Living Legend - Fans Hear Howe Expound On Life And Hockey

Hockey legend Gordie Howe stops on his way out of Ypsilanti High School to sign hockey sticks for the sons of secretaries Lois Nowling and Diana Jackson.

LIVING LEGEND

Fans hear Howe expound on life and hockey

By WILL STEWART

NOV 11 1997 

NEWS STAFF REPORTER_________________

YPSILANTI - Eleven-year-old Brendan Tobias wasn't even bom when Gordie Howe played his last game in the National Hockey League.

For that matter, Tobias’ father, Ken, hadn’t even been born when Howe played his first game as a Detroit Red Wing way back in 1946.

But, as diehard Red Wings fans, both Brendan and his father knew they couldn’t pass up a chance to meet the greatest Red Wing player ever.

That chance came on Monday, when nearly 200 hockey fans turned out to hear Howe and his wife, Colleen, address the Ypsilanti Rotary Club Scholarship Dinner at Washtenaw Community College.

“My dad says he’s the greatest - even better than Steve Yzerman,” Brendan said, looking for reassurance from his father. “Dad says we should ask him to come out of retirement to help us win the Stanley Cup again this season.”

Of course, Howe already has come out of retirement - twice, in fact, during a career that spanned 34 seasons, 1,071 goals, 1,518 assists and 2,419 penalty minutes.

Just last month, at age 69, Howe returned to the game to play one shift with the Detroit Vipers in order to become the first professional hockey player to play in six decades.

But Monday, Gordie and Colleen Howe - Mr. and Mrs. Hockey, as they are known to generations of fans - spent more time talking about the importance of getting the most out of life by giving to others.

During an inspirational speech, Colleen Howe focused on the Rotary Club’s ideal of “service over self " in urging patrons to find ways to help mankind.

“We tell our children and grandchildren to use their lives as wisely as they can,” Colleen Howe said.

“... Hopefully, we have somehow touched your lives over the years, because that’s what we’re about.”

It's what they’ve been doing for all of the 40 years they’ve been married - both through Gordie Howe’s hockey talents and through the couple’s involvement in various charities.

Gordie Howe expressed the same feelings but with a twist only a hockey player could put into words.

“My feelings are you always give more than you receive,” he joked. "That’s why the other guy always got more stitches than me."

Before the dinner, dozens of people crowded around Howe in hopes of getting him to personalize copies of his and Colleen Howe’s autobiography “and... Howe!”

“He's the greatest sports legend Michigan has ever known, bar none,” said Andrew Longman of Ypsilanti, who attended Monday's dinner as well as countless games at Detroit’s old Olympia Stadium, where Howe played for 25 years.

"I've been waiting all my life to get a chance to meet him, and I can’t believe it’s finally happening."

Indeed, Howe patiently signed every book presented to him, taking time to talk to each fan.

Fortunately, Howe saved some nuggets — both humorous and profound - for his half-hour speech Monday.

Some highlights:

■ On the advice he gave to Wayne Gretzky, the only player to legitimately challenge Howe’s position as the greatest hockey player ever, when Gretzky was 12: “I told him, ‘You have two eyes and one mouth. Keep two of them open and one shut, and you’ll be fine.’ ”

■ On public speaking: “To know Gordie Howe is to know that I’m bilingual - I speak English and profanity. But I’ll try to stick to English tonight.” He did, delivering a speech that was funny, insightful and void of four-letter words.

■ On a serious on-ice head injury that required surgery: “I had to have an operation on my brain. Which I liked, because it proved that I had one.”

■ On learning how to play hockey on frozen ponds in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan: “I was in love with the game. I used to come home and eat my meals with my skates on, because I only had 10 minutes until the next period started.”

■ On his work ethic: “Practice doesn’t make perfect - perfect practice makes perfect.”

Monday’s dinner also honored Gene Butman, a retired car dealer and longtime community servant, and retiring WCC President Gundar Myron, both of whom have agreed to endow scholarships in their names through the Ypsilanti Rotary Club.

'Dad says we should ask him to come out of retirement to help us win the Stanley Cup again this season.'

— Brendan Tobias