WEBVTT 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:03.379 Apple podcast title, The Deep Dive, Mr. Hockey's 00:00:03.379 --> 00:00:06.219 Unbreakable Legacy, Gordie Howe. Apple podcast 00:00:06.219 --> 00:00:09.619 description. Join us on this deep dive as we 00:00:09.619 --> 00:00:12.519 unpack the unmatched six -decade career of Gordie 00:00:12.519 --> 00:00:15.400 Howe. From his Depression -era roots to playing 00:00:15.400 --> 00:00:18.420 pro hockey in his 50s, discover how Mr. Hockey 00:00:18.420 --> 00:00:21.039 reshaped the NHL, pioneered player rights, and 00:00:21.039 --> 00:00:24.289 became a pop culture icon. Keywords, Gordie Howe, 00:00:24.289 --> 00:00:27.629 Mr. Hockey, NHL History, WHA, Hockey Legends, 00:00:27.870 --> 00:00:30.870 Detroit Red Wings. I want you to think for a 00:00:30.870 --> 00:00:34.969 second about what it feels like to age out of 00:00:34.969 --> 00:00:37.189 your physical prime. Yeah, that is not a fun 00:00:37.189 --> 00:00:39.270 thing to think about. Right, but you know the 00:00:39.270 --> 00:00:41.560 feeling. Like when the knees start to creak a 00:00:41.560 --> 00:00:44.280 little louder. Oh, yeah. Or it takes extra day 00:00:44.280 --> 00:00:46.200 to recover from just a casual pickup game on 00:00:46.200 --> 00:00:47.899 the weekend. Definitely. Now, I want you to imagine 00:00:47.899 --> 00:00:49.960 playing one of the most brutal, high impact, 00:00:50.200 --> 00:00:52.579 bone crunching sports in the world. And hockey 00:00:52.579 --> 00:00:55.420 in that era was especially brutal. Exactly. And 00:00:55.420 --> 00:00:57.729 not just playing it, but dominating it. In your 00:00:57.729 --> 00:01:00.969 50s. It's just wild to even process. It really 00:01:00.969 --> 00:01:04.090 is. So today we are taking a deep dive into a 00:01:04.090 --> 00:01:07.349 comprehensive biographical Wikipedia article 00:01:07.349 --> 00:01:11.689 about the life, the mythology, and the unparalleled 00:01:11.689 --> 00:01:15.209 legacy of Gordon Gordy Howe. A true legend. Our 00:01:15.209 --> 00:01:18.409 mission today is to figure out how... A mildly 00:01:18.409 --> 00:01:21.269 dyslexic kid from a Depression -era farmhouse 00:01:21.269 --> 00:01:23.930 grew up to become the most complete player in 00:01:23.930 --> 00:01:27.049 the history of hockey and how he completely reshaped 00:01:27.049 --> 00:01:29.129 the business and the culture of the sport along 00:01:29.129 --> 00:01:31.909 the way. Okay, let's unpack this. It really is 00:01:31.909 --> 00:01:33.989 a remarkable trajectory. I mean, a lot of people 00:01:33.989 --> 00:01:37.349 listening likely know Howe by his famous trademarked 00:01:37.349 --> 00:01:39.689 nickname, right? Mr. Hockey. Oh, yeah. But what 00:01:39.689 --> 00:01:41.930 we really need to understand to grasp his impact 00:01:41.930 --> 00:01:44.689 is the sheer scale of his career. It spanned 00:01:44.689 --> 00:01:47.760 an absurd... Six decades. Six decades. Right. 00:01:47.819 --> 00:01:49.480 He didn't just play through different eras of 00:01:49.480 --> 00:01:51.859 hockey. He was the primary force that caused 00:01:51.859 --> 00:01:54.739 the evolution of the modern game. Wow. From inadvertently 00:01:54.739 --> 00:01:57.819 exposing the need for player rights to acting 00:01:57.819 --> 00:01:59.680 as the catalyst for international recruitment 00:01:59.680 --> 00:02:03.140 and even massive league expansion. Gordie Howe's 00:02:03.140 --> 00:02:04.920 fingerprints are on the structural foundation 00:02:04.920 --> 00:02:08.599 of the sport we see today. So to get how he became 00:02:08.599 --> 00:02:11.719 that foundation, the story starts in 1928. Right. 00:02:11.819 --> 00:02:15.039 In a farmhouse in Floral, Saskatchewan. He was 00:02:15.039 --> 00:02:17.639 one of nine siblings. And right off the bat, 00:02:17.800 --> 00:02:20.460 he was just built differently. How so? Well, 00:02:20.560 --> 00:02:23.740 he grew so fast physically that in his mid -teens, 00:02:23.740 --> 00:02:27.060 he was already six feet tall. Wow, for the 1940s, 00:02:27.060 --> 00:02:29.629 that's huge. It is. Doctors actually thought 00:02:29.629 --> 00:02:31.969 he had a calcium deficiency. Really? Yeah. They 00:02:31.969 --> 00:02:33.770 made him do chin -ups to strengthen his spine. 