There was only one Gordie Howe, and there will never be another like him.
That hasn’t stopped National Hockey League scouts and general managers from scouring the junior leagues ever since he began dominating his sport, searching for that impossible-to-find combination of physical might, speed, competitive fire, scoring prowess, mean streak and character that defined the quintessential “power forward” … long before the phrase was coined.
And to be sure, what Howe did on the ice — and the still-staggering total of five decades he spanned while doing it — are the greatest parts of his legacy.