Helene St. James

Detroit Free Press

His day begins with a breakfast befitting a legend.

Gordie Howe turns 88 on Thursday, and though dementia has left him a man of few words, he exudes joy from what always mattered most to him — family, hockey, children.

Howe is doing so well, in fact, his family plans to bring him to Joe Louis Arena on Monday night to see the Detroit Red Wings play the Buffalo Sabres. Howe practically is synonymous with the Wings: He played for them in 1946-71, leading them to Stanley Cup championships in 1950, ’52, ’54 and ’55. A statue of him graces the concourse at the Joe.

Murray Howe, the youngest son of Gordie and Colleen Howe, will be driving his father to Detroit from their home near Toledo. Mark Howe, the director of pro scouting for the Wings, also plans to be at the game to help his dad celebrate his birthday early.

Murray Howe, a radiologist at Toledo Hospital, spoke to the Free Press on Saturday about Gordie, providing a peek into a typical day in the life of Mr. Hockey.

“He wakes up around 9 or 10 a.m. and has breakfast,” Murray said. “After that he conks out until around noon, then he has a big lunch. Then he conks out again, till around 3 in the afternoon. Then he’ll be up for the day, and we’ll start doing the rounds. Bedtime is around 8:30 most nights.”

Doing the rounds means getting out. The two often go grocery shopping together, and “Dad is my dedicated cart pusher,” Murray said. “He lives to be helpful.”

There are often trips to the Sylvania Tam-O-Shanter hockey rink. The smells, the sounds, the feel of being in a rink triggers an instant response in Gordie, triggers an instant smile. He is well-known at the place and unabashedly adored.

“They have a lot of intro hockey programs there, so there are always a lot of little kids around,” Murray said. “He loves to go over and show them how to hold their stick and just muck around with them. He just loves to play with them.”

A month ago, a little boy in his hockey uniform walked over and asked Gordie to guess his name. Gordie guessed Gordie. The boy beamed.

“He was named after my father,” Murray said. “That’s amazing to us, that he is still that revered that parents name their son after him.

“You could see it in the little boy’s eyes. In his eyes, my dad looked like Paul Bunyan. It was obvious they had told him all about him. The boy couldn’t believe he was actually meeting him.”

Physically, Howe is doing well overall. His back bothers him sometimes, “but he is hanging in there,” Murray said.

Gordie Howe still at center of stem cell controversy

Howe suffered a stroke on Oct. 26, 2014. At Christmas that year, the family had written a eulogy, because it looked like the end was that close. Then he started to do better, and the family saw further improvement after he underwent stem cell treatment in Mexico, the last of which was in June 2015.

He still loves to go for walks, getting out every day.

“Anywhere we take him that seems interesting, that’s what we do,” Murray said. “We try to change it up each day. He loves that. He likes to see people, especially kids.”

Renowned for his physical prowess during his playing days, Howe still uses his body to communicate.

“At this point,” Murray said, “he is a man of few words. He understands what everyone is saying, but he talks in short sentences and usually very quietly. It can be hard to understand him. But he is good with body language and hand signals.

“He is very funny, and if you listen closely, what he says is usually something extremely funny.”

Taking him to the Joe is a longer excursion than usual. The sons plan to take their dad into the Wings’ dressing room to say hello to the current players and coaching staff. They know fans will love getting a glimpse of him. They may not stay the whole game, having an hour drive home afterwards. But Gordie will start the day as he always does, with an appetite that signals his vitality.

“He eats four eggs, toast with butter, a banana, four sausage links,” Murray said. “And a bowl of oatmeal. When he stops eating, we’ll know he’s ready to go.”

Contact Helene St. James: hstjames@freepress.com. Follow her on Twitter @helenestjames.Check out our Red Wings Xtra app on Apple and Android!

Wish him well!

Gordie Howe turns 88 on Thursday. Go to freep.com/redwings all week to wish Mr. Hockey a happy birthday with words or video!