Gordie Howe

One would have to be pretty good at the game of hockey to be referred to as “Mr. Hockey”, right? 

Canadian-born hockey legend Gordie Howe is a former player for the Detroit Red Wings and Hartford Whalers of the NHL. Gordie Howe also played for the Houston Aeros and New England Whalers in the World Hockey Association, but he’s best known for what he accomplished in the NHL. 

Gordie Howe broke several NHL records during his illustrious career. He currently holds the record for most regular season games played in the NHL with 1,767, most NHL and WHA regular season games played with 2,186 and most NHL and WHA regular season and playoff games played with 2,421. 

Those records alone paint the picture of how durable Gordie Howe was as a player. He also holds the NHL record for most seasons played with 26 and the most NHL and WHA seasons played with 32. 

Along with being a durable player, Gordie Howe was also a hell of a player, too. He still currently holds the most NHL regular season goals by a right winger with 801, most NHL regular season assists by a right winger with 1,049, and the most NHL regular season points by a right winger with 1,850. 

One of his other great career accomplishments was that Gordie Howe was the first player to score over 1,000 goals in both the WHA and NHL. For all his achievements, Gordie Howe was inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame in 1972, the Canada Sports Hall of Fame in 1975 and the Canada Walk of Fame in 2000. 

For his career, Gordie Howe played in the NHL All-Star Game 23 times, was named to the First All-Star Team 12 times and the NHL Second All-Star Team nine times. In 1998, Gordie Howe was ranked No. 3 on The Hockey News’ list of the 100 Greatest Hockey Players of all time, which was the highest-ranking for a right winger. 

When Gordie Howe finally retired after the 1979-80 NHL season with a professional hockey career that spanned over six decades (he suited up for one IHA game in the 1997-98 season), the Detroit Red Wings retired his No. 9 jersey. Another hockey legend, Bobby Orr, was said Gordie Howe was the greatest to ever play the game.