Gordie Howe and “The Space He Made for Himself”

Former Red Wing head coach and Hall of Famer Scotty Bowman, who holds the record for most Stanley Cup championships (9), regular season victories (1,244) postseason victories (233) and games (2,141) has seen hundreds of hockey players over several decades.

And to this day Bowman says that Gordie Howe is the greatest player he ever saw.

In my 2021 interview with Bowman he said:

“It’s hard to compare players from different eras because the game has changed so much over the years. Here’s a player who played at such a high level and who made the All-Star team, first or second team, for 21 years. You have to look at his offense, defense, and versatility. Plus, nobody was tougher than Gordie Howe. That’s a pretty tough combination to beat.”

In a 2003 interview Bowman told me:”

“The best part of Gordie’s game was his toughness. The space he created enabled him to be the player he was.” 

The following quote by an unidentified rival player published in a 1971 Red Wing game program reveals just how tough Gordie Howe the hockey player could be.

“He is softspoken, self-deprecating and thoughtful. He is also one of the most vicious, cruel, and meanest men I ever met in a hockey game.”

The seed for Howe’s often brutal play stemmed from his very first NHL game on October 16, 1946 when he scored the first of 801 regular season goals over his 26-year NHL career.

But he also lost four front teeth from a high stick.

After that, he never lost another one.

In my 2003 interview with Howe he told me:

“I learned to play religious hockey. That is, it’s better to give than to receive.”

And give he did, as stories abound from number of players who literally got the short end of Howe’s short stick, a vicious elbow, or a quick punch that left them dizzy.

Chicago Black Hawk legend Stan Mikita shared with me his own Howe war story for my 2003 article on number nine.

“Once I accidently cut Howe under the eye, and he gave me a look I’ll never forget,” said Mikita. “A couple of months later at Olympia Stadium we were both turning in the Wings’ end. The next thing I remember was crawling to the Chicago bench and my head was killing me. Our backup goalie Denis DeJordy told me he saw what happened. Gordie had skated by me, slipped his right hand up under his armpit, pulled out his fist, popped me in the jaw, and put his glove back on. A few shifts later he ambled by and asked if I had learned anything. I asked, ‘are we even?’ Gordie said, ‘I’ll think about it.’”

Brad Park is another Hall of Famer who shared with me his story on how he learned a Howe lesson the hard way.

“Gordie went out of his way to introduce rookies to his lifestyle,” said Park. “In Detroit one night he threw an elbow at me and I went under it and put him down. Before I knew it, I saw his stick coming at me like he was going to take my teeth out. Instead, he got me in the Adam’s apple and I went down for the count. Gordie was determined to protect his livelihood. But today he couldn’t play because with all the cameras he’d be suspended all the time.”

Opponents never wanted to fight Howe, particularly after 1959 when he gruesomely rearranged the face of the Rangers’ Lou Fontinato, a legendary “enforcer” who a few years earlier had become the first NHL player to spend more than 200 minutes in the penalty box.

On February 1, 1959 at Madison Square Garden, Howe finally had enough of Fontinato whose job was to “shadow” the famous right winger.

While the Wings’ Red Kelley and New York’s were embroiled in a skirmish, Howe skated over to help his teammate. Suddenly number nine noticed in a blur that Fontinato was headed his way.

After first ducking a punch, with his left-hand Howe grabbed Fontinato’s jersey disabling his swinging right arm. And then using his own right hand, Gordie delivered a long series of devasting punches to Louie’s face. One observer told reporters that it sounded like the chopping of wood.

Readers of Life Magazine were later repelled when they saw the photo of Fontinato’s mug showing the damage that included a badly dislocated jaw and broken nose.    

Mark Howe and his brother Marty had the pleasure of playing with their famous father in the World Hockey Association for several years.

Mark told me last year:

“When provoked, he was the most brutal player on the ice I’ve ever seen. In our first exhibition game, first shift, a guy went after him and Dad two-handed him right over the head and laid him out.”

When I asked Gordie if he regretted any of his on-ice behavior he answered simply:

 “Not really. When I was young, I was told you have to protect yourself. I just wanted to be square with the bugs. If somebody got me, I wanted to get them back.”

Despite his rough and sometimes dirty play, hundreds of people who met Gordie Howe over the years would attest that he was one of the nicest persons they had ever met.