kchoya
Platinum Hoya (over 5000 posts)
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Post by kchoya on Jun 10, 2016 10:09:42 GMT -5
I'm of the younger generation, so Gretzky is the greatest hockey player of all time for me, but a good argument can be made that it's Howe (and no, Boston, it's not Bobby Orr). .
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DallasHoya
Golden Hoya (over 1000 posts)
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Post by DallasHoya on Jun 10, 2016 10:19:58 GMT -5
And a Gordie Howe Hat Trick - a goal, an assist and a fight - is one of the best sports expressions of all time.
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Elvado
Platinum Hoya (over 5000 posts)
Posts: 6,080
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Post by Elvado on Jun 10, 2016 11:08:05 GMT -5
While the WHA was clearly a watered down product, the level at which he performed throughout his 40's and into his 50's was mind-boggling.
Tough week for us kids of the 60's with regard to sports legends.
RIP to one of the best and toughest ever.
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njhoya78
Platinum Hoya (over 5000 posts)
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Post by njhoya78 on Jun 10, 2016 14:13:24 GMT -5
I grew up as a Rangers fan (fortunately, I grew up and abandoned them in the mid 70s), and Gordie Howe used to destroy them. Nobody dared to get near him, in no small part due to the level and aggressiveness of his elbows. Yes, it was a different game than is now played. . .more physical and vicious, largely due to the fact that there were only six NHL franchises until the 1967 expansion. In a 70 game season, each team played each other fourteen times. Plenty of opportunity for grudges to be fostered and fed. And when Gordie and Bobby Hull jumped to the newly formed WHA, they provided instant credibility to the league and nurtured it to the subsequent merger. Even as a Houston Aero and Hartford Whaler, Howe still commanded attention on the ice, and more than kept up with the next generation in game action.
I know I'm getting old when I realize that one of Gordie's sons, Mark, has been a Hall of Famer for a while now.
Requiescat in pace, Gordie. They don't make them like you any more.
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CTHoya08
Diamond Hoya (over 2500 posts)
Bring back Izzo!
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Post by CTHoya08 on Jun 10, 2016 16:00:10 GMT -5
Sad news. Well before my time, but a true legend. When I was playing youth hockey in the 1990s, number 9 was still the most frequent choice for the best player on the team. I don't know how many of those kids knew that they were wearing 9 because of Howe, but they knew that it was a number to be coveted.
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