
Gordy Howe, what was your greatest sports thrill?
Well, Harry, I'd have to say it was a combination of many things.
Actually, the first one I would have to put ahead of the other two would be the fifth year in the league.
I won the scoring race, I also placed on the first All-Star Club and won the Most Valuable Player Award.
That was a great thrill to me.
The second, I would say, was our second Stanley Cup.
The first one I was unable to play due to the head injury which I had.
But the second one I was in the lineup all the way and that was a great thrill.
And the third, I might add, was the first game I ever played.
And I scored a goal in the second period against Turk Broda of the Toronto Maple Leaf.
And undoubtedly that was the greatest thrill because of all my years out in Western Canada,
all I heard was Turk Broda this, Turk Broda that because they broadcast the Toronto games out to Western Canada.
So scoring against Turk Broda, I would definitely say, was one of my greatest thrills.
As a top hockey player yourself, Gordy, who would you rate as the three best players you've ever seen or played against?
Terry, that would be a pretty tough question, but I'd have to go along with Melch Smith and also Rocket Richard.
And I've always said that we never mention our own players in this lineup.
But now that Ted Lindsay is over with the Chicago Blackhawks, I'd have to pick Ted too.
Gordy, how much weight and equipment does a hockey player carry on him, including skates?
Well, I'd say among the forwards, it just depends on your size.
But an average forward weighing about 170 would wear roughly anywhere from 23 to 25 pounds of equipment.
On the other hand, your goaltenders who are heavily padded will go anywhere around 30 to 35 pounds.
Our defensemen also, who are the bigger members of the club, they wear a little heavier padding around the shoulders,
which permits them to do all the heavy body check.
And therefore, being bigger and a little heavier equipped, I'd say they go close to 30 pounds.
I've heard it said that a hockey puck at times travels close to 100 miles per hour.
How do you get this tremendous speed in your shots?
I'd definitely say it travels over 100, I would say, because the simple fact that
while playing in Omaha, a young fellow by the name of George Hominuk was put through a test
and he was out shooting the puck for over a half hour, and he finally got the puck into the giving measurement.
And that puck at the time, after a half hour of shooting, and he was tired and he had to control it,
he got it up in around 90 miles per hour.
So I'd say an individual such as Gene Valable of Montreal, Canada, when going with the puck towards the net,
can get that shot away with accurate timing and get it close to the heel of the stick, such as you would in golf,
he'd put that thing well up over 100, I do believe that.
Gordy, would you tell us about the incident in the playoff game several years ago
that resulted in a serious injury to you and almost ended your hockey career?
Well, Harry, I'd have to say I'm a little in the dark on this subject for the simple reason that
it was a playoff game, it was against the Toronto Maple Leafs and it was the first game of the series.
And I was coming down, checking Teeter Kennedy at the time, and he was going, I'd say, down the left board,
being a right winger, I had to check him, that's my position.
So as I was catching up to him and coming along the board, all I remember is he making a pass into center ice
and being a right hand, that stick come around, and that's about the last I remember.
When I saw the stick coming up close to the head and trying to get out of the way, I guess I didn't
because I went down, and the last thing I remembered was that, but the first thing I do remember
when I come through was they were shaving the head, and I haven't got that much hair on my head,
believe me Harry, and it worried me quite a bit.
Gordy, did hockey players at one time have a clause in their contracts that paid them so much money
for stitches when they needed patching up?
That's right Harry, but it actually only lasted two years for good reason too.
The first year they were paying ten cents a stitch, and the company at the time were losing a lot of money.
And the second year they thought they'd change the program a little and give five or ten cents a cut,
which required a stitch, and they were losing, so they gave it up after two years.
Gordy, what's the funniest thing that ever happened to you on the ice?
The funniest thing Harry, actually I was embarrassed more than hurt, and that was I'd lost a couple of front teeth
in the first year, nobody knew I was wearing false teeth, and a game against New York Rangers in Detroit
with an old goaltender and a beloved one around the New York area, Charlie Rainer, he was in the nets at the time.
I cut across in front of the net, tried to get a backhand away, and doing so a defenseman flicked me under the jaw with a stick.
That permitted the teeth to run free, they went to the ice, and I dove at them, believe me,
and I cupped them in my hand and I held my mouth more or less as I put them back in place.
The referee and Charlie Rainer come over and asked me if I was hurt, and I said not really, I said I'm just teeth hunting at the time.
Thank you very much, Gordy Hall, the Detroit Red Wings, one of hockey's outstanding players.