00:02:33.969 --> 00:02:37.430 But what I find fascinating is how he weaponized 00:02:37.430 --> 00:02:40.669 his natural physical quirks on the ice. Like, 00:02:40.689 --> 00:02:44.310 he was ambidextrous. Ah, right. And since everyone 00:02:44.310 --> 00:02:46.849 used straight blades back then, he could seamlessly 00:02:46.849 --> 00:02:49.509 shoot left -handed or right -handed. Which completely 00:02:49.509 --> 00:02:52.210 scrambles a defenseman's brain. I bet. I mean, 00:02:52.210 --> 00:02:54.270 think about it. If you're defending a rush, your 00:02:54.270 --> 00:02:57.509 entire positional geometry is based on the attacker's 00:02:57.509 --> 00:02:59.229 handedness. Right. You try to force them to their 00:02:59.229 --> 00:03:00.849 weak side. Exactly. You try to force them to 00:03:00.849 --> 00:03:03.289 their backhand. But how Ed didn't have a weak 00:03:03.289 --> 00:03:06.610 side. That is terrifying. It is. If you forced 00:03:06.610 --> 00:03:09.169 him left, he just switched his grip on that straight 00:03:09.169 --> 00:03:11.569 stick. And suddenly he's on his forehand again, 00:03:11.669 --> 00:03:14.909 ready to unleash a shot. It was this massive, 00:03:14.990 --> 00:03:17.710 unpredictable advantage that defenders simply 00:03:17.710 --> 00:03:20.229 didn't know how to calculate at the time. But 00:03:20.229 --> 00:03:24.180 even with all that natural talent. You really 00:03:24.180 --> 00:03:26.680 have to wonder about his early mindset. Yeah. 00:03:27.000 --> 00:03:29.939 Because at age 15, he goes to a training camp 00:03:29.939 --> 00:03:34.000 in Winnipeg and plays so well that the New York 00:03:34.000 --> 00:03:36.400 Rangers want to sign him. The Rangers? Yeah, 00:03:36.460 --> 00:03:39.159 to a C form, which would give them his NHL rights. 00:03:39.460 --> 00:03:41.740 They wanted to send him to a prestigious Catholic 00:03:41.740 --> 00:03:44.719 high school in Saskatchewan. known for producing 00:03:44.719 --> 00:03:47.039 elite hockey players. Sounds like a dream offer. 00:03:47.259 --> 00:03:50.159 It does. And this 15 -year -old kid rejects the 00:03:50.159 --> 00:03:52.120 offer from the New York Rangers. Just says no. 00:03:52.460 --> 00:03:53.979 Simply because he didn't think it was a good 00:03:53.979 --> 00:03:56.020 fit, and he just wanted to go back home to play 00:03:56.020 --> 00:03:58.599 with his friends. That's incredible. Right. So 00:03:58.599 --> 00:04:01.159 was he just a kid getting homesick, or did he 00:04:01.159 --> 00:04:03.219 actually see a better path? I think it's a bit 00:04:03.219 --> 00:04:06.340 of both, honestly. But it perfectly illustrates 00:04:06.340 --> 00:04:09.180 the prairie values that defined his entire life. 00:04:09.379 --> 00:04:11.439 The family had moved to Saskatoon when he was 00:04:11.439 --> 00:04:13.659 an infant, right as the Great Depression hit. 00:04:13.759 --> 00:04:17.220 Rough timing. Very. His father worked as a laborer, 00:04:17.220 --> 00:04:19.360 and young Gordy actually dropped out of school 00:04:19.360 --> 00:04:21.860 to work construction alongside his dad in the 00:04:21.860 --> 00:04:25.019 summers. Oh, wow. Yeah, that grueling physical 00:04:25.019 --> 00:04:28.879 labor during a desperate economic time instilled 00:04:28.879 --> 00:04:32.100 a very grounded, community -focused work ethic 00:04:32.100 --> 00:04:35.269 in him. So he wasn't about the glamour. Not at 00:04:35.269 --> 00:04:37.709 all. He wasn't chasing the bright lights or the 00:04:37.709 --> 00:04:40.790 prestige of the Rangers organization. His comfort 00:04:40.790 --> 00:04:43.750 level was deeply rooted in his community. And 00:04:43.750 --> 00:04:46.509 clearly it didn't hurt his prospects. Nope. The 00:04:46.509 --> 00:04:48.750 Detroit Red Wings eventually noticed him, signed 00:04:48.750 --> 00:04:52.629 him, and by 1946, at the age of 18, he's making 00:04:52.629 --> 00:04:55.990 his NHL debut and scoring in his very first game. 00:04:56.189 --> 00:04:59.300 Incredible debut. Yeah. And that actually explains 00:04:59.300 --> 00:05:01.560 one of my absolute favorite details in the source 00:05:01.560 --> 00:05:04.060 material. Oh, the jersey number. Yes. When he 00:05:04.060 --> 00:05:05.500 started with Detroit, he actually wore number 00:05:05.500 --> 00:05:08.399 17. Which most people don't know. Right. But 00:05:08.399 --> 00:05:10.500 he ended up switching to number nine. And the 00:05:10.500 --> 00:05:13.660 reason he switched is strictly logistical. It 00:05:13.660 --> 00:05:17.180 wasn't about branding. Not at all. Lower numbers 00:05:17.180 --> 00:05:20.300 entitled the players to a better lower Pullman 00:05:20.300 --> 00:05:23.399 sleeping birth on the train rides for road games. 