He's dead, Jim.

[SteveP]

Re: He's dead, Jim.

He's a mess, in fact. However let's bear in mind that the man is 86 years old. You factor in natural aging with his years of fisticuffs, and while it's sad to see him fade away, it's not surprising. The game was played a lot dirtier and called much looser back then, and his reputation was no exception to that. Some of the things they got away with in the 50s and 60s would probably result in a stiff suspension today.

Howe suffered a fractured skull during the 1950 playoffs against the Leafs and nearly died, but he was back the following season.

My dad turns 86 next week and thank God that despite 30 years as a cop he's still going strong physically and mentally.

[bigmrg74]

Re: He's dead, Jim.

He's a mess, in fact. However let's bear in mind that the man is 86 years old. You factor in natural aging with his years of fisticuffs, and while it's sad to see him fade away, it's not surprising. The game was played a lot dirtier and called much looser back then, and his reputation was no exception to that. Some of the things they got away with in the 50s and 60s would probably result in a stiff suspension today.

In a magazine I get, they had an story on Gordie and Mark Howe with their Rolfer. In it they talked about how Rolfing helped both of them out, mostly how Rolfing fixed Mark up and he was able to play a couple of years more after having rolfing done. And then Mark finally talked Gordie into trying Rolfing and they show some before and after shots of Mr. Hockey. The article is about two years old. http://www.abmp.com/textonlymags/art...hp?article=567

and they also did a video as wellhttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fYIRBHu5W7Y

[bigmrg74]

Re: He's dead, Jim.

Shadowfax: Lord of all Horses

[burd]

Re: He's dead, Jim.

Howe suffered a fractured skull during the 1950 playoffs against the Leafs and nearly died, but he was back the following season.

My dad turns 86 next week and thank God that despite 30 years as a cop he's still going strong physically and mentally.

The players of Gordie's era have a special place in the minds of those of us who experienced the game through radio for many years. The power of imagination, I guess.

[Old Pio]

Re: He's dead, Jim.

The players of Gordie's era have a special place in the minds of those of us who experienced the game through radio for many years. The power of imagination, I guess.

Growing up in Chicago, we had tickets for the Black Hawks. And all of their road games were on WGN-TV. Six teams. That monstrous organ. No toilets. No water fountains. The hot dogs were colder than the beer. Man, Chicago Stadium was the place to be. Got to see all the greats: Gordie, the Big M, Rocket, all of 'em. But the greatest, most exciting thing I've ever seen was Bobby Hull scooping up the puck behind his own net, heading up ice at the speed of light, then triggering one of those awesome slappers from the blue line. You've never seen anything like it. Trust me.

[RaceBoarder]

Re: He's dead, Jim.

Growing up in Chicago, we had tickets for the Black Hawks. And all of their road games were on WGN-TV. Six teams. That monstrous organ. No toilets. No water fountains. The hot dogs were colder than the beer. Man, Chicago Stadium was the place to be. Got to see all the greats: Gordie, the Big M, Rocket, all of 'em. But the greatest, most exciting thing I've ever seen was Bobby Hull scooping up the puck behind his own net, heading up ice at the speed of light, then triggering one of those awesome slappers from the blue line. You've never seen anything like it. Trust me.

See, now I know you're crazy... Chicago didn't have hockey before the Blackhawks inaugural season in 2009

P.S. The Stadium was the coolest venue I have ever been in, any time, any place...

[SteveP]

Re: He's dead, Jim.

Growing up in Chicago, we had tickets for the Black Hawks. And all of their road games were on WGN-TV. Six teams. That monstrous organ. No toilets. No water fountains. The hot dogs were colder than the beer. Man, Chicago Stadium was the place to be. Got to see all the greats: Gordie, the Big M, Rocket, all of 'em. But the greatest, most exciting thing I've ever seen was Bobby Hull scooping up the puck behind his own net, heading up ice at the speed of light, then triggering one of those awesome slappers from the blue line. You've never seen anything like it. Trust me.

