Harry Howell (ice hockey)

Howell was born in Hamilton, Ontario for a father who served as a furrier; Howell played hockey with the Hamilton Police Minor League as a youth.^[2] He attended Westdale Secondary School and Guelph Collegiate Vocational Institute in Guelph, Ontario.^[3] He broke in with the Guelph Biltmores (a farm team for the New York Rangers) in 1950.^[4] He won the 1952 Memorial Cup with the team.^[5]

Summarize Timeline Fact Check

Howell joined the New York Rangers as one of fourteen rookies for the 1952–53 season.^[2] He played his first game on October 18, 1952 against the Toronto Maple Leafs. He scored his first goal during the game, apparently on accident. According to Howell, he lofted a backhanded shot towards the goal during a shift change that went over the shoulder of goaltender Harry Lumley, who didn't see it due to being screened.^[4]

In 1955, he was named captain, but gave up that position after two seasons, as he felt he played poorly those years.^[6]

A stalwart, stay-at-home defenceman, Howell used his hockey sense and positioning that saw him play at least 50 games in each of his first eighteen seasons. The 1966–67 season saw him reach a career high in goals (12) and points (40), which he credited to powerplay teammate Bernie Geoffrion, who would pass him the puck and tell him to shoot. On January 21, 1967, he became the first Ranger with 1,000 games played. The team honored him with a "Harry Howell Night" at Madison Square Garden on January 25, 1967, the first player to be honored by the team with their own night.^[7] Later that year, Howell was the last player in the pre-expansion era to win the Norris Trophy,^[8] and famously said that he was glad he won the trophy then because Boston Bruins rookie Bobby Orr (who finished third that year) would "own this trophy from now on"; Orr would win the trophy for the next eight seasons.^[9] Howell's playing weight was 195 and he stood 6 foot 1 inches tall. He played seventeen years wearing number 3 for the Rangers.^[10]

Prior to the 1969–70 season, his back problems came to a head to where he had spinal-fusion surgery. He was offered a front-office position with the Rangers if he retired, but he was interested in still playing, so he was sold to the Oakland Seals on June 10, 1969.^[7][2][11] He would be traded from the Seals in the middle of the 1970–71 season to the Los Angeles Kings, where he played the next two years. The Kings released him in July 1973.^[12] He was offered a coaching position in Portland, but he decided he still wanted to play hockey, which led to him joining the World Hockey Association with the New York Golden Blades for the 1973–74 WHA season.^[13] After seven games with the Golden Blades, on November 21, 1973, Howell was elevated to player-coach when the team was moved and became the Jersey Knights for the remainder of the season.^[14] At the end of that season, the Knights moved and became the San Diego Mariners, with Howell still performing double duty as player-coach. Although the 1974-75 WHA season saw the team reach the 1975 WHA playoffs and win a playoff series (before losing to Houston in the semifinals), Howell was fired in June 1975.^[15] Howell was strictly a player for the 1975–76 WHA season with the Calgary Cowboys, his final one as a player.^[16]

Howell played 1,411 NHL games and 170 WHA games, scoring 101 goals and 360 assists for 461 points.^[17]

After retiring as a player, Howell became general manager of the Cleveland Barons for the 1977–78 NHL season.^[18] The Barons were in dire financial circumstances, and merged with the equally challenged Minnesota North Stars at the end of that season. Howell became head coach of the merged Minnesota North Stars for the 1978–79 season in July 1978 but resigned in November after only 11 games, stating that he wasn't happy as a coach.^[19] He became a scout for the team.^[20]

Howell was hired as a scout for the Edmonton Oilers prior to the 1989–90 season.^[21] He earned a Stanley Cup ring when the Oilers won the Cup that year. He served as a scount until the close of the 1999–2000 season. ^[22] In 2000, he re-joined the Rangers as a scout and worked in that role until retiring in 2004.^[23]

Nicknamed "Harry the Horse", Rangers goaltender Ed Giacomin once stated that Howell stopped more shots than he did for the team. Selected to the NHL All-Star Game seven times with a First-Team selection in 1967, Howell departed from the NHL with the most games played by a defenceman with 1,411.^[24] Success in the playoffs eluded Howell during his career, as the Rangers lost in the first round of the playoffs (which until 1967 was played by only four teams) each time; he scored three goals in 38 postseason games.^[25] The only time that he was on a team that won a postseason series was with the Mariners in the 1975 WHA playoffs, where he recorded one goal in five games. He still holds the record for most games played for the New York Rangers with 1,160; only Brian Leetch and Rod Gilbert have played 1,000 games for the Rangers since Howell departed the team.^[26][27]