00:05:23.560 --> 00:05:26.779 That is amazing. It wasn't about ego or trying 00:05:26.779 --> 00:05:29.120 to look cool. It was just a working class kid 00:05:29.120 --> 00:05:31.180 wanting a better night's sleep on a moving train. 00:05:31.360 --> 00:05:34.180 What's fascinating here is how a completely mundane 00:05:34.180 --> 00:05:37.939 practical choice accidentally birthed an absolute 00:05:37.939 --> 00:05:41.620 icon. Literally. That number nine became a symbol 00:05:41.620 --> 00:05:44.199 of excellence across the entire league. Yeah. 00:05:44.259 --> 00:05:47.360 It became so iconic that a young Wayne Gretzky 00:05:47.360 --> 00:05:50.399 actually doubled it to 99 as a direct tribute 00:05:50.399 --> 00:05:52.420 to Howe because number nine was already taken. 00:05:52.579 --> 00:05:55.120 Wow. The legacy of that Pullman birth choice 00:05:55.120 --> 00:05:57.860 rippled through an entire century of hockey history. 00:05:57.980 --> 00:05:59.740 Now, since we all know a Gordie Howe hat trick 00:05:59.740 --> 00:06:02.220 is a goal and assist at a fight. Classic. It 00:06:02.220 --> 00:06:04.319 is wild to look at the actual stats. Here's where 00:06:04.319 --> 00:06:07.060 it gets really interesting. Okay. He only recorded 00:06:07.060 --> 00:06:09.540 two of those namesake hat tricks in his entire 00:06:09.540 --> 00:06:13.139 career. Two. That's it. Once in 1953 and once 00:06:13.139 --> 00:06:16.339 in 1954. Two. So with a reputation like that, 00:06:16.379 --> 00:06:19.120 you have to ask, was he just not fighting as 00:06:19.120 --> 00:06:21.600 much as the myth suggests? Or is there something 00:06:21.600 --> 00:06:23.699 else going on? Oh, it's definitely the latter. 00:06:24.199 --> 00:06:26.560 And it was highly calculated. Really? Yeah. He 00:06:26.560 --> 00:06:28.540 didn't have more of those specific hat tricks 00:06:28.540 --> 00:06:31.199 because he established a level of physical dominance 00:06:31.199 --> 00:06:35.240 so terrifying early on that eventually no one 00:06:35.240 --> 00:06:37.079 in the league wanted to drop the gloves with 00:06:37.079 --> 00:06:39.620 him. They were just too scared. Exactly. Yeah. 00:06:39.660 --> 00:06:42.740 I mean, early in his career, his coach, Jack 00:06:42.740 --> 00:06:44.899 Adams, actually had to pull him aside and say, 00:06:44.959 --> 00:06:47.480 I know you can fight. Now can you show me you 00:06:47.480 --> 00:06:49.759 can play hockey? He had to prove he wasn't just 00:06:49.759 --> 00:06:53.439 a goon. Precisely. But the defining moment for 00:06:53.439 --> 00:06:57.160 his intimidating reputation came in 1959 at Madison 00:06:57.160 --> 00:06:59.819 Square Garden. What happened there? Howe got 00:06:59.819 --> 00:07:01.959 into it with the New York Rangers' notorious 00:07:01.959 --> 00:07:05.360 enforcer, Lou Fontenot, and Howe soundly and 00:07:05.360 --> 00:07:08.839 systematically defeated him. Oh, man. After that 00:07:08.839 --> 00:07:10.740 brutal display, the rest of the league learned 00:07:10.740 --> 00:07:13.720 its lesson. Howe possessed what one writer called 00:07:13.720 --> 00:07:16.639 prairie justice. Prairie justice. I like that. 00:07:16.800 --> 00:07:20.300 If you crossed him, the retaliation was inevitable 00:07:20.300 --> 00:07:23.579 and severe. It was tactical intimidation that 00:07:23.579 --> 00:07:25.600 bought him the physical space on the ice he needed 00:07:25.600 --> 00:07:28.160 to score. That makes total sense. And the sources 00:07:28.160 --> 00:07:31.040 detail these surprising clashes with other legends 00:07:31.040 --> 00:07:33.879 of the game, too. Oh, yeah. Some big names. Take 00:07:33.879 --> 00:07:37.339 Maurice Rocket Richard from the Montreal Canadiens. 00:07:37.600 --> 00:07:41.759 In 1946, Richard hits Howe with a hard check 00:07:41.759 --> 00:07:46.480 and an elbow to the chin. Ouch. Yeah. A teammate. 