Gordie Howe.

Gordie Howe. Gordie Howe, born in 1928, Canadian ice hockey player, one of the most prolific scorers in the sport's history. Gordon Howe was born in Floral, Saskatchewan. One of hockey's finest players, he had a remarkably long playing career that lasted from 1945 to 1980. Howe played for the Omaha Knights of the United States Hockey League during the 1945-46 season, then joined the Detroit Red Wings of the National Hockey League (NHL) and starred with the team from 1946 to 1971. After two years of retirement, Howe joined the Houston Aeros of the World Hockey Association (WHA) in 1973. In 1977 he began playing for the New England Whalers of the WHA. He remained with the team until 1980, by which time the franchise had moved to Hartford, Connecticut, and joined the NHL as the Hartford Whalers (now the Carolina Hurricanes). Howe, who played the right wing position, won six NHL scoring titles (1951-1954, 1957, 1963) and was named most valuable player (MVP) of the NHL six times (1952, 1953, 1957, 1958, 1960, 1963). He retired in 1980, at the age of 52, as the NHL leader in career goals (801) and total points (1,850). Howe now ranks second in goals (to Wayne Gretzky) and third in points (behind Gretzky and Mark Messier) on the league's career list. Combining his NHL and WHA statistics, Howe accumulated 975 goals and 1,383 assists, for a total of 2,358 points in professional top-level competition. Only Gretzky accumulated more. Howe also ranks among the leaders in career Stanley Cup playoff goals, assists, and points. He was inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame in 1972. Microsoft ® Encarta ® 2009. © 1993-2008 Microsoft Corporation. All rights reserved.