By Brent Bosker

Former players pay tribute to Mr. Hockey

Feb 5, 2015 | 10:27 AM

Sports fans and famous athletes will gather Friday at TCU Place in Saskatoon to share stories and pay tribute to one of the greatest hockey players of all time.

The Kinsmen Sports Celebrity Dinner will likely be Gordie Howe’s final public appearance in the Bridge City.

Former NHLer Gary Peters said he’s looking forward to seeing his old friend and competitor.

Peters and Howe played against each other numerous times back in the 60s and 70s. Peters said his first NHL game with the Montreal Canadiens was against Howe and the Detroit Red Wings. 

“I wanted to show Toe Blake (Canadiens coach) I wasn’t scared of anybody and wanted to be there so I corked him pretty good,” he said.

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Peters recalled thinking there would be a retaliation but Howe let him off the hook.

“As we were skating out of our end, I took a glance and he was right behind me and he said, ‘Kid it’s a good thing you’re from Saskatchewan,’ and I thought, ‘Oh gosh greatest news I heard in a long time,’” he laughed.

Peters called Howe’s recovery remarkable but not surprising.

“That is Gordie Howe at his best. To be able to bounce back and recover and to be going again, I just admire the man.”

Detroit Red Wings head coach Mike Babcock, who grew up in Saskatoon, said Howe is not only a great ambassador for hockey, but a great man.

“It’s a special, special thing when you meet somebody who’s a hockey player and he’s done so much in the game but you find out he’s a way better person than he was a player – a way better family man and a way better dad,” he said.

Former World Hockey Association (WHA) goaltender, now Sportsnet broadcaster, John Garrett describes Howe as one the nicest superstars he ever had a chance to meet and play with.

Garrett is in the pro-hockey record books for letting in Howe’s 1,000th career goal while playing for the Birmingham Bulls. 

“He was at 999 and he had two or three games before we played them, and I was just hoping he’d get his 1,000th before we played them. Sure enough, no,” Garrett said.

“You never knew what he was going to do. Whether he was going to shoot, whether he was going to pass, whether he was going to shoot with one hand, whether he was going to switch hands and shoot the wrong way, you just didn’t know.”

A year later, Garrett would end up Howe’s teammate with the New England Whalers.

Mr. Hockey and his entire family will be at the sold out Kinsmen Sports Celebrity Dinner. Wayne Gretzky is the keynote speaker for the event which begins at 5 p.m.

Howe is expected to arrive in Saskatoon on Thursday afternoon.

news@panow.com

On Twitter: @princealbertnow