And Johnny Bower or Gump Worsley on the other end of those 100mph blasts (from a wood stick) with no mask!

[Old Pio]

Re: He's dead, Jim.

And Johnny Bower or Gump Worsley on the other end of those 100mph blasts (from a wood stick) with no mask!

Worsley once took a Hull slapper on the forehead. And he said the only reason he wasn't killed was that the puck had turned over and hit him flat. If it had hit him edge on, lights out, forever. Sport did an article called "Why Goalies Fear for Their Lives," asking a panel of the leading goalies of the day questions about facing Bobby. One described the time Hull took an unscreened slapper from the blue line and the guy brought his glove up to make the save--and it hit him in the back of the glove. Back before video tape replay, with old, drunken geezers as goal judges, the Hawks always maintained that Hull lost goals every season because they went in and came out so fast nobody saw them.

He had two attributes which in mere mortals tend to exclude one another: he was the fastest skater (certainly among the fastest ever) and had the heaviest shot (again, certainly among the heaviest ever). A brutal combination. Oh, and add in no regulations on the degree of curve in the blade. 100+ mph slappers that came off the blade like a knuckleball! The only thing that kept him from scoring 75-100 goals every year was the fact that he was double teamed every time he stepped on the ice.

[Old Pio]

Re: He's dead, Jim.

See, now I know you're crazy... Chicago didn't have hockey before the Blackhawks inaugural season in 2009

P.S. The Stadium was the coolest venue I have ever been in, any time, any place...

You are probably too young to remember Al Melgard playing the mighty Chicago Stadium Barton organ. He had the job for decades, into the 70's. And after every event, he played this haunting little tune (My Vision) that he had composed for Sonja Henie, as a recessional. I was there the last night he ever played it. She had passed away and with a spot light on center ice, he played it one last time.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g208UyQftT8

[The Rube]

Re: He's dead, Jim.

And Johnny Bower or Gump Worsley on the other end of those 100mph blasts (from a wood stick) with no mask!

I love Gump. This pic says 1000 words for the goalies back in the day:

http://25.media.tumblr.com/c81b0e13d...x4u4o1_400.jpg

[Old Pio]

Re: He's dead, Jim.

I love Gump. This pic says 1000 words for the goalies back in the day:

http://25.media.tumblr.com/c81b0e13d...x4u4o1_400.jpg

Those guys were crazy tough. Glenn Hall started 502 consecutive games!

[groovemaster]

Re: He's dead, Jim.

Those guys were crazy tough. Glenn Hall started 502 consecutive games!

Something we'll never see again and regularly puking his guts out before the game and in between periods.

[Old Pio]

Re: He's dead, Jim.

Something we'll never see again and regularly puking his guts out before the game and in between periods.

And every year as the season approached, as he was trying to pry a few extra dollars out of the Wirtz family, he'd claim he was just too busy painting his barn to come down for another season.

[SteveP]

Re: He's dead, Jim.

AC/DC

About 3 weeks ago, founding member, rhythm guitarist, co-producer and co-songwriter Malcolm Young had a stroke, which left a blood clot on his brain.

When AC/DC reunited at the start of April to begin a month of rehearsals, in the lead-up to new album recording sessions, Malcolm discovered he couldn't play. At least, he couldn't play like he used to play.

Nothing has been officially confirmed, as of this writing, but friends and family members have been discussing what happened to Malcolm for the past couple of weeks. The blood clot, resulting from the stroke, is believed to be why Malcolm couldn't keep working.

Although friends have described Malcolm's condition as serious, it doesn't mean he won't recover. People do get better after strokes, and people do recover lost skills.

But friends and family of band members believe the decision was made last week to call it quits.

[burd]

Re: He's dead, Jim.

But the greatest, most exciting thing I've ever seen was Bobby Hull scooping up the puck behind his own net, heading up ice at the speed of light, then triggering one of those awesome slappers from the blue line. You've never seen anything like it. Trust me.

Bobby Hull had star power that was much like Mantle's. Speed, power, and looks made for Madison Avenue. The Mick just played for the biggest sport on the biggest stage.