{"id":88379,"date":"2020-10-08T09:30:32","date_gmt":"2020-10-08T13:30:32","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/hockey\/?p=88379"},"modified":"2025-12-01T20:17:21","modified_gmt":"2025-12-02T01:17:21","slug":"today-in-hockey-history-red-wings-gordie-howe-signs-first-pro-deal","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/hockey\/2020\/10\/08\/today-in-hockey-history-red-wings-gordie-howe-signs-first-pro-deal\/","title":{"rendered":"Today in Hockey History: Detroit Red Wings Gordie Howe Signs First Pro Deal"},"content":{"rendered":"

We\u2019re normally getting ready for another hockey season, but we\u2019re in a different world. Last Word on Hockey is still going to look back at each date\u2019s historical significance to the game. We\u2019ll remember the moments that shaped the sport of hockey that happened on this day. Here\u2019s our look at this date in hockey history for October 8, featuring Gordie Howe<\/a><\/strong>.
\n<\/span><\/p>\n

Today in Hockey History<\/h2>\n

Gordie Howe Inks Pro Contract<\/h3>\n

1946:<\/strong> The Floral, Saskatchewan native signs his first deal with the Detroit Red Wings<\/a>. He makes his debut eight days later and gets 22 points in 58 games. Howe becomes a consistent 35-goal scorer by 1949-50 and top five for a run of 20 seasons.<\/p>\n

He wins the Art Ross<\/a> Trophy six times and plays on four Stanley Cup winners with Detroit. Howe is 52 when he retires<\/a> June 4, 1980, holding the NHL record for games played (1,767), goals (801) and points (1,850).<\/p>\n

Other Notable Events<\/h3>\n

1950:<\/strong> Detroit routs the league All-Stars, 7-1, in the first televised All-Star Game. Ted Lindsay<\/a><\/strong> nets a hat trick for the Wings.<\/p>\n

1953:<\/strong> Detroit\u2019s Earl Reibel<\/strong> registered four assists to set a record for most assists in a player\u2019s first NHL game.<\/p>\n

1963:<\/strong> Montreal Canadiens<\/a> rookie John Ferguson<\/a><\/strong> gets a Gordie Howe hat trick of a goal, fight and an assist in his debut. He scores twice in a 4-4 tie with the Boston Bruins<\/a>.<\/p>\n

1971: Craig Patrick<\/a><\/strong> becomes the first third-generation player to play in an NHL game. He joins his grandfather, Lester Patrick<\/a>, and his father, Lynn Patrick<\/a>.<\/p>\n

1975: Doug Jarvis<\/a><\/strong> starts the longest consecutive games streak in league history with the Habs. Jarvis plays in 964 straight games until Oct. 10, 1987. His streak ends as a member of the Hartford Whalers<\/a>.<\/p>\n

1983:<\/strong> The first regular-season overtime game in 41 years is played. Bob Bourne<\/a><\/span><\/strong> scores in OT to give the New York Islanders<\/a> an 8-7 win over the Washington Capitals<\/a>.<\/p>\n

1993:<\/strong> The Mighty Ducks of Anaheim<\/a> lose their first game in franchise history, 7-2, to the Red Wings. Sean Hill<\/a><\/strong> scores the first goal in team history, but Detroit is too dominant. The Mighty Ducks finish their inaugural season with a 33-46-5 record.<\/p>\n

2014: <\/b>Antti Niemi<\/a><\/span> <\/strong>makes 34 saves in the San Jose Sharks<\/a> 4-0 win over the Los Angeles Kings<\/a>. Niemi is the first goalie to shutout the defending champions since Turk Broda<\/a><\/strong> did in 1941.<\/p>\n

2017: <\/b>Henrik Lundqvist<\/a><\/strong> stops 34 shots as the New York Rangers<\/a> beat the Canadiens, 2-0. Lundqvist rallies from an 8-5 road loss to the Toronto Maple Leafs<\/a> the night before. The King gets his 62nd shutout that passes him by Broda past 16th on the all-time list.<\/p>\n

Happy Birthday to You<\/h3>\n

1938: Walter Gretzky<\/strong><\/p>\n

1974: Kevyn Adams<\/a>; Fredrik Modin<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n

1981: Raffi Torres<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n

1990: David Rundblad<\/a>; Seth Helgeson<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n

1996: Timo Meier<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

We\u2019re normally getting ready for another hockey season, but we\u2019re in a different world. Last Word on Hockey is still going to look back at each date\u2019s historical significance to the game. We\u2019ll remember the moments that shaped the sport of hockey that happened on this day. Here\u2019s our look at this date in hockey […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2352,"featured_media":51462,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_lmt_disableupdate":"","_lmt_disable":"","sfio_featured_image":false,"sfio_embed_code":"","_ef_editorial_meta_date_first-draft-date":"","_ef_editorial_meta_paragraph_assignment":"","_ef_editorial_meta_checkbox_needs-photo":"","_ef_editorial_meta_number_word-count":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[4,8245,4547,4548,6331],"tags":[340,5039,3020,5550,757,372,3534,5464,132,1947,429],"class_list":["post-88379","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-redwings","category-history","category-hockey","category-nhl","category-today-in-hockey-history","tag-antti-niemi","tag-craig-patrick","tag-doug-jarvis","tag-earl-reibel","tag-gordie-howe","tag-henrik-lundqvist","tag-hockey-history","tag-john-ferguson","tag-raffi-torres","tag-seth-helgeson","tag-timo-meier"],"modified_by":"Michael Kovacs, ADMIN","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/hockey\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/88379","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/hockey\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/hockey\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/hockey\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2352"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/hockey\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=88379"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/hockey\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/88379\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":478981,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/hockey\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/88379\/revisions\/478981"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/hockey\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/51462"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/hockey\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=88379"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/hockey\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=88379"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/hockey\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=88379"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}