Howe's Honor Long Overdue

Mark Howe and Ron Hextall

   Mark Howe is the best defensemen in the history of the Philadelphia Flyers. On Tuesday night, with the Detroit Red Wings in town, Mark finally had his number '2' raised to the rafters of the Wells Fargo Center, joining Bobby Clarkes '16', Bill Barbers '7', Bernie Parents '1', and Barry Ashbees '4'. He is the first of the post-Stanley Cup era Flyers to receive this honorary distinction. It was a classy move on the organizations part to have the ceremony while the Red Wings were in town. Afterall, he played his final three seasons there and his legendary father, Gordie Howe, led the franchise to four Stanley Cups. 


   Author Jay Greenberg said it best in his book 'Full Spectrum (an essential read for all those who bleed Orange & Black)' - "Few players with a skill level as high as Mark Howe's have ever subverted their egos so for the good of their teams. He failed to score more than 480 points in his 594 regular season games only because the Flyers were ahead too often to need more goals."

   The question is, why did it take so long? Why did the Flyers feel it was necessary to wait until the NHL finally inducted him into the Hockey Hall of Fame before they could honor the son of "Mr. Hockey" themselves? Sure It's absolutely ridiculous that it took the NHL seventeen years to induct him into the Hall of Fame, but it's even more absurd that the Flyers organization felt it was necessary to wait until after that happened to retire his number. Did not yet being a member of the HOF change the fact that he was the anchor of their defense for an entire decade, nearly winning Stanley Cups in 1985 and 1987? No. Did it change the fact that he is the franchises all-time leading scorer in goals, assists, and points for a defensemen? Not-uh. His astounding +85 rating in the 1985-1986 season (the seventh best single-season +/- by an individual in the history of the NHL) alone should have been enough to have his number retired. Well, not really, but you get the idea. Howe was a legend, underrated by even the team he played for with such a rare combination of class and skill. He is widely considered "the best defensemen to never win the Norris Trophy (awarded to the NHLs best defensemen after each season)", finishing as a runner-up three times. He played in the highest-scoring era in league history, and made it look easy. Hopefully the next Flyers legend doesn't have to wait until the NHL honors their accomplishments before they do.

    Its been long overdue to see Mark Howe finally thrust back into the spotlight of hockey fans everywhere with his HOF induction, alumni game penalty-shot goal, and number retirement cermony. In a sad twist of fate, these moments all occured in the wake of dear friend and long-time defensive partner Brad McCrimmons passing in last years tragic Lokomotiv Ice Hockey team plane crash. If there is any one player Mark would have wanted to share these moments with, it would have been "the Beast."







OFF THE POST: It's been 22 years since the Flyers last retired a number. How long will it be before they retired another one? Will 'The Big E' or another member of the 90s teams that came ever so close to winning the Cup ever have their number retired? If Claude Giroux keeps doing what hes doing for the next decade or more, will it be the his '28'? Comment with your thoughts below!