Emile Francis, Howell's coach for four seasons, stated that "Hockey is a game of mistakes, and Harry doesn't make many of them." When paired with him for training camp in 1968 as a rookie, Brad Park stated that Howell "treated me like an equal, not like a rookie."^[7]

On June 12, 1979, Howell was announced for induction into the Hockey Hall of Fame.^[28][29] Howell, alongside his teammate Andy Bathgate, had their jerseys retired by the Rangers on February 22, 2009.^[30][31][32]

On October 18, 2014, the North Wentworth Community Centre in Flamborough, Ontario was renamed the Harry Howell Arena at a ceremony.^[33] In that same month, he was honored by Canada Post as the Rangers representative on a stamp representing the "Original Six" NHL teams.^[2]

In the 2009 book 100 Ranger Greats, the authors ranked Howell at No. 10 all-time of the 901 New York Rangers who had played during the team's first 82 seasons.^[34]

In his later years, Howell was diagnosed with Alzheimer's disease.^[33] He was living in a long-term care facility in Ancaster near Hamilton at the time of his death. He was married to his wife Marilyn for 64 years prior to her death in February 2019.^[4] Howell died on March 9, 2019, at the age of 86.^[35][36]

Regular season and playoffs

More information Regular season, Playoffs ...

				Regular season						Playoffs
Season	Team	League		GP	G	A	Pts	PIM		GP	G	A	Pts	PIM
1951–52	Guelph Biltmores	OHA		51	17	20	37	0		—	—	—	—	—
1951–52	Cincinnati Mohawks	AHL		1	0	0	0	0		—	—	—	—	—
1952–53	Guelph Biltmores	OHA		5	2	2	4	0		—	—	—	—	—
1952–53	New York Rangers	NHL		67	3	8	11	46		—	—	—	—	—
1953–54	New York Rangers	NHL		67	7	9	16	58		—	—	—	—	—
1954–55	New York Rangers	NHL		70	2	14	16	87		—	—	—	—	—
1955–56	New York Rangers	NHL		70	3	15	18	77		5	0	1	1	4
1956–57	New York Rangers	NHL		65	2	10	12	70		5	1	0	1	6
1957–58	New York Rangers	NHL		70	4	7	11	62		6	1	0	1	8
1958–59	New York Rangers	NHL		70	4	10	14	101		—	—	—	—	—
1959–60	New York Rangers	NHL		67	7	6	13	58		—	—	—	—	—
1960–61	New York Rangers	NHL		70	7	10	17	62		—	—	—	—	—
1961–62	New York Rangers	NHL		66	6	15	21	89		6	0	1	1	8
1962–63	New York Rangers	NHL		70	5	20	25	55		—	—	—	—	—
1963–64	New York Rangers	NHL		70	5	31	36	75		—	—	—	—	—
1964–65	New York Rangers	NHL		68	2	20	22	63		—	—	—	—	—
1965–66	New York Rangers	NHL		70	4	29	33	92		—	—	—	—	—
1966–67	New York Rangers	NHL		70	12	28	40	54		4	0	0	0	4
1967–68	New York Rangers	NHL		74	5	24	29	62		6	1	0	1	0
1968–69	New York Rangers	NHL		56	4	7	11	36		2	0	0	0	0
1969–70	Oakland Seals	NHL		55	4	16	20	52		4	0	1	1	2
1970–71	California Golden Seals	NHL		28	0	9	9	14		—	—	—	—	—
1970–71	Los Angeles Kings	NHL		18	3	8	11	4		—	—	—	—	—
1971–72	Los Angeles Kings	NHL		77	1	17	18	53		—	—	—	—	—
1972–73	Los Angeles Kings	NHL		73	4	11	15	28		—	—	—	—	—
1973–74	New York Golden Blades/Jersey Knights	WHA		65	3	23	26	24		—	—	—	—	—
1974–75	San Diego Mariners	WHA		74	4	10	14	28		5	1	0	1	10
1975–76	Calgary Cowboys	WHA		31	0	3	3	6		2	0	0	0	2
NHL totals				1,411	94	324	418	1,298		38	3	3	6	32
WHA totals				170	7	36	43	58		7	1	0	1	12

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• Memorial Cup – 1952
• James Norris Memorial Trophy – 1967
• NHL All-Star Game – 1954, 1963, 1964, 1965, 1967, 1968, 1970
• Stanley Cup – 1990 (as scout)
• Most games played for the New York Rangers (1,160)

• List of NHL players with 1,000 games played