Mark Howe, son of NHL great Gordie Howe, asked his father if he wanted to go to the Red Wings game last night.
“He said, ‘Oh, yeah,’ just like that,” said the younger Howe. “He was so excited.”
The team presented Howe with a birthday cake, and he visited with players and coaches before the game.
“To have Gordie Howe come in here means a ton,” Red Wings coach Jeff Blashill said after the morning skate. “This organization has unreal history and he’s as big a piece of that as anybody. So to have him here tonight will be a great thing. I think it’s great for the Howe family that he’s able to come here and he’s really doing a good job, health-wise.”
The Red Wings ended up winning the contest over the Buffalo Sabres by a score of 3-2, but perhaps the highlight of the night came during a stoppage midway through the first period when the entire capacity crowd at Joe Louis Arena, home of the Red Wings, sang ‘Happy Birthday’ to Mr. Hockey, who turns 88 on Thursday.
Howe played nearly 1,700 games for the Red Wings throughout his NHL career. This is just the second time he has attended a Red Wings game since suffering a major stroke in October 2014. He has made great strides since then, however, thanks in large part to two stem-cell treatments.
Check out video below of the crowd singing ‘Happy Birthday’ to Howe.
