Syd Howe was Red Wings star before Gordie Howe arrived

Legendary hockey reporter Stan Fischler writes a weekly scrapbook for NHL.com. Fischler, known as "The Hockey Maven," shares his humor and insight with readers each Wednesday. This week he zeroes in on a forgotten Detroit Red Wings hero whose last name was Howe.

It may come as a surprise to hockey fans that Gordie Howe was not the first Detroit Red Wings star with that last name. But Gordie learned quickly about Syd Howe when he joined the Red Wings as a rookie in 1946.
"Heck," Gordie explained, "the only thing people asked me when I came to play in Detroit was whether I was related to Syd Howe."
That's because Syd Howe had just concluded a 17-season NHL career, the final 12 with the Red Wings. And upon retiring at the end of the 1945-46 season, Howe was the all-time leading scorer in the NHL with 529 points (237 goals, 292 assists) in 700 games.
And, no, Syd Howe and Gordie Howe were not related.
"Many hockey observers overlooked Syd's greatness," said Fred A. Huber, Jr., the Red Wings publicist during the eras of both Howe's.
"Although Syd Howe never led the League in any one offensive category, he was a consistent scorer and playmaker," hockey historian Andrew Podnieks said.
A native of Ottawa, Syd Howe learned how to skate on the frozen Rideau Canal and eventually graduated to the Ottawa Gunners Junior club. The Gunners reached the 1928 Memorial Cup Final before being defeated by the Regina Monarchs.
His hometown NHL Senators signed Syd during the 1929-30 season. For six seasons he skated for a succession of weak teams like the Senators, Philadelphia Quakers and St.Louis Eagles before settling with the Red Wings in 1935. Howe's versatility soon won the favor of Olympia Stadium fans.
"Syd also showed great defensive ability," Huber said. "He was manager Jack Adams' first choice to kill penalties and -- more than once -- took a regular turn on defense when injuries weakened our blue liners."

One of Howe's most notable offensive efforts took place on the night of Feb. 3, 1944 when the Red Wings hosted the New York Rangers.
At 11:27 of the first period Syd launched what was to become known as one of the most impressive individual performances in NHL history -- a six-goal game.
Taking a pass from Don "The Count" Grosso, he beat Ken "Tubby" McAuley in the Rangers net. Just 18 seconds later, Howe scored again. The score was 3-0 for Detroit late in the second period when defenseman Cully Simon delivered a pass to Howe and he beat McAuley for a hat trick.
"Adams left me out there on the ice to try and get more goals," Howe recalled.
Sure enough, just 62 seconds later Grosso connected with Howe on a pass and he scored again. It was 5-0 for Detroit and Howe had four goals. His hot stick cooled off until 8:17 of the third when he potted his fifth goal.
Less than a minute later Bruneteau and Grosso set up Howe, who deposited his sixth goal of the game.
The six-goal game is one shy of the NHL record; Joe Malone scored seven goals for the Quebec Bulldogs against the Toronto Saint Patricks on Jan. 31, 1920.
"I had a good chance to break the all-time record but I couldn't do it," Syd explained. "The truth is that I got a lot more satisfaction out of two other nights."
In one of them, he set a League record for the then fastest overtime playoff goal, 25 seconds against the New York Americans on March 19, 1940.
"The score was 0-0," said Howe, "and I was playing on a line with Mud and Carl Liscombe. I went down the left side and sent a low shot into the corner and that was that.
"The other game I'll never forget was the night Detroit fans gave me toward the end of my career. I got a lot of gifts, including a piano. You know how it is when they give you a night. It usually turns out that your team gets beat and you can't come close to scoring. But I was a lot luckier. We beat the Black Hawks 2-0 and I scored both goals."
Since the elder Howe retired as the League's all-time leading scorer and played for three Stanley Cup-winners and three first-place teams, it's not surprising he was selected to the Hockey Hall of Fame in 1965.
By 1945-46, Syd had slowed down and retired after that season. Only six months later Gordie Howe began his illustrious NHL career that eventually earned him the title, "Mr. Hockey." Gordie Howe is fourth on the all-time NHL scoring list with 1,850 points (801 goals, 1,049 assists), behind Wyane Gretzky (2,857 points), Jaromir Jagr (1,921) and Mark Messier (1,887).
Syd and Gordie Howe. Two Red Wings legends. How(e) about that?!