00:07:46.810 --> 00:07:48.930 Sid Abel tries to intervene. He gets his nose 00:07:48.930 --> 00:07:51.889 broken. Chaos. Complete chaos. And then later 00:07:51.889 --> 00:07:55.189 on, Howe hits Richard, knocking him down, and 00:07:55.189 --> 00:07:57.290 Howe actually starts laughing about it. Laughing. 00:07:57.449 --> 00:07:59.569 Laughing, which he immediately regretted because 00:07:59.569 --> 00:08:01.529 then eight of Richard's teammates jumped him. 00:08:01.629 --> 00:08:03.430 Yeah, you don't laugh at the rocket in Montreal. 00:08:03.790 --> 00:08:06.569 Lesson learned, I guess. But that physical dominance 00:08:06.569 --> 00:08:09.410 was universally recognized by his peers, even 00:08:09.410 --> 00:08:12.240 his fiercest rivals. Like who? Well, Jean Beliveau, 00:08:12.360 --> 00:08:14.720 another Canadian's legend, wrote in his autobiography 00:08:14.720 --> 00:08:17.180 that trying to strong arm Gordie Howe off the 00:08:17.180 --> 00:08:19.759 puck in the corner was akin to wrestling with 00:08:19.759 --> 00:08:21.879 a telephone pole. Telephone pole. It was just 00:08:21.879 --> 00:08:24.540 immovable. Then you have Stan Mikita of the Chicago 00:08:24.540 --> 00:08:28.100 Blackhawks. Mikita slashes Howe during his rookie 00:08:28.100 --> 00:08:31.639 year and literally calls him an old man who didn't 00:08:31.639 --> 00:08:34.730 belong on the ice. Oh, bad move. You do not say 00:08:34.730 --> 00:08:36.590 that to Gordie Howe. No, you do not. Later that 00:08:36.590 --> 00:08:39.309 same season, Howe exacts his revenge and hits 00:08:39.309 --> 00:08:42.169 Makita so hard he gives him a concussion. Wow. 00:08:42.529 --> 00:08:44.730 Yeah, Bobby Hull summed it up by saying Howe 00:08:44.730 --> 00:08:47.730 was strong as a bull and tougher than a knight 00:08:47.730 --> 00:08:50.850 in jail. That's a great quote. Right. But with 00:08:50.850 --> 00:08:52.970 a career spanning that many decades, you really 00:08:52.970 --> 00:08:56.289 have to wonder, was his longevity really a product 00:08:56.289 --> 00:08:59.820 of superhuman resilience? Or did the slower, 00:08:59.919 --> 00:09:03.299 less physically demanding pace of the early NHL 00:09:03.299 --> 00:09:05.480 just allow players to hang around longer? Well, 00:09:05.500 --> 00:09:07.240 it was definitely superhuman resilience. And 00:09:07.240 --> 00:09:09.019 we know this because of the sheer amount of punishment 00:09:09.019 --> 00:09:11.519 he absorbed. Right. This brings us to a pivotal, 00:09:11.620 --> 00:09:14.240 genuinely terrifying moment in the 1950 playoffs 00:09:14.240 --> 00:09:16.820 that answers that exact question. What about? 00:09:17.000 --> 00:09:18.980 How attempts to check Ted Kennedy of the Maple 00:09:18.980 --> 00:09:22.019 Leafs into the boards misses and goes headfirst 00:09:22.019 --> 00:09:25.110 into the barrier. He fractured his skull, broke 00:09:25.110 --> 00:09:28.009 his cheekbone and nose, and the injury was so 00:09:28.009 --> 00:09:30.509 severe he was rushed to the hospital for emergency 00:09:30.509 --> 00:09:32.809 surgery to relieve the pressure on his brain. 00:09:33.070 --> 00:09:37.289 A fractured skull in 1950. That is a career -ending, 00:09:37.370 --> 00:09:40.029 life -threatening injury in any era. For almost 00:09:40.029 --> 00:09:44.450 anyone else, yes. So what's in sight here is 00:09:44.450 --> 00:09:46.769 his recovery. He missed the rest of the playoffs 00:09:46.769 --> 00:09:49.149 that year. Naturally. But he returned the very 00:09:49.149 --> 00:09:52.690 next season, 1950 -51, and he didn't just ease 00:09:52.690 --> 00:09:57.220 back into it. He played every single game. are 00:09:57.220 --> 00:10:00.039 you kidding me he led the nhl in goals assists 00:10:00.039 --> 00:10:02.840 and total points winning the scoring title by 00:10:02.840 --> 00:10:05.559 a massive 20 -point margin that is unbelievable 00:10:05.559 --> 00:10:07.940 that injury didn't end him it kicked off a four 00:10:07.940 --> 00:10:10.340 -year run of dominance where he won four straight 00:10:10.340 --> 00:10:12.299 scoring titles which was something the league 00:10:12.299 --> 00:10:14.379 had never seen before he was so dominant on the 00:10:14.379 --> 