Gordie Howe remembered in southern Alberta as both a teammate and friend

Remembering Mr. Hockey Heath Brown gathers local reaction to the death of Gordie Howe, one of the greatest players to ever lace up skates and, arguably, an even better person

News of the death of one of the greatest hockey players to ever take to the ice continues to resonate in southern Alberta among those who had the opportunity to watch, meet or work alongside ‘Mr. Hockey’.

According to the Detroit Red Wings organization, Gordie Howe passed away Friday morning with his family at his side. Howe was 88.

Calgarian Wayne Logan of Miller Thomson Lawyers represented the Howe family for the better part of two decades, befriending the Howes.

“I graduated from law school and became a lawyer in 1985,” said Logan. “In 1986, I met Gordie and Colleen Howe and it completely changed my career and my life.”

Logan spent a substantial amount of time travelling with Gordie Howe and said the hockey great always had time for his fans whether he was in a small town on the Canadian prairies, the streets of Hong Kong or the beaches of Florida.

“He was the most wonderful man,” recalled Logan. “I asked him once, ‘Did you ever turn down an autograph Gordie?’ and he went ‘only once’.”

Howe went on to tell Logan of the time he was watching from the stands as his son Mark took to the ice as a member of the Hartford Whalers in 1980. During the game, Mark became impaled on the sheet metal placed inside the net to assist the goal judge. Gordie rushed rinkside to check on his severely injured son, declining a fan’s request on the way.

Victor Stasiuk, a Lethbridge resident, played alongside Howe several times during his 745 game NHL career. The 87-year-old still recalls his first meeting with the hockey great.

“I got traded near Christmas time from the Chicago Blackhawks and bumped into Gordie at (The) Olympia.” Stasiuk says Howe took him to get his first Detroit Red Wings hockey jacket, a memento he had Howe sign. The coat remains a treasured family heirloom.

Stasiuk spent two separate stints with the Detroit Red Wings in the 1950s and 1960s and found himself on Mr. Hockey’s line on several occasions.

“I was mesmerized by his overall skills and talent whenever he did something,” said Stasiuk.

Following the retirement of Sid Abel, Stasiuk took his turn as a fill gap as the Red Wings attempted to fill the void on the team’s famous ‘Production Line’.

“It was always Howe and (Ted) Lindsay when I arrived,” said Stasiuk. “A number of players were trying like heck to get in there but it always changed. It was never really the same skill and talent that Sid Abel had supplied for years until (Alex) Delvechhio came in.”

Stasiuk and several teammates were bowling in Detroit on the day Gordie Howe met his future wife.

“He came up and said ‘I sure like the looks of that girl a couple lanes down’,” recalls Stasiuk. “Weeks or so later, we went bowling again. Gordie was with us and Colleen was there again. He struck up a conversation and the rest is history.”

Gordie Howe is survived by his four children. Colleen Howe passed away in 2009 following a battle with Pick's disease.