‘THIS IS WHAT DAD WANTED’
Open invitation fitting for Mr. Hockey
As he walked up to Joe Louis Arena Tuesday morning, Wayne Gretzky couldn’t help but reflect upon his first NHL season and the 1980 NHL All-Star Game there, how the place rocked like he’d never heard a rink rock before.
When Gordie Howe was introduced to the capacity crowd, they erupted into an ovation that lasted for several minutes.
“I half-kiddingly was saying that had they not started the national anthem, people would probably still be cheering today because the ovation just went on forever,” Gretzky remembered. “It was so overwhelming. It was overpowering.”
Tuesday, they came to the JLA one last time to remember the man who gave them so much joy, and it was just as overwhelming. It was equally overpowering. The line for Tuesday’s public visitation for Howe, who died Friday at the age of 88, stretched well around the outside of the rink. The waiting time was estimated at 90 minutes.
“This is what dad wanted,” Mark Howe said of the open invitation, and there could be no more fitting way for the man known as Mr. Hockey to say goodbye to the masses than be once more an everyman.
As great as he was, as legendary as Howe’s stature stood, it never infected him with the disease of self-importance. He was as accessible as any superstar in any sport. In life, and in death.
“For someone who’s among the best athletes in the world in his era, one of the best hockey players to ever play, to be that humble and polite and respectful of people is good for us all to learn from,” said Tampa Bay Lightning GM and former Wings captain Steve Yzerman, right behind Howe in terms of Red Wings legends status.
Even superstars from other sports marvelled at Howe’s ability to quickly disarm those in awe of him.
“Everybody knows how great a hockey player he was — maybe the greatest hockey player of all time,” Detroit Tigers legend Al Kaline said. “But what got me was how great he was off the ice, around people, around kids, and he never turned people down.”
Howe was a first-ballot hall of famer in hockey, humility and humanity.
“I don’t know if I ever met another person in life that was never not bothered by it,” Gretzky suggested of the price of fame. “I remember walking through the airport with him when I was 18 years old and every single person I think in the airport knew and recognized him. He stood and took pictures and signed his name.
“He never thought that it was a burden. He thought it was part of his life. He was Gordie Howe and he understood it and probably understood who he was better than anyone.”
Gretzky added: “We replace athletes through time...
“Gordie was a special man and you don’t replace that. You might be able to have new hockey players but you don’t replace a person of his calibre.”