Legendary Hockey Hall of Famer Gordie Howe passed away Friday morning at the age of 88 at his son's home in Ohio, according to CBS News.
The iconic winger played the first 25 years of his professional career with the Detroit Red Wings, where he earned the title of "Mr. Hockey" and a number of NHL records, including most games played(1767), most seasons played (26), most consecutive 20 goal seasons(22) and oldest NHL player (52 years old).
Were it not for Gordie Howe, I don't know if I would be covering hockey today. Gordie was my dad's favorite all-time player and as a kid he would bike and take the train from Collingswood, NJ to Madison Square Garden. My dad was a Red Wings fan until he passed away and fortunately got to see his Wings win a Cup in 1997....against my team.
Because of the great Scoop Cooper, I was lucky enough to have met Gordie and sat down for a meal with him a few years ago. I have been around plenty of famous people in my life, but Gordie transcended them all.
I told him that because of his style of play and the excitement he brought to our sport, my dad became a hockey fan and passed it on to me. Gordie smiled and said that meant a lot to him, but I can't even begin to explain how much it meant to me to get to tell him that story.
My dad had passed away a year prior to me meeting Mr. Howe and I can't imagine what my dad would have thought of me meeting and talking to Gordie.
It was a memory I will cherish always.
Gordie Howe loved to say one of his greatest hockey memories was playing with sons Marty (left) and Mark (right). pic.twitter.com/Dqth2zW7jt
— Chuck Gormley (@ChuckGormleyCSN) June 10, 2016
Howe has been in declining health in recent years and suffered a debilitating stroke in October 2014, but miraculously rebounded with the help of stem cell treatments in Mexico.
My condolences go out to the Howe family.
We will discuss Howe and talk about the Final of course on today's podcast, live at 2pm:
Listen to the HockeyBuzzCast on #iTunes w/ @eklund @mikeinbuffalo @sportsology @DanDanNoodles78 @fisherjillian https://t.co/4Vc8NnpljX #NHL
— Michael Augello (@MikeInBuffalo) April 26, 2016