INSIGHT INTO MR. HOCKEY
Son shares lessons
Not only did Gordie Howe wear No. 9, he lived on Cloud 9, too.
If you listen to his son, Dr. Murray Howe, Gordie Howe was always a joy to be with, always so happy and fun loving. Despite his elbow-edged hockey reputation, Mr. Hockey displayed a calm, kind, gentlemanly and caring demeanour off the ice.
Murray Howe says his dad never got angry and never raised his voice.
The rest of the world looked up to Gordie Howe for inspiration when it came to the game of hockey, but there was much more to this man, as Murray Howe points out in his book, Nine Lessons I Learned from My Father.
For the author of Nine Lessons Learned, here are Nine Questions:
QYou talk about nine lessons learned from your father: Honour, generosity, playing hard but having fun, patience, selflessness, humility, toughness, positivity and the importance of friends and family. If you had to pick just one thing to live by, what would it be?
AI like to summarize it just because every lesson to me is of equal value. Really, what I learned from all of his lessons is that my father’s greatness had nothing to do with his superhuman athleticism. It really had to due with the fact that he gave so much of himself, more than anybody had ever known. What seems to me that allowed him to impact so many people was how much he gave himself, how good he was at being the best version of himself and sharing his time, talent and treasures, sharing that with the world so completely.
QEverybody knows what Gordie did on the ice. What impressed you the most about what he did off the ice?
AHe was so durable and enduring in terms of no matter how tired he was, and no matter how wounded he was, he would still (make time for somebody). That was unusual. You can be a wonderful person but, when you haven’t slept for 24 hours or you’ve got broken ribs or you just lost a couple teeth or whatever, then you may start feeling sorry for yourself and take a raincheck when needed. But he was never that way. Every night, after every game, he would sign autographs until midnight. He would close the place with the night watchman.
QYou believe his true purpose was not to be the greatest hockey player in the world but to be the champion for goodness, compassion and humility — a hero for all. His far-reaching impact he had upon others, is that something you feel every day that goes by, long after his passing?
AAbsolutely. I believe the book is just a manifestation of that. He was great enough in terms of his generosity and humanity that he inspired me, really, to write about it. The book is just carrying on the goodness that he was and what he stood for. It had nothing to do with what he did on the ice. That got him noticed, but this is what allows him to be enduring. I hope and believe the lessons from the book, that are really are coming from him, that those will endure for generations to come. I believe that he continues to inspire through that book and what he represented.
QYou played some hockey. Although you never played professionally like your brothers or your dad, you found success in the field of medicine as a radiologist. When did you realize that your dad accepted you for what you are and it really didn’t matter if you played hockey or not?
AThe pressure never came from them; it always came from a feeling I wanted to be like my father. It wasn’t until I got cut by the University of Michigan’s team that I went back to my dorm and called them and I honestly didn’t know what they’d say. But they said, ‘Thank God we don’t have to worry about you anymore.’ That just completely took the pressure off and made it very clear to me that they just loved me for who I was and it didn’t matter to them at all if I played hockey.
QThere are plenty of references to Saskatoon, Saskatchewan and Waskesiu. How important was it for you to discover Gordie’s prairie roots and what helped make him what he was?
AMy trip to Saskatoon in 2011 with dad is one of the fondest memories of my life and impacted me greatly because I really was able to get a clearer picture of what his childhood was like and what he meant to the people of Saskatoon. Everywhere we went, he was always so welcomed there.
Thankfully, as I get to know more and more people from Saskatoon and just see how beautiful they are as part of that town, I feel like Gordie Howe doesn’t stand out as much in Saskatoon. His humanity is almost the norm. People are just so generous and friendly.
QYou tell the story of how the two of you were hiking up in the Churchill River by some falls a few years back and how your dad took a tumble and was maybe one saving tree away from falling into the rocks and likely dying. Obviously, TMZ isn’t far reaching enough to cover northern Saskatchewan. How did you keep something like that under wraps?
AI never intended to. Our lives are open books and dad was never one to shy away. But I’m surprised they haven’t renamed Twin Falls Lodge the Gordie Howe Falls Lodge because it really was a big spill. (Laughter.) I feel there was divine providence that kept him alive because he had the whole (country) waiting for him to do his final bow.
QWho needs to hire a maid or maintenance person when you have Gordie to sweep and wash floors, make beds, clean and organize, fix things and shovel snow? Gordie also had a real sense of humour. I laughed when I heard how he shovelled a neighbour’s driveway, just to be nice, and the neighbour got mad and said, ‘I didn’t ask you to’ so your dad politely shovelled all the snow back onto the driveway. What are other funny things your dad did?
AEvery day and every moment with him was funny. I was just talking to a lady and this woman told me she was watching him in the warmup and she’s leaning over the boards with a camera and she’s saying, ‘Gordie, look up for the picture’ so he looks up to the roof of the arena. (He laughs.) Just little things like that. We’re walking to Lourdes University, just miles to our home, and I’m explaining how beautiful the grounds are. He then says, ‘This is the closest I’ve got to college.’ (Laughter.)
QThe Howe family has a Mark, Marty, Murray and Cathy. Did your sister ever wonder why she wasn’t named Margaret, Maggie, Martha, Mabel, Madeline or Macy?
AShe was actually named after my grandmother, Katherine, or Katie. My grandmother’s name was originally spelled with a C and they changed it in the immigration area. She wears that name with great pride. Of course, my mom was Colleen so we had a Cathy with a C and a Colleen with a C.
QYou married a Colleen, who has the same name as your mom. One of your sons is named Gordie. Otherwise, you write that the only traits you share with your dad is maybe his nose and sense of humour. But one gets the sense that there’s much more in common.
AMy brothers always kid that I was adopted and yet I’m probably more like my father in many ways than my brothers are — physically, they are clearer more like them. We bonded so much in that last year of his life. It was great sharing intimate moments and we would just talk more about the meaning of life, our purpose and destiny.