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Mr. Hockey was a Hall of Fame hockey Dad, too

Tim Wharnsby, November 14, 2011

When Mark Howe turned up for various Hockey Hall of Fame functions in the past few days, he noticed the mass around his 83-year-old father Gordie always swelled more than the gathering around him.

The younger 56-year-old Howe wasn't surprised. He became accustomed to this scene early in life.

"That comes with the territory. My mother helped the four of us children deal with this at an early age," said Howe, inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame with Ed Belfour, Doug Gilmour and Joe Nieuwendyk on Monday.

Hero off the ice

"I've often said and I'll say it again, my father has meant more to me for the way he' s been off the ice than for all his on-ice accomplishments. He didn't want to be a distraction this weekend. But it means far more to me to have him around."

The admiration goes both ways. Mr. Hockey was inducted into the HHOF in 1972 and he remarked that he's more proud of his son gaining entrance than when Gordie's day arrived 39 years ago. Gordie and Mark Howe are the fourth father-son duo to be inducted in the HHOF behind Bobby and Brett Hull, Lester and Lynn Patrick as well as Oliver and Earl Siebert.

Even though Mark didn't get his induction call until 13 years after he became eligible, Mark was set up to succeed by his father. Gordie wasn't your typical hockey father. Of course, he had more knowledge to share, but he told sons Mark and Marty that he only would offer advice if they solicited guidance.

"My Dad never told me what to do or how to do it," Mark said. "He sometimes pointed me in the right direction, but he told me early on that his door would always be open if I had any questions."

Tips from the pro

One of those times was when Mark moved from the Detroit area to join his older brother Marty, now 47, on the Toronto Marlies junior team that went on to win the 1972-73 Memorial Cup. Mark, a left wing at the time, felt he was playing well, but he wasn't generating enough scoring chances.

So he called his father, who was retired at the time, to see if he could pop over to Toronto to watch him for a few games. Gordie did and made a suggestion.

"He told me I was coming down the wing in line with the [opposing] defenceman," Mark recalled. "He told me to get my butt over to the boards and make the defenceman come to me. If the defenceman backed off, I could cut inside. If the defenceman came at me, I could use my speed to the outside."

Other advice the famous hockey Dad gave to the emerging son was to focus on a single player while watching games from the stands. When Mark and Marty were kids and would drive to the old Olympia Arena for their Dad's games, Gordie would tell Mark to watch Bobby Hull if the opponent was the Chicago Blackhawks or the habits of speedy Red Wings left wing Nick Libbett, a six-time 20-goal scorer.

"It never hurts to listen to people who have been there before," Mark Howe said.

New position, another learning curve

Like when Mark made the rare move from forward to defence. Here was a player who, in his final season as a forward, beat Wayne Gretzky for the 1978-79 WHA scoring race 107 points to 104. Yet, the next season with the Hartford Whalers, Howe's first in the NHL, he was moved to defence full time.

"I played a few games in Houston [for the WHA Aeros] under [coach] Bill Dineen," said Howe, the long-time Red Wings director of scouting. "But that was only three or four games. The year I moved to defence for good it was in a game [for Hartford in 1979] against Buffalo. I was told right before the game. I would have liked to have had a couple practices at least.

"Even though I scored points as a forward, I considered it a success if I could stop the opposing right wing I went up against. I wanted to prevent him from getting any shots on goal. I didn't want him to score. The adjustment probably went well because of I was a defensive player and I had speed and could make a good pass."

It wasn't until Mark moved on to play for head coach Pat Quinn and the Philadelphia Flyers in 1982 that his play on the blue-line elevated to an elite level. That was because he worked closely with retired Flyer defenceman Ed Van Impe and learned the particulars of playing on the blue-line.

Another factor that elevated Mark Howe's play in Philadelphia was a five-year, on-ice defence partnership he formed with the late Brad McCrimmon, who perished in the Russian hockey team Lokomotiv Yaroslavl plane crash two months ago. McCrimmon also was Howe's roommate on the road.

"It was probably the best five years of my career as a player," Howe remarked. "There were two players in my career who I had instant chemistry with, Brad and my father."

Dean
M.Ed (Coaching)
Ch.P.C. (Chartered Professional Coach)
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