OT: Happy Birthday Mr. Hockey! Gordie Howe turns 82

When Steve Yzerman retired from the Detroit Red Wings in 2006 Goride Howe had already long since retired. As Yzerman was the new generation of the Red Wings, Howe was apart of it's foundation and it's legacy of the past but he wasn't only just a piece of it he helped create it as well. Howe lead the Wings to four straight Stanley Cup championships and placed Detroit in first place for seven consecutive years which was a feat never accomplished by any other NHL team at that time. Much like the assembly lines at the Ford factories, Howe played with a line known as "the production line" made up of three of Detroit's best. Ted Lindsay, Sid Abel and Gordie Howe. In 1949-1950 all three of them finished their seasons in numerical order 1-2-3 in the league in scoring. After his career was all said and done Howe left the NHL as one of the league's greatest players tallying a record of 2,421 games, 1,071 goals, 1,518 assists, and 2,589 points. The only player to reach these records and break them was of course "the great one" Wayne Gretzky. The only record that was never broken was games played which still stands to this day. On this day March 31st Gordie Howe was born a legend and retired as one, skating right into the Hockey Hall of Fame as one of the NHL's greatest players. Today "Mr Hockey" turns 82.