This story, by Bill Brennan, first appeared in the Jan. 2, 1971, issue of The Sporting News, under a headline (“At 42, Even Iron-Man Howe Yields to Injury”) that was particularly prescient. Ironically, it wasn't the rib-cartilage injury chronicled here but rather a chronic wrist injury that forced the Detroit icon’s (first) retirement later that year, after 25 seasons with the Red Wings. This story introduced TSN readers to Howe’s older hockey-playing sons, Mark and Marty, who in 1973 would sign with the Houston Aeros of the World Hockey Association, joining with their father, who at 45 signed with the Aeros and led them to WHA championships in 1974 and ’75.
DETROIT, Mich. — Three things are sacred to Detroiters — the flag, motherhood and Gordie Howe.
The 42-year-old Howe has been a star with the Detroit Red Wings for a quarter of a century and hockey fans look on the durable right winger the same way they look on the auto industry — a part of the city that never will change.
Suddenly, both fans and management bitterly tasted what hockey was like without him.
Howe suffered a painful injury on November 22 in Philadelphia when he fell on the point of Flyer defenseman Joe Watson's skate while scoring a goal. He suffered a torn rib cartilage on the left side. The disturbed Red Wings were told that it might be early January before Howe returned to the lineup.
The ageless Howe defied all doctors' prescriptions by lacing his skates on December 19, after only a 10-game absence, and taking his regular turn on the ice.
In the 24 seasons Howe played with the Wings before the current one, he missed only 42 games, a record for durability.
When does Howe expect to be back at full strength?
Pills and Boredom
"I honestly don't know," he said while putting on his skates and moving around the Olympia ice in a sweatsuit.
"There's not a darn thing you can do, but sit and wait and take some pills. It's boring. That's why I had to get back."
Despite the intense pain, Howe, who owns all the major scoring records, forced himself to skate. "I have to save my legs. I don't know how long it would take for my legs to go just sitting around," he added. "But, by skating, I at least saved them."
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Howe had considered having a nerve block done on his ribs. In this procedure, the rib area is anesthetized. This would permit him to skate with greater comfort
However, he decided against it, at least for the present.
When discussing his return, Howe grinned. "You know what the doctor told me," he said, "when I was first hurt? He told me to hurry back because I have a two-year contract."
Long String Broken
The veteran must wear a special elastic corset and complained: "I can't get comfortable. I think one of the worst things is when I start to lie down. That last foot or so before your head hits the pillow. Wow! I find if I wrap my arms around my knees and ease myself back, that way it's the best."
Howe, while he missed only 10 games, is no stranger to injuries. And he's had a torn rib cartilage before. Also a skull fracture. The last time he injured his ribs was in the 1957-58 season in a game in Boston.
"That time the doctors did a nerve block. That meant I had no feeling in the side for four or five weeks," he recalled. But after that wore off, I really felt it. During the game and for an hour or so after, the tears come to your eyes.
"It's been a dozen years now since I hurt that side and I still get a pain in it."
Howe, who had played 17 of his 25 seasons without missing a game, had a string of 252 games going since he was last forced out of the lineup with an injury. That was in the 1966-67 season when he missed one game with a bone bruise to his shoulder.
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In that game, with his arm in a sling, he was sent behind the bench to coach by Red Wing Manager Sid Abel. It was Howe's only experience as a coach and he lost, 5-2, to the Boston Bruins.
Howe's injury temporarily prevented him from closing in on a personal objective he's set for himself — that’s to score 800 goals in the National Hockey League. With 773 already to his credit and still another year to go on his contract, he has a fine chance.
Sons NHL Prospects
The big player insists that next year will be his last, and there's no doubt he means it. But he won't sever his ties with hockey. He has his sons playing the game. Now one of his secret ambitions is to see his boys play in the NHL, and he probably will.
For Gordie, the only good thing about his injury was that it let him attend the games in which his sons, Marty and Mark, play.
But it will be a few years before Marty, now 16, and Mark, 15, are eligible for the NHL because a league rule bars players under 20.
"Both boys are definitely pro prospects," insisted Jim Skinner, former Red Wing coach and now chief scout and farm director.
