Home Town Hockey Heroes: Gordie Howe, Saskatoon

Gordie Howe was born in Floral, Saskatchewan in 1928. Gordie may have been born in the farming village famous for it's grain elevator, but he essentially was a Saskatoon boy through and through. Floral is just southeast of Saskatoon.

Here's a photo of Gordie Howe, in the back row wearing the unfamiliar number 13, with this Saskatoon Lions Bruins teammates. This photo was taken in 1943 when the team won the provincial championship. For Howe, just 14 years old though his 6 foot tall body suggested otherwise, it was his first hockey championship ever.

Saskatoon won the two-game, total-goals series by a score of 11-6. Howe scored five goals in the opener, an 8-4 victory in Yorkton (which was lead by Metro Prystai, a future Howe teammate in Detroit). Howe added an assist in a 3-2  win in the second game, this time in Saskatoon.

That second game was played at the old Saskatoon Arena, which as I understand it no longer exists. Gordie's father Ab helped to build it, which made the building extra special. But mostly the Howes were happy just to be playing indoors. Most of his youth hockey was played outdoors on the rink adjacent to King George School.