Gordie: A Hockey Legend [Hardcover]

Roy MacSkimming (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: October 1994

Before Gretzky, before Russians played in the NHL, before multimillion-dollar salaries, there was Gordie Howe: the greatest star ever to play hockey.

--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

For longevity, no athlete in a contact sport has matched hockey's Gordie Howe, who played professionally as a right wing for 35 years, with a two-season hiatus, from age 17 to 52. In that career, spent mostly with the Detroit Red Wings, he set dozens of records, but the most noteworthy are the scoring of 801 goals in regular season play, winning the trophy for most valuable player six times, being named to NHL all-star teams 21 times and playing on the same squad as two of his sons. Born in 1928, and raised in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, one of nine children of a poor family, Howe was preternaturally shy as a child and not much less so as an adult. He started to skate and play hockey before he was six and was recognized as an outstanding talent in his early teens. MacSkimming (On Your Own Again) spends too many words trying to prove that Howe was better than Maurice Richard and Wayne Gretzky, but this unauthorized bio will still have wide appeal for hockey fans. Photos.
Copyright 1994 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Booklist

Long before Gretsky, Messier, and even before the original Hull, there was a big, raw-boned kid from Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, who was the most celebrated hockey player of his era. Amazingly, his era began in 1946 with the Detroit Red Wings and ended 34 years and 32 seasons later with the Hartford Whalers. When Gordie Howe retired, he was 52 and still an effective National Hockey League player. In between, he led the league in goals scored five times and in points six times, was a 12-time all-star, and claimed six Most Valuable Player awards. MacSkimming approached Howe about an authorized biography but instead went forward with this unauthorized version. No matter. It's far superior to the hero-worshiping, gee-whiz, then-we-played, ghostwritten autobiographies so popular today, but at the same time, it never strays into Kitty Kelly territory. Howe has his darker side: there were plenty of on- and off-ice battles with coaches and owners. MacSkimming reports them all, but he also captures Howe's sense of fun and makes it clear that the man lived to play hockey. Howe's enthusiasm for the game is omnipresent, from his very poor childhood with borrowed skates and makeshift sticks to his later years when he came out of a two-year retirement to play with his son in the upstart World Hockey Association. Must reading for hockey fans. Wes Lukowsky

Product Details

• Hardcover: 220 pages
• Publisher: Sterling Pub Co Inc; First Edition first Printing edition (October 1994)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1550541595
• ISBN-13: 978-1550541595
• Product Dimensions: 9.1 x 6.2 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.2 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.1 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (7 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,079,449 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #4 in Books > Biographies & Memoirs > People, A-Z > ( H ) > Howe, Gordie

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars An enthralling look at professional hockey's past, and stars, June 3, 1999

By 

[e-mail] (a librarian in Wake Forest, NC) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Gordie: A Hockey Legend (Paperback)

As a lifetime fan of the Detroit Red Wings, I was overjoyed when I found that there is a recent biography of Howe that is much more up to date than many written in the 60's and 70's. This book gives the reader an inside look at what it was like to get into the NHL in the 50's, and what it took to stay there and become a star. Mackskimming is very candid when talking about the front office's team management "politics" The reader also gets an up-close look at other great stars of the era such as Red Kelly, Ted Linsay, Maurice "Rocket" Richard, and coach Jack Adams. A must read for any TRUE hockey fan.

4.0 out of 5 stars a great hockey legend, November 22, 2011

By 

georges dainault - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Gordie: A Hockey Legend (Paperback)

This a great review of a very good hockey player. Very interesting,I learned several things about the career of this great player.

5.0 out of 5 stars Legend, September 4, 2011

By 

Scott A. Kallick "Pugwash" (Pittsburgh) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Gordie: A Hockey Legend (Paperback)

Take a poll of even the most casual hockey fan of who the all-time greatest player ever to lace up skates, and the overwhelming answer would be the Great One, Wayne Gretzky. The reasons are compelling. All-time leader in points, and goals, and spearheaded a dynasty in Edmonton.

But this fine biography of Gordie Howe puts forth several arguments for his place as hockey's all-time #1. Howe played thirty two years, with a preponderence of them during the Original Six era, when players would face the same teams, defensemen, and goalies foruteen to sixteen times a season. This familiarity could only inhibit scoring, yet Howe was a top three to five scorer for almost twenty years before expansion.

His toughness, and the respect he engendered among his peers is legendary.

Anyone who has ever met Gordie Howe can attest to his humility, his approachability and his down to Earth persona. Gordie Howe was a first rate superstar before the days of mega exposure.

This is a fine biography. It shows not only his wonderful traits which drove him to the top of the hockey world, and recounts the heights of his career, but also his warts and weaknesses. It balances the story of one of the great sportsmen of the twentieth century and one of the most remarkable comebacks, at the age of 46 in Sports history.

Highly readable, and highly recommended.