Howe's first training camp with the Detroit Red Wings came in 1944, when he travelled to Windsor, Ont. But it wasn't his first NHL training camp. That happened the year before in Winnipeg.

Gordie Howe had smiled at Gatt back then, just as he smiled at him now. Howe sat in that chair for hours, watching over Gatt after he suffered a severe stroke that pushed him to the edge of death.

On this day 34 years ago, Gordie Howe and Wayne Gretzky crossed paths for the first and only time in an NHL All-Star Game. Howe was playing in his 23rd and final game, while Gretzky was a 19-year ...