00:10:16.460 ice that you'd assume he was the undisputed king 00:10:16.460 --> 00:10:18.600 of the franchise off the ice too you would think 00:10:18.600 --> 00:10:21.120 so but that brings up a really shocking contradiction 00:10:21.120 --> 00:10:24.559 in his career we jump forward to the late 1960s 00:10:24.840 --> 00:10:28.100 The league has expanded. Howe is on a line dubbed 00:10:28.100 --> 00:10:31.799 the Production Line 3 with Alex DelVecchio and 00:10:31.799 --> 00:10:34.759 Frank Mahovlich. Classic lineup. Yeah. Howe turns 00:10:34.759 --> 00:10:38.240 40 years old, and he goes out and scores 103 00:10:38.240 --> 00:10:42.299 points. At 40. It is the only time in his entire 00:10:42.299 --> 00:10:45.740 NHL career he breaks the 100 -point mark, and 00:10:45.740 --> 00:10:49.220 he does it at age 40. Incredible. But then he 00:10:49.220 --> 00:10:52.179 discovers a gut -wrenching secret. He finds out 00:10:52.179 --> 00:10:54.639 he is only the third highest paid player on his 00:10:54.639 --> 00:10:57.600 own team. Wait, really? Yes. He's making just 00:10:57.600 --> 00:11:00.480 $45 ,000. His historical implication of this 00:11:00.480 --> 00:11:02.940 cannot be overstated. It's crazy. For decades, 00:11:03.179 --> 00:11:05.659 Howe had been the ultimate company man. He was 00:11:05.659 --> 00:11:08.179 known for being well -mannered, trusting, and 00:11:08.179 --> 00:11:10.200 he never questioned the salary the owners paid 00:11:10.200 --> 00:11:12.460 him. He just wanted to play. Right. The sources 00:11:12.460 --> 00:11:15.340 frame this as his loyalty being heavily exploited 00:11:15.340 --> 00:11:17.679 by the Detroit Red Wings ownership, which then 00:11:17.679 --> 00:11:19.620 became the catalyst for his former line mate 00:11:19.620 --> 00:11:21.860 Ted Lindsey's campaign for higher wages. And 00:11:21.860 --> 00:11:24.000 we should clarify here. Yes. We are just reporting 00:11:24.000 --> 00:11:26.059 the historical context provided in the sources 00:11:26.059 --> 00:11:28.100 regarding this labor dispute. We're not taking 00:11:28.100 --> 00:11:30.919 a side on the unionization efforts or endorsing 00:11:30.919 --> 00:11:33.840 any viewpoints about the owners themselves. Right. 00:11:33.980 --> 00:11:36.049 Just looking at the history. But according to 00:11:36.049 --> 00:11:38.809 the texts, this specific revelation about Howe's 00:11:38.809 --> 00:11:41.669 salary was the nucleus of the movement that eventually 00:11:41.669 --> 00:11:43.970 became the National Hockey League Players Association 00:11:43.970 --> 00:11:47.409 or the NHLPA. And when Red Wings owner Bruce 00:11:47.409 --> 00:11:50.610 Norris finally did bump Howe's salary up to $100 00:11:50.610 --> 00:11:54.769 ,000, he actually blamed Howe's wife, Colleen, 00:11:54.929 --> 00:11:58.009 for making the demand. Wow. Deflecting the blame. 00:11:58.169 --> 00:12:00.590 Yeah. And Colleen Howe is a massive part of this 00:12:00.590 --> 00:12:03.190 story. Huge. They met at a bowling alley when 00:12:03.190 --> 00:12:06.090 she was just 17 years old. And she wasn't just 00:12:06.090 --> 00:12:08.549 a supportive spouse. She was an absolute trailblazer 00:12:08.549 --> 00:12:10.730 in sports business. Way ahead of her time. She 00:12:10.730 --> 00:12:13.190 managed Gordy's finances. She was one of the 00:12:13.190 --> 00:12:15.610 founders of the Detroit Junior Red Wings. And 00:12:15.610 --> 00:12:17.730 she had the incredible foresight to register 00:12:17.730 --> 00:12:20.570 the trademarks for Mr. Hockey and Mrs. Hockey. 00:12:20.840 --> 00:12:23.500 If we connect this to the bigger picture, Colleen's 00:12:23.500 --> 00:12:26.620 savvy business acumen fundamentally changed the 00:12:26.620 --> 00:12:29.399 trajectory of Gordy's life and really the concept 00:12:29.399 --> 00:12:32.139 of player agency itself. She protected him. She 00:12:32.139 --> 00:12:35.100 did. In an era where players were largely treated 00:12:35.100 --> 00:12:38.100 as disposable assets, Colleen stepped in and 00:12:38.100 --> 00:12:40.559 empowered Gordy to take control of his own destiny. 