Mr. Speaker, I rise today in remembrance of Gordie Howe, who passed away on June 10, 2016, at the
age of 88. Our thoughts and prayers are with his family, friends, and fans across the country.
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| Detroit Red Wings Gordie Howe |
Born on March 31, 1928, he grew up in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan before coming to Detroit, where he made his National Hockey League debut on October 16, 1946, scoring in his first game at the age of 18. Gordie Howe, or as he was known to a generation and beyond, “Mr. Hockey”, was the embodiment of the National Hockey League, and an ambassador from Detroit to the rest of the country and to the world. I speak here for Detroit, for the Red Wings, and for the entire NHL, when I say that we will miss him dearly.
Gordie Howe, a 23-time All-Star, was unmatched on the ice, and in his twenty-five seasons with the Red Wings, he led the city of Detroit to four Stanley Cups, winning numerous distinctions along the way. He was also instrumental in the conception of what would become the National Hockey League Players’ Association. But Gordie Howe was so much more than a man with a hockey stick; he was a force for good off the ice as well. Gordie, whose wife Colleen “Mrs. Hockey” Howe, suffered from Pick’s Disease, was heavily involved in the search for a cure to degenerative brain diseases, founding the Gordie and Colleen Howe Fund for Alzheimers, in partnership with the University of Toronto Baycrest.
Mr. Speaker, on June 10, we lost one of the greats. For almost half of his adult life, Gordie Howe represented the city of Detroit with distinction and class, and his legacy will live on long after we are gone, on the banners hanging in Joe Louis Arena, at the charities he championed in retirement, and in the hearts of millions of hockey fans across the continent.
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