Olbermann Pays Tribute to the Ailing Gordie Howe

Gordie Howe
Sadly, Gordie “Mr. Hockey” Howe — the legendary NHL superstar — suffered a severe stroke a couple of weeks back, and is now said to be most likely nearing the end.

On Tuesday night’s edition of his weekly ESPN 2 show, Keith Olbermann paid tribute to the 85-year old rink legend.

Hall of Famer Howe was noted for his prolific scoring, calm demeanor, and for his incredible durability. He played professional hockey from the 40s all the way through to the 80s, playing his last professional game — for the NHL‘s Hartford Whalers — when he was 52-years of age. Olbermann, rightly, praises him as one of the greatest professional athletes of all time.

Gordie has been reported to have been afflicted from dementia prior to his latest bout of issues. During this past summer he suffered a number of mini-strokes. He also received outpatient surgery for a spinal stenosis, which had been causing him severe pain.

You can read more about this on CBS Detroit‘s site (Howe played for the city’s Red Wings, including being on four championship teams) here.