Flashback: Gordie Howe became all-time leader in regular-season career goals in 1963

One of the greatest moments in Detroit sports history took place 60 years ago at Olympia Stadium when 35-year-old Gordie Howe surpassed Montreal’s Maurice “The Rocket” Richard to become the all-time leader in regular-season career goals.

Playing in his 18th season with the Red Wings, Howe was a four-time Stanley Cup champion, six-time most valuable player and a scoring champ who already held the record for most total points and assists. Howe, who died in 2016, was considered the game’s greatest all-around player long before he became known as “Mr. Hockey.”

But scoring goal number 545 did not come easy.

Prior to the start of the 1963-64 campaign, Red Wings publicity director Elliott Trumbull convinced Howe to pose for what became a famous photo of No. 9 kneeling on the ice in full uniform, surrounded by 540 pucks. He held five in his hand, signifying the number of goals he needed to pass Richard.

“Gordie loved the idea,” Trumbull said from his home in Naples, Florida.

When Trumbull asked trainer Lefty Wilson for 545 pucks, “he first wanted to throw me out of the locker room. But he finally came around.”

In the season’s opening game, Howe scored two goals in the first period against Chicago goaltender Glenn Hall and then tallied in the second game against Boston. It looked like the record would be broken in the first week.

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Yet, for the next four games, Howe shot blanks, even though his linemates kept trying to set him up.

Shaking the Old Red Barn

Then, on Sunday, Oct. 27, at Olympia, appropriately against the Montreal Canadiens, Richard’s old team and a hated rival, Howe received a pass from Bruce MacGregor during a third-period power play and tied the record when he beat goaltender Gump Worsley with his wicked wrist shot.

The “Old Red Barn” shook that night as Howe received a five-minute standing ovation from the screaming fans, who littered the ice with programs, hats and other items.

In the next five games, over a two-week period, Howe once again struggled to find the net.

Every Red Wing fan was hoping that on Sunday, Nov. 10, in a rematch with Montreal at Olympia, Gordie would finally make history.

Three thousand fans who walked up to the ticket office were turned away as Olympia was sold out with 15,027 fans in attendance, including those in standing room sections packed in three to five deep. Others sat on steps.

Among those in attendance was 8-year-old Mark Howe, brought to the rink by his dad from their home in Lathrup Village. He watched the game next to his mother, Colleen.

The wait was finally over.

At the 15-minute mark of the second period, the Wings were shorthanded and hanging on to a 2-0 lead. Red Wing Billy McNeill got the puck deep in Detroit territory and broke out with Howe on his left and Bill Gadsby on the far side for a 3-on-2 break. Dave Balon and Jacques Laperriere were on defense for the Canadiens.

McNeill then cut across the middle just past the Montreal blue line, and though Gadsby was wide-open and calling for the puck, McNeill caught Howe with the pass in full stride, near the faceoff circle. He snapped a wrist shot barely off the ice that whistled between goalie Charlie Hodge’s left skate and the post.

Then, pandemonium.

Goal judge John Miller repeatedly flashed the red light as Howe jumped off the ice with stick raised, then fell to his knees behind the net. His teammates jumped over the boards and surrounded him.

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A portrait from the Canadiens

For nearly 10 minutes, the crowd cheered and called out Howe’s name as the public-address announcer proclaimed Howe’s scoring record. Fans littered the ice as both teams skated to their benches to wait out the deafening ovation.

The Free Press reported police radios in scout cars, precinct stations and patrol wagons heard the message from headquarters: “Attention all cars, Gordie Howe’s new record is 545.”

Almost overlooked was that with the 3-0 victory, Red Wing netminder Terry Sawhcuk recorded his 94th career shutout, tying him with record holder George Hainsworth.

“People have asked me what was my greatest moment in hockey, and I always say it was that goal,” Mark Howe said in an interview. “The ovation just went on like it seemed forever. I remember thinking, ‘I’m the only one in here who can say, ‘that’s my dad.’ ”

Elliott Trumbull fondly recalled the scene that he observed from the press box.

“I’ll never forget seeing Montreal captain Jean Beliveau skating over to the Detroit bench and shaking Gordie’s hand,” said Trumbull. “It was quite a moment.”

Maurice Richard had retired from the Canadiens in 1960, but his brother, Henri, was a Canadiens’ forward, and he also shook hands with Howe.

In the dressing room following the game, Howe told reporters:

“Since I tied the record, everything seemed to be so much harder to do. The pressure was getting to me and it seemed everything depended on me getting that goal. I must have lost 10 pounds in that stretch, but it’s all over now.”

A wired note from former coach and general manager Jack Adams was delivered to Howe. It read: “I knew you could do it. What took you so long?”

Beliveau then walked into the Detroit locker room, and on behalf of the Canadiens presented the new scoring champion with an oil painting of Howe. Mark Howe has had it since he left home at age 19.

“It’s the only item ever I ever wanted that was my father’s,” said Howe, who proudly displays the painting in his New Jersey home.

After the game, Howe continued his tradition of signing autographs for fans outside of the Red Wing locker room. Then he drove to St. Clair Shores to watch the first freezing of the ice at the soon-to-be-opened Gordie Howe Hockeyland.

He kept playing and scoring

In the papers the next day there was speculation as to whether Howe would ever score 600 goals, let alone play 20 years in the league.

“If I get 20 years in as a forward, I hope to come near it but I’ll have to score a lot faster than the rate I’m going now,” Howe told reporters.

But Mr. Hockey would famously defy father time and play seven more seasons in Detroit, highlighted by the 1968-69 campaign when he scored 44 goals with 103 points at age 40.

After briefly serving in the Red Wing front office following his 1971 retirement, Howe continued his playing career in the World Hockey Association with sons Mark and Marty for six seasons, then played one more year in the NHL when Hartford joined the league in 1979-80. He played all 80 games, scoring 15 goals. He finally retired at the end of the season. He was 52.

Howe finished his 26th NHL season with 801 regular-season goals. That record would last nearly 31 years from that celebrated night 60 years ago until Wayne Gretzky broke it in 1994. Last season Washington’s Alex Ovechkin surpassed Howe for second place in all-time goals.

Counting his 174 goals scored in the WHA, however, Howe still holds the record for the most regular-season goals — 975 — scored in professional hockey history.

Bill Dow is a Detroit area freelance writer.

This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Gordie Howe broke NHL's all-time regular-season goals record in 1963