Legacy of Gordie Howe lives on
Two-day tournament featuring beer-league teams matched with pros to raise $1 million
One by one, admirers lined up to shake hands, pay their respects, share their Gordie Howe stories and pose for a picture.
The luncheon had ended much earlier, but Mark and Marty Howe were more than happy to stand at the front of the Westin’s ballroom in their dad’s honour, and doing it with the patience, class and grace Mr. Hockey exhibited as the game’s greatest ambassador.
He taught them well.
It has been 10 months since the most famous No. 9 of all time died on June 10, yet the tributes continue to pour in.
On Friday, the Gordie Howe C.A.R.E.S. (Centre for Alzheimer’s Research and Education Society) Pro-Am hockey tourney kicked off with a packed luncheon where a bronze bust of Howe was unveiled.
It will ultimately find a home at the Alzheimer’s research and care facility bearing his name to be opened in Fish Creek Park next year.
But on this day, it was flanked by his sons and former linemates, Mark and Marty, who spent plenty of time posing in front of it and, well, being Howes.
“It’s important for us to do it, otherwise the legacy dies,” said Mark, scouting director for the Detroit Red Wings who also runs the Gordie and Colleen Howe Fund for Alzheimer’s.
“We’re happy to do it. In terms of honouring my father and charities, I always consider it an honour for both mom and dad. Mom always made sure my dad was out there giving back. My dad was an absolutely wonderful person and he just loved being around people.
"He was a better person than a hockey player. It’s very important as children of Gordie Howe that the legacy of Gordie and Colleen continue and from what I saw here today, this looks like it could be something really big. That’s special.”
After raising $300,000 last year, the two-day event that pairs fundraising beer league teams with NHL alumni will raise more than $1 million this year.
The Flames alumni deserve plenty of credit, helping attract colleagues like Bryan Trottier, Michel Goulet, Mark Napier and Marty McSorley to join the likes of Robyn Regehr, Ron Stern, Perry Berezan, Lanny McDonald, Dana Murzyn, Joe Nieuwendyk, Joel Otto, Colin Patterson, Brendan Morrison and Jamie Macoun.
And the fact that the Howes graciously flew in made Friday’s kickoff even more special.
Not surprising, given they’d done something similar at his public viewing at Joe Louis Arena last spring, when they made sure family members were there from 9 a.m. until 9 p.m. to greet and thank fans who streamed in all day long.
“I’ve seen dad do a million signings from 1-3 p.m. and there was still a line wrapped around the corner, but dad never left until everyone was taken care of — we did the same,” said Mark, whose family stayed until 10 p.m. that night when the line concluded.
“It was a really hard, hard summer. Marty and I had a lot of obligations that come with being the son of Gordie Howe. My days off have been doing Gordie and Colleen Howe things. I’m not complaining, I’m proud and it’s a privilege to do it.”
You can almost hear Gordie speaking when he says it. Sounds an awful lot like Wayne Gretzky, too, who learned from his idol, Howe, how to conduct himself.
“These things don’t work if people don’t come to them, so it’s worth the effort,” said Marty, who also still helps run his father’s charitable foundation. “We were born and raised that way, it comes down to family values.”
Among other things, the centre in Howe’s name will also help caregivers of Alzheimer’s and dementia patients, as Gordie did for Colleen, who battled Pick’s Disease (which causes dementia) until her death in 2009.
“The hardest thing was my mother was basically gone three years before she passed,” said Mark, who recalls his mom becoming violent and eventually unable to walk or talk.
“We knew what was happening and what the future held and I tell everyone going through the same thing: Spend the time with your loved ones because when it gets to the stage it has gone too far, then you’re with a person who is really not that person.”
Thankful stem cell surgery in Mexico prolonged Gordie’s life several quality years, the sons he so famously played alongside as Hartford Whalers/Houston Aeros are also humbled by the response they continue to receive following Mr. Elbows’ death at age 88.
“We think of it more of a celebration of life, as we are doing today,” said Mark, 61, who joined his father in the Hockey Hall of Fame in 2011.
“He wouldn’t want anybody weeping. He’d want them to go on with their lives and have fun, which is what life is all about. I hope this event keeps going and going forever.
“I can see what the economy has done to this city the last few years and my hat is off to this city for stepping up with incredible support.
“As long as you want me here, the Howe family will be here.”