Gordie Howe

Verified Timeline

Lore & Background

Howe made his NHL debut with the Red Wings in 1946. He won the Art Ross Trophy for leading the league in points each year from 1950–51 to 1953–54, then again in 1956–57 and 1962–63, for a total of six times, which is the second most in NHL history. He led the NHL in goal-scoring four times. He ranked among the top ten in the NHL scoring for 21 consecutive years. He set an NHL record for points in a season (95) in 1953, a record that was broken six years later. He won the Stanley Cup with the Red Wings four times and won six Hart Trophies as the NHL's most valuable player. He also led the NHL in playoff points six times. Howe retired for the first time in 1971 and was immediately inducted into the Saskatchewan Sports Hall of Fame that same year. He was then inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame the following year but came back two years later to join his sons Mark and Marty on the Houston Aeros of the WHA. Although in his mid-40s, he scored over 100 points twice in six years, won two straight Avco World Trophies (1974 and 1975), and was named most valuable player in 1974; he scored a total of 174 goals in the WHA. He was traded to the New England Whalers in 1977, where he became the first player to play a professional hockey game at age 50 and score 1,000 career goals. When the Whalers joined the NHL in the 1979–80 season, now playing in Hartford, Howe decided to play for the team. By playing in the opening game on October 11, he became the oldest person to play in an NHL game and appeared in all 80 games of the season, scoring 15 goals. Weeks after turning 52 years old, Howe retired. His involvement with the WHA was central to their brief pre-NHL merger success, forcing the NHL to recruit European talent and expand to new markets. In totality of two professional leagues, Howe scored 975 regular season goals along with 96 playoff goals and was awarded the most valuable player award seven times.

In Their Own Story

In the 1950–51 season, Howe returned from a career-threatening injury where his skull was fractured and cheekbone broken after checking Toronto's Ted Kennedy into the boards. He responded by playing every game that season, leading the NHL in goals, assists, and total points (86) to win his first scoring title by 20 points. This began a four-year period of unprecedented dominance where he won four straight Art Ross Trophies (1950–51 to 1953–54). In 1952–53, he became the first NHL player to score 90 points in a season, finishing with 95 points and 49 goals. He later added two more scoring titles in 1956–57 and 1962–63. His longevity was unmatched; he ranked among the top ten scorers for 21 consecutive years and finished in the top five for 20 straight seasons, an unsurpassed feat.

Reader's Guide

Although Howe was most famous for his scoring prowess, he possessed great physical strength and toughness, and he redefined the ideal qualities of a forward by becoming known for his superior play on both offense and defense. He is the only player to have competed in the NHL in five different decades (1940s through 1980s); he also played a shift in a 1997 game for the Detroit Vipers of the IHL, playing professional hockey for a sixth decade. He became the namesake of the "Gordie Howe hat trick": a goal, an assist, and a fight in the same game, though he only recorded two such games in his career. He was the inaugural recipient of the NHL Lifetime Achievement Award in 2008.

Did You Know?

• Howe scored 975 regular season goals across the NHL and WHA combined, not 1,000.
• He is the only player to have competed in the NHL in five different decades (1940s through 1980s).
• The term 'Gordie Howe hat trick' (goal, assist, and fight) was coined in reference to his penchant for fighting, but he only recorded two such hat tricks in his career.