TORONTO -- Mark Howe was just a teenager playing junior hockey for the Toronto Marlboros when he called his dad, Gordie, for some advice.
I felt I was playing very well but not scoring and it was 4-5 games in a row, Mark Howe recalled. My dad was retired. I asked him if he had a moment if hed pop up here in TorontoI wasnt getting any scoring chances.
He came up, watched the game and the end said, When youre coming down the ice, youre lined up directly against the defenseman. Get your butt over to the boards and use your speed to make the defenseman come to you. If he comes too early, jump inside. If not, use your speed and go around him.
Mark Howe, now 56, laughs.
Who better to ask? Dad was always right.
On Monday night, Mark Howe joins his father in the Hall of Fame.
My door was always open, Gordie Howe said about coaching his sons, Mark and Marty.
Mark listened. They all listened well. I never played defense but I played against them and I know what bothered me most about defensemen.
NHL
The irony, of course, is that Mark switched to defense as a pro in Hartford, where he would become one the very best of an era that included Paul Coffey, Rod Languay and even Ray Bourque.
Howe would later play 10 years -- the prime of his career -- with the Flyers where he would become the greatest blue liner in club history, even though his No. 2 jersey was never retired.
It all began with a piece of plywood.
I put an eight-foot piece of plywood in the basement and showed him how to shoot, Gordie Howe said. Little Mark would spend an hour and a half down there. Bang, bang, bang. I went to a tennis ball. I showed him how to pass because the top hand was so important on aiming.
If I saw something, they were all very good about taking advice. Theyd agree to it and then the next game, I would see that they had listened.
Going to the Olympia for games, Gordie would tell Mark to watch certain players on the ice. One was Bobby Hull. The other was Nick Libett.
My told me to who look for and what to look for and then I had to learn through my own eyes, Mark said.
In one sense, it was easy being Gordie Howes son. Dad wasnt overbearing, either as a coach or father. In another sense, it was frustrating because of his stature.
Part of being Gordie Howes son is that you are always in the backdrop, Mark Howe said.
Take this Hall of Fame weekend. On Saturday, Mark Howe, along with fellow inductees Ed Belfour, Joe Nieuwendyk and Doug Gilmour, fielded questions from fans at a special event.
There was an autograph party, too. Just one problem. Mark and Marty sat at a table alone.
The first day in the hotel, 50 people asked for autographs and it was all Gordie, Mark Howe said. Marty and I just say there. That comes with the territory.
Gordie felt bad. On Monday, he said he wanted this to be Marks moment. He also wanted role reversal.
You want to be able to say youre Mark Howes dad?
Hell yes, Gordie Howe snapped. They are the fourth father-son tandem in the Hall.
Standing a short pass from father at the Hall, Mark Howe said simply, Honors mean nothing in our family without having family to share it. Thats what makes this so special
He wanted me to get the credit this weekend and doesnt want to distract from that.
It means more to me having him around than anything else.
If your grew up the son of Gordie Howe, my mother taught me, you had to create your own expectations. If anyone wanted me to be Gordie Howe, I was going to lose. I would have been a complete failure in my life.
I was taught how to set my own barI set my expectations higher than any coach I played for.
Mark had tears in his eyes when he said those words. He cried a bit earlier when talking about memories of his mother, Colleen.
She knew this day would come; it makes me feel good about that, he said
I wrote my speech for this induction on a plane and I just hope the people beside me werent watching me cry too much. Its a wonderful feeling, the emotions coning out of me.
He also cried for his Flyers blue line partner, Brad McCrimmon, who was killed in the Lokomotiv air crash in Russia earlier this fall. The Red Wings organization flew Brads surviving wife, Maureen, here for Mondays ceremonies.
Brad was so much an important part of my career, Mark said. To have her here is special to me ... He was a very good friend. We were 194 over three years once.
Mark Howe relayed the story of last June when the Hall of Fame board was trying to reach him to tell him of his selection. Howe never answered the phone, he said, because he didnt recognize the caller ID, other than it was from Toronto.
When the Red Wings called Howe and told him he needed to answer the phone, he still didnt make the connection.
Not until he answered the phone and heard Bill Hays voice from the executive committee of the Hall did he know.
I was completely unaware of what was going on, Mark Howe said. It hit me like a ton of bricks.
You play in the driveway growing up dreaming on winning Stanley Cups, dreaming of winning Conn Smythes, you dream of everything.
The only thing you never dream of is making the Hall of Fame. This is beyond any dream I ever had.
E-mail Tim Panaccio at tpanotch@comcast.net