OT breaking news: Gordie Howe has passed away

2016 stinks.

RIP great one.

We're losing too many legends this year.  Gordie was, indeed, the greatest of all time.  RIP to a true legend who not only led the Wings during their best era but was the only player I ever watched who could single-handedly win games for his team.

 

RIP GOAT!!

I saw him in the mall when I was 6 and got his autograph. I think it's stashed somewhere in my dad's office. I may have to call him up today and see if he can find it.

RIP, Mr. Hockey. My dad met him once and had an autographed copy of his book, "Hockey...Here's Howe!"

Man's game, bitch. #NoHelmet

 

Hits me in the feels man. Just heard recently he was doing well too. RIP

Not from Detroit, not a Red Wings fan (huge hater actually) but I know exactly what he meant to the organization and all the fans. My heart is sad for you guys. This is a tough one. 2016 has really sucked donkey balls.

Truly one of the all-time great players and human beings, Reportedly, when someone once asked Al Kaline what he admired most about his friend Gordie Howe, Al responded: "That a great man can be humble." RIP, Number 9.

Rest in Peace. Mr. Hockey. A Detroit icon.

Definitely one of the greatest hockey players ever to lace them up and a great ambassador for the game.

A true legend and a man who meant a great deal to Detroit.  

RIP Mr. Hockey.

This is a sad day for me.

My Gordie Howe story:
I was 5 years old and hockey was my world. I only heard and was read stories about this man, but realized how special of a player he was when my dad told me about him.

One day I was playing at Fraser ice arena, now Great Lakes, and he was there. He was set up around some barricade so people couldn't come up to him. My dad told me who he was and I immediately ran and snuck around the barricade and went right to him (I was short even for a 5 year old).
I interrupted his conversation and said "Mr. Howe can I have your autograph." I had no pen or anything and his reply was
"Wouldn't you rather talk to me instead."

From that point he picked me up like a grandpa and invited my dad through and had a conversation all while I was on his shoulder.

This is close to 30 years ago for me and will never forget.

Great player better man
Thanks for letting me share
Sorry about formatting mobile

RIP

Thanks for taking the time to talk with us at Olympia Stadium after a game many years ago.

RIP, Mr. Hockey

I had the pleasure of meeting Gordie a few times. Each time he couldn't have been nicer. Just very down to Earth and a simple life guy who loved his family and fans. 

I plan to score and get in a fight tonight (not quite sure how to register an assist).

Not that I ever knew him.  In fact, I knew nothing about hockey growing up (in Michigan), and I knew almost nothing about professional sports when I first moved to New York. 

I was at a party playing Trivial Pursuit, on a team with two guys, so I planned on deferring all sports questions to them.  The lawyer missed a question about a famous lawyer.  The painter missed a question about an artist (I think he was a bit plastered by then).  Our next question was "What team did Gordie Howe play for?"  The two guys, both New Yorkers, looked at each other blankly.   But I, a silly girl knowing nothing about hockey [then], recognized the name and somehow knew he played hockey.   So he must have played for the Red Wings, right?  How else could his name be embedded in my brain?  

I got the question right.  The entire table turned to me in shock.  I had established some legitimacy and respect in my new home, and I loved all things Gordie Howe ever since.  

RIP.

I remember when Bob Ufer passed away, this feels the same...Like someone punched me in the gut...I remember laying on my bed on Sunday night listening to the Red Wings on radio..standing outside the dressing room to get Gordie's Autograph...Taking the Bus down Grand River to the Olympia...To me the GOAT......

The greatest to ever play the game.  Sad day for Hockeytown and the hockey world.

My Grandma passed away last night and now hearing Gordie has passed as well.  A very sad last 14 hours for me.

Huge loss. My grandparents used to run into him near their cottage in Cadillac. Said he was still a great guy and physically tough well into his 70s. Crazy both him and Ali died so close together.

Here's an old ESPN "This is SportsCenter" commercial with Howe teaching Keith Olbermann how the game was played in the good ole days. RIP Mr. Hockey

Rest In Peace Mr. Hockey. We will miss you!

same week is hard to accept. This will absolutely date me, but my first-ever pro hockey game was a game between the Red Wings and Rangers at Madison Square Garden before its actual reconstruction in the 60's. The Red Wings lost that Saturday matinee but I got to see the Red Wings in their glory before their resurrection with Howe, Delvechhio and company. It made a great impression on an impressionable young kid watching those guys glide up and down the ice firing the puck at goalies with no masks and on one wearing helmets.

I was a huge Ranger fan growing up but I alwasy knew the opposition and how much better they were than my team. And I remember watching the Wings at the Olympia on TV and then hearing tales about the team after I moved to Michigan and became a die-hard Wing fan. Losing Gordie is like losing a relative. What a great player and role model for that organization.

He was to the Wings what Cobb was to the early Tigers, a legend in his own time.

tough year for music and sports legends...but as Mr Harrison wrote/sung, "all things must pass"

Damn, thought he'd keep fighting off the reaper.

RIP, Gordie.

OMG Shirtless.

I saw this photo of Gordie a few years ago.  With a build like that in the 1950s or 60s, there is no doubt that he would have been a top player in todays game as well.  Dude was jacked.

Long live the Gordie Howe Hat Trick.

RIP #9