There are so many things that Mr Hockey did and did well, that made him such a legend in the game. His most productive seasons came during an era when scoring was difficult and checking was tight. A big surprise here is that Howe never scored 50 goals in a single season, as his single season high was 49, which he scored in 1953. Despite that fact, Howe ranks fourth in NHL history with 1,850 total points (Only Wayne Gretzky, Mark Messier and Jaromir Jagr have more), including 801 goals (only Gretzky has more with 894) and 1,049 assists (now sits 9th in league history in this department). When career regular season goals from both the NHL and the WHA are combined, he ranks first in goals with 975. To make those numbers more astounding, consider this. At the time of his retirement, Howe's professional totals, including playoffs, for the NHL and WHA combined, were shocking. He finished with 2,421 games played, 1,071 goals, 1,518 assists, and 2,589 points. Later on, however, Wayne Gretzky would pass him in goals (1,072), assists (2,297), and points (3,369), but not in games played or games played with one team. Gordie also goes into the record books as the oldest player to ever play in a game, at 52 years, 11 days (no other player has played past the age of 48).
His list of awards and accomplishments, aside from what we've listed above, are outstanding. There's the Hockey Hall of Fame induction in 1972. There's the point totals listed above. Howe was a 23-time NHL All-Star(12-time NHL First All-Star Team and 9-time NHL Second All-Star Team), he's a 4-time Stanley Cup champion (1950, 1952, 1954, 1955),a 6-time Art Ross Trophy winner (1951, 1952, 1953, 1954, 1957, 1963), a 6-time Hart Memorial Trophy (1952, 1953, 1957, 1958, 1960, 1963), a Lester B. Patrick Award winner (1967). He finished in the top 5 in NHL scoring for 20 consecutive seasons. He has the most games played for a single franchise (1,967, Detroit Red Wings), the most goals and points with a single franchise (786 and 1,809, respectively, Detroit), the ,ost NHL games played (1767). The biggest surprise stat of all is that he is the only player to play in the NHL in five different decades (1940s, 1950s, 1960s, 1970s, and 1980s). Nobody is going to even come close to matching that level again in not only hockey but in all of sports. To be that good for that long at what you do is simply amazing.
Then there's what he did for the sport away from the rink. In retirement, he became one of the sport's most-loved ambassadors, although his public appearances were few in recent years as he dealt with cognitive impairment, a form of dementia. Still nobody showed as much passion for the game, both on and off the rink, than Howe did. He was a little understudied as to the business side of things, as it was later revealed that he had been vastly underpaid during the bulk of his playing days in Detroit. In addition to his on-ice accomplishments, Howe will be widely remembered for his active participation in numerous charities. The most notable is the Howe Foundation, which Colleen founded in 1993 with the aim of improving the lives of children and helping underprivileged youth learn about and play hockey. They were active in building rinks in Michigan and raising money and awareness for more than 150 nonprofit and charitable organizations in North America, according to the couple's website, mrandmrshockey.com. Their efforts included a 65-city tour in honor of Gordie's 65th birthday in 1993, during which the Howes thanked fans for their support and raised money for charity, ultimately pulling in nearly $1 million for various causes. Such tireless work has ensured that Howe will be remembered as much for his off-ice efforts as for what he did in his playing days.
Gordie Howe will forever be known as Mr. Hockey and for good reason. He will be dearly missed.
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