00:12:40.820 --> 00:12:43.559 She recognized the immense value of his brand 00:12:43.559 --> 00:12:45.960 long before sports marketing was a recognized 00:12:45.960 --> 00:12:49.039 formal field. Her negotiations set the stage 00:12:49.039 --> 00:12:51.740 for the second. arguably most unbelievable act 00:12:51.740 --> 00:12:55.120 of his career. Because after 25 years with Detroit, 00:12:55.340 --> 00:12:58.559 a chronic wrist problem forces Howe to retire 00:12:58.559 --> 00:13:02.179 after the 1970 -71 season. Right. He was 43. 00:13:02.480 --> 00:13:05.460 He's 43. He takes a desk job in the Red Wings 00:13:05.460 --> 00:13:08.019 front office. Doing what? Not much, apparently. 00:13:08.179 --> 00:13:11.120 He's dissatisfied. He's bored. He has no real 00:13:11.120 --> 00:13:13.259 influence in the office. Yeah, he's an athlete, 00:13:13.320 --> 00:13:16.179 not an executive. Exactly. So he gets surgery 00:13:16.179 --> 00:13:18.679 on his wrist. leaves his desk job, and comes 00:13:18.679 --> 00:13:22.200 out of retirement at age 46. Age 46. And he doesn't 00:13:22.200 --> 00:13:24.879 go back to the NHL. He joins the Houston Arrows 00:13:24.879 --> 00:13:26.960 of the newly formed World Hockey Association, 00:13:27.259 --> 00:13:29.700 the WHA. And he makes this deeply disruptive 00:13:29.700 --> 00:13:32.600 career move for a very personal reason. Exactly. 00:13:32.879 --> 00:13:35.000 The Arrows had signed his two sons, Mark and 00:13:35.000 --> 00:13:37.720 Marty. Gordy joined just so he could achieve 00:13:37.720 --> 00:13:40.179 a family dream and play professional hockey alongside 00:13:40.179 --> 00:13:42.740 his kids. That is so cool. And he didn't just 00:13:42.740 --> 00:13:45.669 show up for the photo walks. At age 46, he scores 00:13:45.669 --> 00:13:49.289 100 points and wins the league MVP award. Unbelievable. 00:13:49.309 --> 00:13:51.490 He leads the Arrows to back -to -back championships, 00:13:51.870 --> 00:13:55.509 and by the time he's 50, his son Mark has a baby, 00:13:55.590 --> 00:13:57.970 making Gordie Howell the first grandfather to 00:13:57.970 --> 00:14:00.549 ever play professional hockey. This raises an 00:14:00.549 --> 00:14:02.789 important question, though. What happens when 00:14:02.789 --> 00:14:05.370 a sports monopoly is legitimately challenged? 00:14:05.710 --> 00:14:08.330 Yeah, the NHL wasn't happy. Not at all. Howe's 00:14:08.330 --> 00:14:11.509 jump to the WHA was a seismic shock to the hockey 00:14:11.509 --> 00:14:14.529 establishment. His presence gave this fledgling 00:14:14.529 --> 00:14:17.470 rival league immediate, undeniable legitimacy. 00:14:17.950 --> 00:14:20.169 People wanted to see him. Exactly. They could 00:14:20.169 --> 00:14:22.470 suddenly fill stadiums because fans wanted to 00:14:22.470 --> 00:14:25.509 see Mr. Hockey. The NHL went into an absolute 00:14:25.509 --> 00:14:28.309 panic. I bet. The increased competition for talent 00:14:28.309 --> 00:14:31.110 forced the insular NHL to completely rethink 00:14:31.110 --> 00:14:33.590 its strategy. They had to start recruiting professional 00:14:33.590 --> 00:14:36.129 European players just to keep up with the talent 00:14:36.129 --> 00:14:38.850 drain. Wow. And they had to rapidly expand into 00:14:38.850 --> 00:14:41.649 new geographical markets to capture fans before 00:14:41.649 --> 00:14:44.669 the WHA did. So he changed the whole map. Gordie 00:14:44.669 --> 00:14:48.169 Howe's move literally changed the global geography 00:14:48.169 --> 00:14:50.710 and the demographics of professional hockey, 00:14:50.909 --> 00:14:53.789 paving the way for the eventual merger of the 00:14:53.789 --> 00:14:56.330 two leagues. And when that merger finally happens, 00:14:56.590 --> 00:15:00.649 the Hartford Whalers join the NHL. Detroit still 00:15:00.649 --> 00:15:03.549 technically held his NHL rights. But they made 00:15:03.549 --> 00:15:06.070 a gentleman's agreement not to reclaim him. Good 00:15:06.070 --> 00:15:09.730 on them. So at age 51, he plays all 80 games 00:15:09.730 --> 00:15:12.750 of the NHL schedule for Hartford. All 80 games 00:15:12.750 --> 00:15:15.850 at 51. He puts up 41 points. They even put him 00:15:15.850 --> 00:15:18.470 on a line with Dave Keon and Bobby Hall. What 00:15:18.470 --> 00:15:20.929 a line. And at the All -Star game that year. 00:15:21.320 --> 00:15:23.779 held in Detroit. The crowd gave him a standing 00:15:23.779 --> 00:15:26.240 ovation that lasted so long he had to skate to 00:15:26.240 --> 00:15:28.399 the bench just to get them to stop cheering so 00:15:28.399 --> 00:15:30.039 they can play the game. That must have been chills. 