Gordie Howe was the iron man of professional hockey, spending 32 years mostly with the NHL’s Detroit Red Wings, skating with the club from 1946 to 1971. The Howe-led Wings were at their peak in the 1950s and ‘60s.
“In that era, NHL clubs didn’t give much consideration to a player’s home life. For [general manager] Jack Adams, especially, wives and winning just didn’t mix. During the playoffs, he was so fixated on eliminating any distractions that our wives became temporary widows. For home playoff games, the club would pack us off to Toledo, which is about an hour’s drive from Detroit. We’d stay cloistered there until shortly before game time, when we’d climb on a bus and head to the Olympia. Afterward we’d have a few minutes to sign autographs and, if we were lucky, say a quick hello to our wives before being hurried back on board the waiting bus. Colleen despised the arrangement. Why, she wondered, did we have to live like monks during the playoffs when we won games all year long while staying at home? It was a fair point. A good playoff run could stretch on for six weeks, which meant I’d practically have to reintroduce myself to our kids when I got home.”
