For the second time in a week, the sports world is saying goodbye to a legend. A week ago Muhammad Ali took his final breath and today, hockey legend Gordie Howe passed away. He was 88 years old.
In 2015 he had suffered a massive stroke and that along with his age more than likely wound up taking him.
Howe played professional hockey from 1946-1979, spending most of his time with the Detroit Red Wings. He scored 801 goals and turned in over 1000 assists in that time and had over 1500 penalty minutes.
He was both an extremely talented goal scorer in addition to being tough as nails which is something that is an "either or" thing with hockey players today.
Today there isn't a single hockey fan who isn't feeling his loss. It doesn't matter what team you support in hockey. After his retirement in 1980 he continued to be the sports greatest ambassador, taking the sport around the world.
My memory of Gordie Howe takes me back to 1993 when he skated with the Tulsa Oilers in warmups before a game. I never saw him play an minutes of hockey but I got to see him skate at least. His death today was overshadowed by the memorial service for Muhammad Ali but not much because you can draw a line between Ali and Howe.
Both men were outstanding at what they did and pioneers in their field, ambassadors of their sports and great for the world in general.
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