Skinner sees one drawback. The Howe boys play for the Junior Wings, a team entered in an Ontario Hockey Association Junior A league, the only American team to play this caliber of hockey.
"They should be in a tougher league to develop," Skinner said. Marty, the eldest, is already almost an inch taller than his father and broke family tradition by playing defense. Mark, not quite as tall as his dad, plays the opposite wing to Gordie, the all-time great right winger.
Name is An Asset
Both boys are lefthanded shooters and so is their younger brother, 10-year-old Murray, who already is playing hockey in a squirt league.
"Marty and Mark are excellent skaters," Skinner said. "They are strong on their skates and mobile. They certainly are not awkward and this is to their credit because in Detroit there never has been the ice available that a Canadian boy enjoys.
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"Marty," added Skinner, "is a good thinking defenseman who moves backward well. If he has a fault, it is that he charges out too often and needs someone to hold him back.
"As for Mark, he can get up and go in a hurry and they both know what to do with the puck. They are hungry hockey players."
Then Skinner chuckled. Mark also is top scorer on his team with 13 goals and 30 assists.
"I remember Gordie when he was 16. When he was at Omaha. Gordie was chippy at that age. If he got behind you, he'd whack you across the legs. The boys aren't like that. They mind their own business, but play it tough."
Rather than being a handicap, Skinner believes the name of Howe has been an asset to them.
In every game they play, they are the target. Every rival player plays it tough against the Howe boys because of their name. They've learned to take it and to hand it out."
Papa Is Proud
Gordie himself is proud of the boys and so is their mother, Colleen. "It certainly would be a thrill for us if they made it in the National Hockey League," Mrs. Howe confessed. "But we've never forced them to play hockey. It was their choice.
"In fact," she added, "around the house we've used hockey as a wedge. If we wanted them to do something, I know at times I've said, 'Hey, if you want to practice tonight, somebody better help with the dishes.'
"They've always been anxious to play. They like it. Gordie is pleased with them. He thinks they are doing well, but he didn't always trust his own opinion. But other people have told us how well they play, and they've said it, not to be kind, but because they honestly believe it.
"Gordie wouldn't want the boys to continue if they were riding his shirttails. That's why we appreciate opinions from people who are honest."
Both boys are on the quiet side like Gordie. Mark, the left winger, is the most talkative.
He would like to play for the Red Wings and have his dad's famous No. 9. Marty, who is also an outstanding football player and an all-round athlete, wants to make his own number famous and has another goal in addition to playing in the NHL.
College Comes First
Marty would like to play for the U.S. Olympic hockey team before making the NHL.
"That's been his ambition since he started playing hockey." Mrs. Howe said. "After that, he would like to play in the NHL."
Both boys, she said, want to go to college.
"As a mother," Mrs. Howe added, "I would like to see them go to college and also play in the National League.”
Mrs. Howe doesn’t feel the Howe name has hurt the boys.
"They get no flak at school," she said. "Of course, this year they had to give up football because of the hockey program. This was no problem for Mark, but it was a tough decision for Marty. He loves football and he had a chance of making all-conference as a fullback.
"As for fans, they can be cruel and I believe they go beyond what the price of their ticket permits. I know I've had to bite my tongue a thousand times. But I'm getting used to it.
"It's really tougher on Gordie." she added. "Of course, he hasn't been exposed to it as much as I have. But when he does go and he hears the fans, it bothers him. It's not all the fans, just a few but it hurts."
A Door Opener
"Hockey has been good to the boys in that it has given them the chance to meet a lot of people and do a lot of things they would not have been able to do otherwise. And they've been exposed to other players because of Gordie. They have an insight into the hockey life and know what to expect, but they must not judge hockey by Gordon's career. He was never shipped from pillar to post like some players have been and Gordie has talked to the boys about this. He wants them to know what to expect."
But what about the Red Wings, should the boys make the NHL? Now with a universal draft, there is very little chance that the boys, when they reach draft age of 20, will wind up with Detroit.
"We try not to think about it," Mrs. Howe said. "There is nothing we can do about it. It's kind of sad."