Marleau in pursuit of record
He’s now just four outings away from passing Howe on the NHL’s all-time games played list
If Gordie Howe were alive today, he’d be happy to see Patrick Marleau breakhisrecord.
In fact, says Mark Howe, his father (aka Mr. Hockey) would be in attendance next Monday night in Las Vegas when Marleau (aka Mr. Shark) becomes the NHL’s all-time leader in games played, a record Howe has held for 59 years.
“He would be the first one in line to congratulate him and shake his hand,” Mark Howe said. “That I’m 100 percent sure of.”
Gordie Howe, who died in 2016 at age 88, was in attendance the night when Wayne Gretzky broke his record for career points in 1989. And that required traveling to Edmonton, hardly Las Vegas..
“He never seemed to show a lot of respect on the ice, the way he played,” said Mark Howe, the director of pro scouting for the Detroit Red Wings. “But I know he always had a lot of respect for anybody that played the
game, any of his peers, and just for people in general. I know he’d be happy for Patrick.”
Howe played in 1,767 games in a NHL career that spanned from 194671 and included an encore season in 1979-80 with the Hartford Whalers at age 52.
Marleau will play in his 1,768th game Monday night -- unless he happens to miss one of the next three on the Sharks’ schedule. That isn’t likely to happen; Marleau hasn’t missed a
game since 2009, spanning 895 games, the fourth-longest ironman streak in NHL history. (Doug Jarvis, 964.)
As it turns out, none of the Howes will be in attendance next Monday night. More collateral damage from the Covid-19 pandemic.
“Under normal conditions, either myself or probably my brother Marty would be there,” said Markm Howe, a member of the Hockey Hall of Fame and the Red Wings’ director of pro scouting. “We try to be respectful of so many things. I hope Patrick understands. But the Howe family, we’re firmly behind Patrick and very supportive of what he’s done .... What an incredible achievement it is.”
What Howe did was even more incredible. Not only did he play until he was 52, he played productively, scoring 41 points in 80 games his final season. In his final regular-season game, No. 1,767, he had a goal and an assist.
The encore season didn’t come out of the blue. For the previous six years,
Howe had been playing in the World Hockey Association, a rival league that operated from 1972-79 and lured away NHL stars such as Bobby Hull, Gerry Cheevers and Derek Sanderson with rich contracts.
For Howe, the allure was to play with his sons, Mark and Marty. Gordie had retired in 1971, after 25 years (and 21 All Star Games and four Stanley Cups) as a member of the Red Wings. He was 43 years old and a wrist injury had “limited” him to 52 points in 63 games.
The following year, in 1972, Howe’s No. 9 was retired by the Red Wings and
he was inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame. (Mark also is in the Hall of Fame.)
But in 1973, the Houston Aeros of the WHA came with an offer to team Gordie with Mark and Marty. In 1974, at age 46, Gordie was the league MVP after a 100-point season that helped the Aeros to the first of two straight championships.
The father-son trio played six seasons in the WHA, the last two with the New England Whalers. The Whalers became the Hartford Whalers of the NHL when the leagues merged in 1979.
Counting the
WHA,
Howe played 2,186 games. To reach that, Marleau would need five more seasons.
As it is, the NHL record of 1,767 would not be within reach Monday night if Howe had gotten his wish after the 1979-80 season.
“When Dad was 52 and they kind of pushed him out and wanted him to retire, he still wanted to play,” Mark Howe said. “He still had the passion to play and he went out kicking, believe me. He wasn’t too happy about it.”
But Mr. Hockey would be happy for Marleau, Mark Howe is sure of that.
“He didn’t play the game to break records. He played the game because he loved the game, he had a passion for the game,” Mark Howe said.
“Obviously, Patrick Marleau has to have an incredible passion for the game. He’s been blessed with good health for the majority of his career, but you can’t achieve this goal unless you absolutely love what you’re doing and like my dad, have a passion for what you’re doing. Kudos to him for that.”