00:15:30.360 --> 00:15:32.580 Oh, definitely. He's 51, skating in his fifth 00:15:32.580 --> 00:15:35.200 decade of All -Star Games alongside a 19 -year 00:15:35.200 --> 00:15:37.840 -old Wayne Gretzky. It is a passing of the torch 00:15:37.840 --> 00:15:40.320 that you rarely get to see so perfectly orchestrated 00:15:40.320 --> 00:15:42.940 in sports history. Yeah. The young phenom who 00:15:42.940 --> 00:15:45.179 idolized him playing alongside the master on 00:15:45.179 --> 00:15:47.480 his final lap. And just to put a cherry on top 00:15:47.480 --> 00:15:51.549 of this timeline, in 1997, At the age of 69, 00:15:51.809 --> 00:15:54.710 Howe signs a one -game contract with the Detroit 00:15:54.710 --> 00:15:57.230 Vipers, the International Hockey League. 69 years 00:15:57.230 --> 00:16:00.830 old. He goes out and plays one shift. At 69, 00:16:01.090 --> 00:16:03.590 that made him the only player in hockey history 00:16:03.590 --> 00:16:06.889 to compete in six different decades at the professional 00:16:06.889 --> 00:16:10.129 level. The 40s, 50s, 60s, 70s, 80s, and 90s. 00:16:10.169 --> 00:16:12.190 It is a record that is almost mathematically 00:16:12.190 --> 00:16:15.509 impossible to replicate given the intense physical 00:16:15.509 --> 00:16:18.070 toll and speed of the modern game. Never going 00:16:18.070 --> 00:16:20.460 to happen again. Never. When you synthesize his 00:16:20.460 --> 00:16:23.019 achievements the numbers are monolithic. He finished 00:16:23.019 --> 00:16:27.600 with 801 NHL goals and 800 -850 points. Wow. 00:16:27.940 --> 00:16:30.220 Records that stood as the absolute pinnacle until 00:16:30.220 --> 00:16:32.879 Gretzky came along. If you combine his NHL and 00:16:32.879 --> 00:16:37.039 WHA regular season goals, he hit 975 major league 00:16:37.039 --> 00:16:39.179 goals, which is actually ahead of Gretzky's combined 00:16:39.179 --> 00:16:40.919 total. That's a great trivia stat. He became 00:16:40.919 --> 00:16:43.179 an officer of the Order of Canada. There is a 00:16:43.179 --> 00:16:45.279 massive international bridge connecting Detroit 00:16:45.279 --> 00:16:47.220 and Windsor currently being built and named in 00:16:47.220 --> 00:16:49.840 his honor. A bridge. A literal bridge. And he 00:16:49.840 --> 00:16:52.399 has a bridge and a sports complex. named after 00:16:52.399 --> 00:16:55.679 him in his hometown of Saskatoon. He just transcended 00:16:55.679 --> 00:16:58.299 the sport to become a fixture of North American 00:16:58.299 --> 00:17:01.039 pop culture. He really did. I mean, ask yourself 00:17:01.039 --> 00:17:02.980 if you've ever seen the movie Ferris Bueller's 00:17:02.980 --> 00:17:05.279 Day Off. Classic movie. Right. The character 00:17:05.279 --> 00:17:08.640 Cameron Frye, Ferris' best friend, spends almost 00:17:08.640 --> 00:17:11.420 the entire movie wearing a Detroit Red Wings 00:17:11.420 --> 00:17:13.720 jersey, even though the movie is set in Chicago. 00:17:13.960 --> 00:17:15.779 Always wondered about that. Well, that jersey 00:17:15.779 --> 00:17:18.279 was actually provided to the filmmakers. personally 00:17:18.279 --> 00:17:21.299 by gordie howe that's amazing or if you watch 00:17:21.299 --> 00:17:24.740 the simpsons there is a classic episode where 00:17:24.740 --> 00:17:27.819 bart tries to catfish his teacher mrs krabappel 00:17:27.819 --> 00:17:31.259 oh i remember this he invents a fake adult man 00:17:31.259 --> 00:17:34.579 named woodrow and the picture he sends her to 00:17:34.579 --> 00:17:37.579 prove he's real is just a photograph of gordie 00:17:37.579 --> 00:17:40.220 howe that is hilarious they even flash house 00:17:40.220 --> 00:17:42.720 actual career stats at the very end of the episode 00:17:43.069 --> 00:17:46.109 And within the spot itself, he shifted the very 00:17:46.109 --> 00:17:48.329 archetype of what a hockey player could be. How 00:17:48.329 --> 00:17:51.450 so? Well, before Howe, you generally had your 00:17:51.450 --> 00:17:54.289 finesse goal scorers, your slow defensive specialists, 00:17:54.410 --> 00:17:57.710 and your enforcers. Very specialized roles. Exactly. 