"Mr. Hockey" On Hand For First-Ever Hockey Games At New Facility, Jan. 27-28

HAMDEN, Conn. - Quinnipiac University today announced that hockey legend Gordie Howe, honorary chairman of the TD Banknorth Sports Center Campaign, will be on hand for the dedication of the new TD Banknorth Sports Center on Saturday, Jan. 27 and Sunday, Jan. 28 as the university kicks-off Dedication Week, which runs Jan. 27-Feb. 3.

Howe, who was named and introduced as the honorary chairman on Oct. 7, 2004, will help drop the puck along with Quinnipiac President John L. Lahey for the first-ever hockey games at the new facility. The Quinnipiac women's team faces off against No. 1 Mercyhurst College at 7 p.m. on Saturday, Jan. 27 and the men's team hosts Holy Cross at noon on Sunday, Jan. 28.

"Gordie Howe is a living icon. It's like having Babe Ruth throw out the first ball at your baseball game. Having Gordie participate in our dedication is extraordinary," said Donald Weinbach, vice president for development and alumni affairs. "As honorary chairman of our campaign, there is no doubt that we raised a tremendous amount of money for the TD Banknorth Sports Center because Gordie was associated with Quinnipiac. He is a world-class gentleman and I hope a lot of people will come out this weekend to thank him for all he has done."

Both of the first two hockey games will follow the official building dedication at 11:15 a.m. on Saturday, Jan. 27 and the opening tip-off of the first-ever events at the state-of-the-art facility-men's (12:30 p.m.) and women's (3 p.m.) basketball games-when Quinnipiac faces Northeast Conference foe Long Island University as part of a doubleheader that day.

Known throughout all of sports simply as "Mr. Hockey," Gordie Howe fashioned a remarkable playing career that spanned five decades. World War II had just ended when he first entered the National Hockey League and, as he played his final NHL season 33 years later, Wayne Gretzky was playing in his first. During this time, Howe finished in the top-five in NHL scoring for 20 straight seasons.

Howe made his professional debut when he was 18, taking up the right wing for the Detroit Red Wings at the beginning of the 1946-47 season, and soon played in his first All-Star Game in 1948. The Red Wings' Howe-Ted Lindsay-Sid Abel line of forwards was nicknamed "The Production Line" for its scoring proficiency in 1948-49 when Lindsay and Abel placed third and fourth in league scoring. The three linemates finished the 1949-50 season 1-2-3 in the year-end scoring race, with Abel winning the Hart Memorial Trophy for his league-leading total and a young Howe almost doubling his previous scoring total to place third.

In all, Howe was selected to 21 NHL All-Star squads, 12 times to the First Team. Six times he led the NHL in scoring to capture the Art Ross Memorial Trophy and six times he won the Hart Memorial Trophy as the league's most valuable player. His Detroit teams won four Stanley Cup Championships.

Howe's prime came during a defensive era, the 1940s and 1950s, when scoring was difficult and checking was tight. When he was 40, in 1967, the league expanded from six to 12 teams and the number of offensive opportunities grew with it. Howe played the 1968-69 season and topped 100 points for the first time, scoring 44 goals and adding a career-high 59 assists. Howe was among the top-10 scorers in 1969-70 when arthritis in his left wrist finally forced him to the sidelines following the 1970-71 season, his 25th in the league.

But Howe's retirement was short-lived. In 1973, one year after being elected to the Hockey Hall of Fame, he was given the unique opportunity to play alongside his sons, Mark and Marty, with the Houston Aeros of the World Hockey Association. The Aeros won consecutive championships in the Howes' first two seasons and Gordie was selected as the WHA's most valuable player in 1974 for his 100-point revival.

Gordie moved with Mark and Marty to the New England Whalers in 1977 when the Aeros struggled. The WHA merged with the NHL in 1979 and Howe, at age 52, played one final season, competing in all 80 games of the schedule with the Hartford Whalers. The elder Howe was appointed to the roster for the 1980 NHL All-Star Game by coach Scotty Bowman. He skated onto the ice at Joe Louis Arena in Detroit alongside the youngest player to ever skate in the game, 19-year-old Wayne Gretzky. Gretzky had idolized Gordie and wore No. 99 in homage to his boyhood hero, who donned No. 9 throughout his career. In the game Howe collected an assist on an insurance goal in his side's 6-3 win.

Gretzky would later break many of Howe's records, although one mark Gretzky did not reach was the career goals total of 975, when combining WHA and NHL totals (Gretzky finished with 931). Another milestone that will likely never be reached was further stretched when Howe played professional hockey in a sixth decade in 1997. He was signed to a one-game contract by the Detroit Vipers of the International Hockey League and, at almost 70 years old, made a stirring return to the ice for one final shift.

Following his ultimate retirement, Howe's professional totals, including playoffs, for the NHL and WHA combined were: 2,421 games played; 1,071 goals; 1,518 assists; and 2,589 points.