This Day in Hockey History – April 9, 1980 – Gordie’s Goodbye Goal

After a 32-season career that went into five decades, 52-year-old Gordie Howe ended his professional playing days. On April 6, the final day of the 1979-80 season, Gordie netted his final regular-season goal. During the Hartford Whalers’ preliminary round, on April 9, 1980, he scored his final playoff goal. That these would be his final contributions became known when he officially announced his retirement on June 4.

As the 1979-80 season drew to a close, Gordie’s ultimate team, the Hartford Whalers, played his original team, the Detroit Red Wings. As the Hartford Courant noted, he “scored his last regular season goal in his final regular season game – against the Red Wings, with whom he scored his first NHL goal in his first NHL game.” The Whalers’ 5-3 victory brought them to a total of 303 goals, which then was a record for an expansion team.

Still, going into the playoffs, Hartford had placed fourth in the Norris Division only to face the first-place Montreal Canadiens. Overall in the league, Montreal ranked third as opposed to Hartford at fourteenth. The teams had met each other four times during the regular season, tying three of them. However, the Canadiens had won the Stanley Cup the previous four seasons and had not lost a game since February 19. For the preliminary round, the first two games were held at Montreal’s Forum before relocating to Hartford’s Civic Center.

On Tuesday, April 8, the first game, Gordie established a record for having appeared in 20 postseasons. The previous record-holder, Red Kelly, had played in 19. Gordie had not been in the NHL playoffs since 1970, before his first retirement, but he played in six WHA playoffs in the meantime. Unfortunately, his team was crushed by the Canadiens, 6-1.

On Wednesday, April 9, about 700 fewer fans came to the Forum, which still drew 15,242. From the first moments, this game looked to be similar to the previous night. It only took the Canadiens 1:20 to score the first two goals. They had the score at 3-0 by the end of the first period and 4-0 shortly thereafter. Hartford rallied, scoring three goals in just over five minutes but having one of them disallowed. When the third period began, the score was 8-2. Although not enough to save the game, the Howe family – father Gordie and sons Marty and Mark – then ended on a strong note.

“The best thing the Whalers had going for them was their three-of-a-kind,” complimented Wayne Parrish of the Montreal Gazette. “Of course, it wasn’t much of a hand against the Canadiens’ full house.” At 5:55, the family defenseman, Marty, “whipped in a slap shot from the point with Pat Boutette screening Montreal goaltender Dennis Herron.” About eight minutes after Marty made his first NHL goal, his father made his last at 13:59. Gordie’s “pretty backhander from the top of the right faceoff circle that beat Herron low to the far corner of the net.” Gordie exclaimed, “Damn, I was proud to get a backhander that high in the air.” His 68th playoff goal was his first in ten years. Despite being a Montreal crowd, they honored Gordie with a standing ovation. The opposing team was not so gracious, despite winning 8-4. Goalie Herron was “visibly upset on the senior Howe’s goal” and “banged his stick on the ice in disgust.” On both goals, Mark Howe assisted, which made this the only NHL game in which all three Howe relatives earned points. Gordie commented, “I guess a little bit of pride showed up in the third, thank God.”

Mark was more pessimistic. “What really bothers me is that even if we do have three guys out, we’ve played five periods of bad hockey. We pretty well expected to lose those games, but we didn’t plan to give them away. We’ve got to go home and play like we can.” Hartford Coach Don Blackburn justified, “We were totally outclassed from start to finish. The only positive thing is we didn’t quit. This game showed up a lot of our inadequacies. It shows we have a long way to go to be a good hockey club like the Canadiens.” With those harsh realities to contemplate, the Whalers flew home to Hartford through a “near-tropical storm that raged through the northeast.” The newspaper reported the flight was a “white-bagger all the way” with Gordie and at least six other players becoming sick.

The third game of the best-of-five series took place on April 11. It was much closer, but the Whalers still lost 4-3 in overtime. With that, Hartford was eliminated. Almost immediately afterwards, the press asked Gordie about retirement. He responded, “Don’t ask me that. Ask (Bobby) Hull. He’s retired more times than I have.”

Originally, Gordie claimed he would wait until late summer to decide, but instead, he made the official announcement June 4, 1980 at a media event held at the Hartford Hilton Hotel. Gordie joked, “Nobody teaches you how to retire. The first one didn’t work out too well.” Then he reassured the crowd, “I’d like to make it clear I’m not quitting. I’m not a quitter. I’m retiring. I feel very fortunate to have been able to play as long as I did.” His new position would be the Whalers’ director of player development.

 Additional Sources:

• Terry Price, “Whalers Win Season Finale; Now It’s On to Montreal,” Hartford Courant, 7 April 1980, pp. 45 and 50.
• Terry Price, “Canadiens Overrun Whalers Again, 8-4,” Hartford Courant, 10 April 1980, pp. 65 and 71.
• Terry Price, “Whalers Put Pride on Line Tonight,” Hartford Courant, 11 April 1980, p. 39.
• Wayne Parrish, “Referee won’t let Whalers have fun wails Kelley after goal called back,” Montreal Gazette, 10 April 1980, p. 58.
• Glenn Cole, “Canadiens waltz past Whalers,” Montreal Gazette, 10 April 1980, p. 57.
• “Howe’s future remains in doubt,” Montreal Gazette, 15 April 1980, p. 44.
• Terry Price, “Whalers’ Gordie Howe Retires,” Hartford Courant, 5 June 1980, pp. 1, 69, 73.
• https://thepinkpuck.com/2018/10/19/this-day-in-hockey-history-october-19-1979-howe-he-does-it-for-the-whalers/
• https://thepinkpuck.com/2019/02/05/this-day-in-hockey-history-february-5-1980-howes-last-all-star-game/