00:17:57.990 --> 00:17:59.710 Howe proved you could be all of them simultaneously. 00:17:59.930 --> 00:18:02.970 He birthed the concept of... The power forward. 00:18:03.170 --> 00:18:06.049 But didn't other big physical guys exist before 00:18:06.049 --> 00:18:09.049 him? Sure, but they were often slow or they lacked 00:18:09.049 --> 00:18:12.750 puck handling skills. Howe was big, he was surprisingly 00:18:12.750 --> 00:18:15.970 fast, and he had incredibly soft hands for scoring. 00:18:16.349 --> 00:18:18.990 This disrupted the tactical geometry of the game. 00:18:19.089 --> 00:18:20.910 Coaches must have hated playing against him. 00:18:21.009 --> 00:18:23.829 Opposing coaches had to completely rewrite their 00:18:23.829 --> 00:18:26.190 defensive playbooks. You couldn't put a small 00:18:26.190 --> 00:18:28.349 finesse defender on him because Howe would just 00:18:28.349 --> 00:18:31.109 run them over. Right. But your big, slow defender 00:18:31.109 --> 00:18:34.670 couldn't catch him or anticipate his ambidextrous 00:18:34.670 --> 00:18:37.309 shooting. He had the endurance to play a full 00:18:37.309 --> 00:18:40.130 200 -foot game, meaning he was just as terrifying 00:18:40.130 --> 00:18:42.109 in his own defensive zone as he was on the attack. 00:18:42.309 --> 00:18:44.509 A complete nightmare for the other team. Complete 00:18:44.509 --> 00:18:48.089 nightmare. After Howe, NHL scouts were given 00:18:48.089 --> 00:18:50.910 specific directives to go out and find the next 00:18:50.910 --> 00:18:53.809 Gordie Howe. He became the blueprint. So what 00:18:53.809 --> 00:18:56.029 does this all mean? Yeah. When you look at the 00:18:56.029 --> 00:18:58.430 whole picture, Gordie Howe wasn't just a hockey 00:18:58.430 --> 00:19:01.619 player. He was an institution. Absolutely. He 00:19:01.619 --> 00:19:04.519 laid the literal and metaphorical groundwork 00:19:04.519 --> 00:19:07.720 for modern hockey. He showed that age is just 00:19:07.720 --> 00:19:11.160 a number, that loyalty should go both ways, and 00:19:11.160 --> 00:19:13.519 that you can be a terror on the ice and an absolute 00:19:13.519 --> 00:19:16.970 gentleman off it. Exactly. And as we wrap up, 00:19:16.990 --> 00:19:18.950 I want to leave you with one final thought to 00:19:18.950 --> 00:19:21.410 mull over. Okay. We talked earlier about his 00:19:21.410 --> 00:19:23.910 childhood during the Great Depression. The sources 00:19:23.910 --> 00:19:27.009 mention a children's book published in 2023 called 00:19:27.009 --> 00:19:30.309 Gordy's Skate, written by a Saskatchewan historian. 00:19:30.730 --> 00:19:33.369 Oh, interesting. It details how, during those 00:19:33.369 --> 00:19:36.250 desperately poor years, the Howe family could 00:19:36.250 --> 00:19:39.009 only afford to acquire a single pair of skates. 00:19:39.230 --> 00:19:41.589 Oh, man. Young Gordy actually had to share that 00:19:41.589 --> 00:19:43.750 one pair of skates with his sister. Just to get 00:19:43.750 --> 00:19:45.500 on the ice. ice. Just to get on the ice. It really 00:19:45.500 --> 00:19:48.480 makes you wonder how much of Gordie Howe's legendary 00:19:48.480 --> 00:19:52.200 unstoppable resilience, his seemingly superhuman 00:19:52.200 --> 00:19:54.759 ability to fight through fractured skulls, aging 00:19:54.759 --> 00:19:57.480 joints, and decades of physical punishment wasn't 00:19:57.480 --> 00:19:59.259 actually born in a professional sports arena. 00:19:59.420 --> 00:20:01.720 How much of that unbreakable will was simply 00:20:01.720 --> 00:20:04.619 forged out of the sheer desperate necessity of 00:20:04.619 --> 00:20:07.380 survival during the hardest of times, sharing 00:20:07.380 --> 00:20:09.759 a single pair of skates just to get out there. 00:20:09.940 --> 00:20:11.839 That is something to think about the next time 00:20:11.839 --> 00:20:14.619 you lace up. We hope you enjoyed unpacking the 00:20:14.619 --> 00:20:16.759 unbelievable life of Mr. Hockey with us today. 00:20:17.019 --> 00:20:19.599 Keep asking questions, keep digging into the 00:20:19.599 --> 00:20:21.819 past, and keep seeking out the incredible stories 00:20:21.819 --> 00:20:24.000 behind the legends you thought you knew. Catch 00:20:24.000 --> 00:20:24.519 you next time.