The hockey world is remembering Gordie Howe – and so is northern Saskatchewan.
The late hockey legend spoke at schools in Pelican Narrows, La Ronge and Pinehouse, among other communities in that region, in the late 1980s.
CBC.ca recalled the speaking tour, organized by the catering company at the Key Lake uranium mine, in a piece published Monday.
“It was a real good thing for northern Saskatchewan,” John Nightingale, who was head of the mine at the time, told CBC.
“Those communities don’t get a lot of opportunities to rub shoulders with people who have been great in the sports world.”
Nightingale said Howe offered students an encouraging message that “everything is possible if you work at it.”
Meanwhile, Flin Flon native Al Hamilton recalled playing with and against Howe during the men’s NHL and WHA days.
“My first NHL game was against Gordie, and he gave me a quick whack, broke his stick and my arm … I wasn’t doing anything to do him,” Hamilton told the Edmonton Journal with a laugh. “I was carrying the puck, I was 19 years old and I guess that was my introduction to the NHL.
“He was a great guy [as a teammate and off the ice], a humble person. I grew up thinking Gordie Howe was the greatest player there was. My first pair of skates when I was 9 and living in Flin Flon were ordered from Eaton’s, I believe, and they were Gordie Howe signature. Then I got to play against him. Those sloped shoulders, the Popeye forearms, the big legs. One of a kind, so strong.”
Howe, known as Mr. Hockey, died last Friday, June 10 at the age of 88. He is fourth on the all-time NHL scoring list behind Wayne Gretzky, Mark Messier and Jaromir Jagr.
